By Daniel Mitchell
Special from Osceola
Preseason 1995 marks a return to normalcy for Florida State football. Last year's 10-1-1 season was hardly a departure from the previous seven, but the Foot Locker-generated rumblings of 1994 caused a stir the likes of which the program had not dealt with before. Heading into the '95 season, things are once again mostly quiet on the Seminole front.
That's the way players and coaches like it.
"It's been nice," says senior center Clay Shiver. "It's been nice not having to deal with all the questions, all the allegations and all the joking around about this and that."
"Everybody had a little bit of a cloud hanging over them" last year, offensive coordinator Mark Richt said. "Everybody was wondering what was going to happen and when was it going to happen, when was everything going to be resolved. We don't have to worry about that this year."
"It's been nice that we haven't had to deal with that," Shiver says, "and we can concentrate on what really matters in a football season."
In the preseason, what really matters includes lifting weights, running, throwing and catching drills among the quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs, and general development of team unity. By all indications, the Seminoles have focused as well as ever this offseason.
"It's kind of hard to say until we get into the season, but right now it looks like we've got a lot of heart and a lot of work ethic," Shiver says. "That's really what you want in the offseason. Everybody's pushing ... to get bigger and stronger so we can make the best out of the fall."
The fewer distractions, the easier that becomes. According to Richt, the best example might be senior offensive tackle Forrest Conoly. Conoly was caught in the Foot Locker affair and was eventually suspended four games. This year he's focused on rehabilitating a knee injury and having a solid senior year. "He's probably the guy that had the most on his mind, couldn't get in the right frame of mind to prepare his body," Richt says. "Where now he's got nothing to worry about in that regard and he's really done a great job in the offseason."
Conoly has battled weight problems his entire career at Florida State but is now under 315 pounds, his lightest yet.
Last year's suspensions -- Tiger McMillon, Patrick McNeil, Marcus Long and Derrick Brooks also sat out games -- was a hindrance to the coaching staff, too.
"Just trying to figure out who was going to be suspended and who wasn't, then once you find out who's being suspended, who's going to replace them, how are we going to prepare the guys that have to be ready, and how are we going to prepare the ones that are going to miss one or two or three or four games, how many repetitions do you give a guy who won't start but will be a starter when he comes back," Richt said.
There should be no such problems this year.
As for team unity, players whisper that this team is perhaps closer-knit than last year's.
"I think that's a special part of this team," Shiver agrees. "Again, it'll be really hard to tell until we get into the season, but right now it feels like we have a lot of team unity.
"Any given year there's between five and ten teams that can win the national championship, have the talent, but it's going to be based upon which teams come together as a unit the best. I think right now the nice thing is we've not built any barriers amongst ourselves. I think if we can continue to grow closer together as a team then we'll want to get out there and not only play for the coaches and the fans, we'll want to play for each other. That's the most important thing you can do."
The offensive and defensive lines are the heart and soul of any great team. With as many as five seniors projected to start on the offensive line, that unit could be FSU's most important. "We're definitely the veteran group of the team and I think everybody's really looking to us to do something this year," Shiver nods. "I think it's up to us to really prove ourselves and help the team as much as we can. It's up to us to establish the running game, to protect Danny (Kanell), to keep the defense off the field, sustain the drives."
Florida games provide momentum
For the past 10 years, Florida State has entered each season with momentum generated by a bowl victory. But although last year's 23-17 defeat of Florida in the Sugar Bowl was big, the Seminoles' comeback for a 31-31 tie against the Gators a month earlier was bigger. Together, those games could provide even greater motivation than usual.
"Once everybody lives through it, they're like, `hey,' Richt says. "That registers in their mind that nothing's impossible if everybody stays together."
"The season was really tough for us until the Florida games," Shiver says. "We ended on a real positive note last year and I think it's going to help us, give us a nice little push into this season."
Streaks alive
At the close of spring practice, Bobby Bowden reminded his squad of the standard set by the team's predecessors. Just how consistent have Bobby's boys been? Consider that the Seminoles have:
* Finished in the Associated Press top 4 each of the past eight seasons, winning at least 10 games each season. Both marks are NCAA records.
* Gone 86-11-1 (.887) in that span.
* Won 10 consecutive bowl games, another NCAA record.
* Won three Atlantic Coast Conference titles in as many years, with a conference- record 24 straight wins.
Those numbers aren't lost on the players.
"It's kind of expected really," Marion says. "You don't want to be the first Florida State team to not win 10 games, to ever lose an ACC game. It's more like a pride thing. You don't want to be the first team to mess it up because everyone will always remember, you were on that team that messed up the 10-win (streak), the ACC (streak) or whatever."
Shiver has a personal stake in seeing the streaks extended. His brother Stan was FSU's starting strong safety in 1987, the first of FSU's 10-win, top-4 seasons. "When I think about them, I think about my brother, because he was one of the ones who started it in that '87 season. His teammates were really the forerunner to what we've built since that time, so I really want to keep on building, keep the momentum working for us."