Florida State’s passing game is lagging, and the Seminoles have put Austin Tucker in the spot of trying to clean it up.
Tucker is in his first season coaching quarterbacks at Florida State after working with the receivers last season. He also comes into the job with no prior experience coaching quarterbacks, even though the staff already includes other proven options who could handle that role.
Tucker is a receiver by trade, and in his 11-year coaching career, most of his time has been spent with receivers and running backs. He has “assisted” with the offense at Florida State, North Alabama, Auburn, and Memphis.
The results through three games have been rough. Florida State’s passing offense ranks 65th in the FBS at 234 yards per game, but the bigger problem has been finishing drives through the air.
The Seminoles are tied for 82nd in the country in passing touchdowns, and starting quarterback Ashton Daniels has only four touchdown passes against four interceptions. Three of those interceptions came in the 50-36 loss to Alabama, when Florida State led 21-6 in the second quarter.
Tucker addressed Daniels’ performance against Alabama during a press conference on Tuesday.
“There's great decisions throughout the (Alabama) game,” said Tucker. “I told him he made a lot of great plays.
He made a lot of plays just playing the position and managing the game but there's a couple of plays that he wants to have back, and that's part of it. That's part of his growth.
And so, we continue to meet with him, obviously, watch film, study, find the things in his games that we can improve. And so, he's dedicated to that.
And that's who he is.”
Still, the bigger question is why Florida State is asking a first-time quarterbacks coach to guide the most important position on the field when Mike Norvell has other choices on staff. One option is assistant to the head coach Tom Herman, the former Texas head coach who coached Sam Ehlinger for four seasons. Ehlinger finished as the No. 2 passer in Longhorns history with 11,436 yards, 94 touchdowns, 27 interceptions, and a career completion percentage of 62.5 percent.
Herman also brings a national title ring from his time as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2012-2014, when the Buckeyes won the 2014 championship with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones.
Another possible move would be turning to assistant receivers coach Brady White, who played quarterback for three seasons at Memphis and spent two seasons under Norvell there. White finished as the No. 2 passer in school history with 10,690 yards, 90 touchdowns, 30 interceptions, and a career completion percentage of 62.4.
For now, though, Florida State’s passing game remains stuck in place. The article’s case is simple: if the Seminoles want real progress, Norvell may need to make a change and bring in a coach with a stronger quarterback background.
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