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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 20, 2017

Jimbo Fisher

Tallahassee, Florida

JIMBO FISHER: After evaluating the field, very proud of our guys. Went out and played a complete game. Affected the game in all three phases with return game, blocked kicks, scored, scored on defense, scored on offense. Guys did what they were supposed to do. Played hard and played thorough the game. What I mean by that is not getting complacent to the game.

The young guys who got opportunities took advantage of them, played well, development. No letup, no headache. A little bit of jitters at times, but those guys have to go through those things. Got to extend the plays. Instead of playing 8, 10, 12 plays a game, now you see them play 25, 30, 35 plays a game. What that feels like, and how they've got to play and the mindset and what they've got to have to be able to do that. So all those things got accomplished. Very proud of our team, the way they competed in the game and played the game and executed in the game.

Saying all that, we've got to move on and get ready for Florida. One of the great rivalries in college football. Very blessed to be part of that rivalry here at Florida State. Got a heck of a challenge going down there to play. It's always an extremely tough place to play, one of the toughest in the country. They'll be ready to play. It will be their Senior Day. There will a lot of emotions and things going on.

We'll have to play a super game to have a chance to be successful. Like I said, very blessed to be able to play in that series. Questions?

Q. Jimbo, (inaudible) the three games they've lost have been really close games. Have you seen them play with more confidence?
JIMBO FISHER: I think teams they've played -- of course you do, a lot of teams feel much more comfortable in their own venue. Obviously, it seems like that with Florida. They've got a great home crowd. Always got great crowds, great environment, great atmosphere. So makes it good to play in. That's for sure. They have played well.

Q. I know their numbers are good defensively, but are these the type athletes you've always seen on that side of the ball for Florida?
JIMBO FISHER: Yeah, they can run. They're physical. They can hit. Duke Dawson has been around forever. Bryan is a heck of a player up front. The linebacker tackles well. The corners are young and athletic. Cece Jefferson, Cece's been around. We recruited the heck out of him. He's a great player up front. I've had some guys injured and of course we've had some guys suspended on some things. But they're athletic and can run and tackle.

Offensively, good backs, good skill guys, can run. The kicker and punter are tremendous. Their punter kicks it a mile, and their kickoff guy is about an 85 percent, 87 percent kick it out of the end zone. Got great range on field goal. They're good in all three phases.

Q. I was going to ask about the kickers. They have maybe one of the best field goal kicking teams in the country.
JIMBO FISHER: They do. They can hit it a long ways and hit it where they want to hit it. Not just one of them long drives or in the rough. They hit it right down the fairway where they're supposed to be.

Q. Jimbo, obviously, I'm sure you're familiar with their quarterback Feleipe Franks. What did you see out of him coming up and what type of player do you think is he?
JIMBO FISHER: Big, strong, athletic. Almost won a state championship, was just a few seconds away from winning the state championship down at Wauchula.

Can throw it a mile. You can see the scramble plays where he throws it 60, 75 yards in the air. He can also run. He broke one about 80 yards coming off their goal line, had an 80-yard run. You see the athleticism, keep plays alive. Each week gets better and better. Big, strong, athletic guy that can make plays. And great kid, great family.

Q. Both teams coming off of big wins. Do you think it's good for the rivalry in general, for both teams to get a boost, a confidence momentum going?
JIMBO FISHER: Make everybody feel good going into the game, that's for sure. The records will go out the window, as they say, when it's a rivalry game. But at the same time, you always want to come off a positive performance. It helps your confidence in what goes on.

Q. Coach, Derwin got his first pick six last week. Seems like he's coming along. What have you seen out of him the last few weeks where it seems like he's finding the big plays?
JIMBO FISHER: Getting in a groove to play in. You've got to remember, he started partially as a freshman, still finding his way. All of a sudden, gets hurt right off the bat as a sophomore, and then he comes right back to play at the beginning of this year. Everybody's got this world of expectation, and then he plays well. I mean, it takes the time to play yourself into it. He's into a groove. The season goes on, and he's a big strong guy.

He's one of those guys, the longer it goes, the better he plays. He's getting comfortable with everything, and he's really making the plays. The last three, four weeks really getting in the groove, and seeing Derwin have a chance of what he really, really should be.

Q. The last game against Florida, what do you remember about the play where he hurled the Florida offensive tackle? Do you remember seeing that play?
JIMBO FISHER: It was on a pass rush down there. What happens is it's not just the power, but what generates that is the speed. He's starting to come off the edge. Those big guys got to hurry so much, and it catches him off balance. Those great athletes can stick their foot in the ground and change direction and catch you when you're not on your most powerful angle and throw you.

I think that's one of the great things about speed edge rushers or big safeties that can rush and blitz. They generate the respect of the edge, which you got to get to, and sometimes you've got to get to it so fast, as a big guy, you can get caught off balance, and they can re-change.

Most safeties don't have that power to transition back into like a normal linebacker or a defensive end, and he does, and he got a great rush on that play.

Q. Jimbo, for the first time in a while, this isn't the last game of the season the way things got rescheduled. Do you like the tradition of Florida-Florida State being part of that rivalry week in the final game of the year?
JIMBO FISHER: I think it's great. I do think it's great. I think it's tough as a nonconference game, which I think you heard Steve say for years, when there's conference championship games the next week, I think it's a very tough thing to do emotionally to play that kind of game and then turn around and play a conference championship game.

I remember when Florida State didn't have a conference championship game, remember he was, I think, lobbying to get it moved to earlier in the year because they would have to play their emotional big rivalry here and turn around and play a conference championship, which is very tough, which does make it tough.

Everybody says they're across the country, but Alabama-Auburn, they're still for a division title. They're still within their own league. So it is a very unique thing. It is what it is, and it makes it part of the rivalry week. Again, one of the great rivalries.

Q. Jimbo, when did you guys start recruiting Josh McCain? What stuck out to you initially when you first saw the tape or popped on the radar?
JIMBO FISHER: Just his length, size, athleticism. Then once you met him, his intelligence level. This guy is a very intelligent and he's a very driven. When you meet his folks and family, you really see that. You're talking about great people, blue collar people who work their tails off. He's great work ethic, high intelligence, tremendous upside. You see the physical stature on film, but once you meet him, you fall in love with him.

Q. Were you guys in on him before he was at IMT?
JIMBO FISHER: We were trying to recruit him there too.

Q. Florida possibly out of postseason contention. Do you worry more about a team when they've essentially nothing to lose in this one?
JIMBO FISHER: You've always got that. You have to understand what you have at stake, and control what you can control. Whether they do or not, what they've got on the line, it's Florida State. They're going to play the same type of game that they would play otherwise because it's a rivalry, and that's what this game means.

Q. Derwin was feeling all right after the knee, maybe toward January of next year, but did you sense any apprehensiveness from him playing, actually playing?
JIMBO FISHER: No, not at all, not one bit. Just the opposite, trying to go 1,000 miles an hour too hard. He's never been apprehensive in any way, shape, or form that way.

Q. I know James played the first half, was pretty efficient. What are some things you want to see him work on based on performance?
JIMBO FISHER: Just process, managing the game, why you're going places, ball placement, how quick you're processing the game, what you're seeing and when it's coming out of your hand. All those types of things and the accuracy and finishing the plays.

Q. Jimbo, Randy Shannon as a combination of a player and coach, has gone against Florida State 23 times in his career. I wonder what you've always thought of Randy as an assistant coach and then as a recruiter. He's got some longevity in this business. What's your general thoughts about Randy?
JIMBO FISHER: I thought he was excellent. I recruited South Florida for many, many years against him when I was at Auburn and LSU. Tremendous recruiter. Always very tough to go. When you're going against one of the guys that Randy was recruiting, you had your hands full.

It was very tough to get him as a coach. He's accomplished a lot as a coordinator. Won National Championships as a player, won them as a coach. Won multiple National Championships as a coach, I believe, there. One year won the Frank Broyles Award as outstanding assistant coach of the year. And has been a head coach and had success there too.

With Randy, you don't stay in the business as long as he is, accomplished what he's accomplished, and done what he's done if you're not a great coach. He's a great guy. I've known him a long time. I like Randy personally. He's a good guy, a very good coach, as assistant, as head coach, and all things in which he does.

Q. Regardless of what happens with the coaching situation here, it sounds like you have no doubt that Randy will land on his feet somewhere and get a good position?
JIMBO FISHER: Randy's been in this business too long and accomplished too much and has too good a reputation and people know him too well. Too good a guy. Most definitely will.

Q. Jimbo, talk about Rizzo and Cosentino. What did they bring to the game last Saturday?
JIMBO FISHER: J.J. commanded very good, 6 for 7. Very efficient. His first throw was a little bit low, but got in a groove, made good decisions. Led our team and did well. And Jake did a great job getting in the game. It was a great to get him an opportunity to get in the game. That doesn't happen very often. Jake has a great arm, very talented guy and a great kid. He works his tail off in practice. So it was great for those guys.

Q. Talk about the Florida defense last week against Alabama Birmingham. They didn't give up a lot of rushing yards, only three yards. What do you have to do to get the running game started?
JIMBO FISHER: You've got to block them up front. Bryan and those guys, Cece and those guys, all of them, 92, 90, all those guys up front, 54, Clark. I mean, all those guys are big, physical guys, they're backers, play downhill very quickly, and they bunch the box. We'll have our hands full. Our back is going to have to break tackles and run through arm tackles and play physical on their safeties, which they bring them down quickly in the box.

Q. Jimbo, in '98 at Auburn, was Terry -- did he resign before the season was over?
JIMBO FISHER: Middle of the season.

Q. You stayed on the staff, though.
JIMBO FISHER: Yes.

Q. What kind of challenge is that to coach the final four or five games of the season?
JIMBO FISHER: Extremely challenging. For your kids, the unknown, keeping them together, who's my coach going to be, who's my assistant coach? You have no idea. It's an extremely, extremely challenging thing. And the big thing is then coaches, you've got coaches who say, okay, do I finish the season? Am I looking for a job in those types of things. The thing you've got to remember, do what's right for the kids. Do what's right for the kids. That was the thing that was right. They have so much uncertainty around them, and they only get a four-year window to do this.

It was good to keep the kids together, meet with them a lot, talk with them a lot, and keep them together so they could finish the season.

Q. When you were a young coach, though, how did you handle it?
JIMBO FISHER: Same way. What's best for the kids? Always thought about things, what's the right thing to do, and who's the most vulnerable here? I've always said this, whether you're a coach, an A.D., a writer. We wouldn't have a job if it wasn't for the kids. That's what you're writing about. At the end of the day, that's what it gets back to.

Q. Jimbo, do you remember a season -- have you ever had a season where you've played this many talented defensive lines? Some you play every year, but between Alabama and Miami --
JIMBO FISHER: I have. It's just part of it. When you're in the South, everybody's got D-linemen. When you're in the South, everybody's got them across the country, but there's nothing like the southeastern part of the United States, when you're talking about guys that put their hands in the dirt on the defensive lines. And the majority of them are recruited from here. For some reason, that's where they live and a lot of them and very good ones. That makes it miserable on offense, I'll say that.

Q. Earlier in the season, you seemed to kind of challenge Noonie to kind of take on a bigger role and prove his play, and it showed on the field throughout the last couple games. What has kind of turned from him throughout the season, especially with Tate has calmed down?
JIMBO FISHER: I can't understand.

Q. For Noonie, what has kind of been clicking for him that he's been able to perform what he's performed?
JIMBO FISHER: I think consistency. Doing what you're coached to do and the way you're coached to do it and why you're coached to do it. And do it over and over and over at a consistent level so the quarterbacks can reach you, trigger you. People don't understand, you can run a route and be open. How does it look to the quarterback? There has to be a relationship. How you trigger routes, how you set things up. When you get certain leverages -- anywhere in the United States of America -- however you run that route, run it that way every time, so consistency and knowing where you're at.

You always hear the stories about Peyton Manning coming out and running a route with a guy thousands of times and only one route a day so he could read the body language and the things. You've got to throw that thing sometimes when you're under duress, when you're wide open, when a guy's in your face, when you've got to step to the side, so many things. And he's just getting more consistent that way.

Q. You kind of challenged him with us earlier in the season with the media, and after the game you had no problems saying what he did wrong.
JIMBO FISHER: Yeah, we'll we move on.

Q. Is he a guy who accepts the challenge and can take being kind of shout out in the media?
JIMBO FISHER: Not shout out. You saw it. You asked about it. It's not being shout out. What did he do wrong? 24 is what he did wrong and this is what he corrects. As an athlete, everything is shouted out in the media. There's nobody blaming anybody. You saw what happened. We saw what happened. You see what happens. I never call a kid out in the media. Never have, never will. When they ask why he did something, okay, then you move on. That's part of it.

Q. Jimbo, you've been part of the Iron Bowl and many great rivalries, but how much does it speak about this rivalry in both programs that this is only the second time that both teams have been under .500 going into the game?
JIMBO FISHER: It tells you the winning and the history and tradition. No doubt about that. Both teams are extremely used to success. Always have been, always will be, and will be in the future. That's why it's one of the great rivalries because there's true meaning in the outcome of the game.

Q. Jimbo, in a game like Saturday where some young guys and walk-ons and people like that get to kind of all the years of hard work, could you reflect on all the years of hard work that go into Justin making that catch or some of the offensive linemen.
JIMBO FISHER: People have no idea, the hours. Understand something, they know, when they first come here, they're coming here for the love of ball, and they have a dream of playing. There's nobody can tell them they can't play. But the odds of that happening and getting significant time and doing things are very low. To me, that's what the true definition of courage is to me. Going in knowing that you're scared and I don't have a good chance, but I'm going anyway. It's what I love to do. To watch those guys work and work their way into that situation.

Think about this: Talk about moments, you may get one moment. You may get a chance at a moment, and you've got to capitalize on it. To see those happen. You want it to happen for them so bad. It's like watching your own little kids out there. When you watch your kids play ball and see them do things. Man, do it, do it, yeah, yeah. You feel better than they do. It's watching.

It's just because you know the hours and the hours of work where no one looked at them and appreciated it. Yeah, yeah, go do it again. We're coaching this guy over here. Make sure you give them that look. You know what I'm saying? You know what kind of person that takes? And in today's time, those people are fewer and far between to go out and do it. There's a lot of them out there. To watch them do it, the joy, it makes you so happy. So happy.

What if that's your child? I always look at it, what if that was your child? You've got to try and do that over and over and over again just to get a chance to go through practice and to get me my one opportunity in one game a year or two games a year, three plays a year, five plays a year, for me to walk on that field like everybody else does. That's what it's all about.

Q. Coach, Florida might not have a chance of making the postseason, but you guys most definitely do. It that something you guys talk about this week? There's so much to talk about with this game.
JIMBO FISHER: That's part of our goal. We always remind them. We talk about the 40-35, and we always say that just out of respect, remember that. Then you move on. What do we have to do to have success this week?

Q. Jimbo, with the frustrations of this season, how big would it be to end on a winning note, to beat your rival again?
JIMBO FISHER: That's what it's about. Whether you have a winning season or a losing season, that game is significant in how the season is ranked. We were 12-2 and lost to Florida that year and went to the Orange Bowl, and everybody is mad. We won the ACC. First ACC title they've had in over eight years, won an Orange Bowl that year and won 12 games. First New Year's bowl in over 13 years, and people weren't happy. It was the only time we've ever lost to them. I can remember that season. Not bad, but that's what that game means. Playing your rival does have meaning. It means a lot.

Q. Urban Lane also celebrated Senior Day in the last game. His career coming in as a five-star receiver and moving positions. What can you say about him kind of being an ultimate teammate?
JIMBO FISHER: A great guy. Did everything we asked him to do. Worked hard. Had some unfortunate injuries and a foot injury at different times that hindered him. At the same time, he's worked hard and has been great. If he has a chance to prolong it into the next level, we'll wait and see. Hopefully, he does. Hopefully, he gets to the Green and does a great job. Everything we've asked him to do, he's done, made plays at offense, defense, special teams for us. Great kid.

Q. Why is it so important to have facilities --
JIMBO FISHER: We can't talk about facilities, isn't that right? You write articles about me talking about facilities now. I can't answer a facilities question. Which one of you teed that one up? I can't talk about facilities. We ain't allowed. It's inappropriate, right?

Q. Now is it appropriate?
JIMBO FISHER: It's inappropriate. We ain't allowed. Cory said so. Cory said so, your buddy in the Democrats said so. He's trying to get another article out of there. No, I'm laughing.

Ask your question. What do you want?

Q. Just the importance of having a centralized facility?
JIMBO FISHER: You have no idea. The efficiencies, the time, the time constraints you're on, for the efficiencies of players, for their time between meetings, study halls, class. Their time is on such a -- their days are strung out so -- you have no idea today's time. It's ten times what it was even ten years ago. The schedules they're on and what they're asked to do. When you're wasting time in between, you're wasting development time for them. When you can't -- when the buildings can't flow and you have the facilities and all the things that help train them, it just makes the deficiencies grow.

Q. DeAndre wasn't at the game on Saturday. Is there a policy on injured players coming to game?
JIMBO FISHER: No.

Q. Or just player discretion?
JIMBO FISHER: Player discretion.

Q. Just going back to Motlow for a second. Just since the touchdown's happened and everything, how many texts or messages have you gotten on the significance of it and a Seminole catching a touchdown?
JIMBO FISHER: None.

Q. He got 400 of them.
JIMBO FISHER: Well, he did it. He did it. Shouldn't be for me. It should be for him. Shouldn't have anything to do with me. It should be him. He went out and worked and did it himself, and he gets all the credit and all the glory. He should. 1,000 percent, he earned it.

Q. Did you call plays specifically for him because you thought --
JIMBO FISHER: I thought it was a nice play for us to succeed, and I thought he would have a chance to catch that ball. But, again, you don't know what the defense is going to do. You don't know what the rush is going to do. And the quarterback is going to see what you see and the leverages and all that stuff.

Q. How can playing that game at Clemson, which is obviously a tough venue, with your freshman quarterback, and now going into what is a really hostile, tough environment at the Swamp. How much does that help some of the younger players to have that experience?
JIMBO FISHER: Experience of knowing what you're going into. People say what it's like. Oh, that's what it's like, you know what I mean? Any time -- it's like you or any of us do, if you've done it once, at least it gives you a life's experience to relate back to, hey, this is what I expect. This is what's going to happen. This is how -- last time maybe I didn't do that well. I've got to work on noise a little bit more this week. My communication skills or making sure I'm talking to people where they see my lips moving. A lot of times you'll talk, as a quarterback, when you're at home, you'll turn, and they can hear you.

When you're on the road, you've got to make sure they see your face, read your lips. How you check a play. Sometimes you can do it from back here. Sometimes you're on the road, and you've got to walk up. All those little experiences that you think you can do, but you know exactly what you've got to do. Those kinds of things can make a huge difference.

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