Sigh…….
Look, Jimbo isn't perfect but down playing what he has done at FSU is just another example of biased fandom. Did Winston take him over the top? Absolutely, but people forget he landed Winston, when Winston was from the state of Alabama and a major priority for Saban. This was only his 5th year as a HC and he already has a MNC and don't kid yourself, he had a rebuild at FSU. Now it surely helps when the university is behind you, but you gotta give credit where credit is due. This last year was gonna be a down year, all you had to do was looking at things objectively. They had some hope that maybe Gholston could come in and salvage the season, but in the end they were too one dimensional. Still lets take a look what really happened in their terrible season, they played Clemson on the road close, only to lose by 10. They also lost a game they shouldn't have to GT on a crazy play at the end. Finally they got handled by Houston, which I would say was fairly embarrassing. If they weren't our rivals, or if that was the storyline for a season for our own Canes, we would be talking about how we have turned the corner. Next year they have nasty loaded defense, and they will have someone with talent playing QB in Francois and that Henry kid is coming in also. They can be competing for a playoff soon enough unfortunately.
In terms of their staff, if you don't consider Haggens elite, well there is no discussion to be had about CFB with you. Trickett has been regarded as one of the best at his position for a long time, he does suck at recruiting though. After that, you still have very good but not great coaches. The problems is that as fans its natural to downplay their not so marquee guys just as we naturally try to make our guys who are similar into being better than they are. They need to replace their DC, they didnt do well there replacing Pruitt and it showed this year.