Blackman appears on College GameDay, who discusses the ‘Noles

Florida State got a little individual attention during ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning during the 10 a.m. hour. In that time, starting quarterback James Blackman was featured in a brief one-on-one interview with Maria Taylor.

It opened with a look back at Blackman’s first game.

“It was kind of unexpected,” Blackman said about being thrown into the fire as a true freshman after Deondre Francois was hurt in the opener against Alabama that season. “Especially a kid like me coming from a small town, where I’m coming from, into this big program.”

The interview then quickly moved forward to install of this preseason under new head coach Mike Norvell.

“It was very intense to be honest,” Blackman said. “Coach Mike Norvell don’t take nothing lightly. You want someone that is on your back and telling you that we have to be better. Obviously, if you keep working on those things each and every day, you are going to get better. At the end of the day, you see yourself grow.”

Blackman was then asked what a successful season would look like for Florida State.

“Making sure we get better each and every day through thick and thin, whatever the situation may be,” Blackman said. “The outcome is going to be great to be honest and that just comes from poring into the small details that Coach Norvell has been hitting on since day one.”

FSU’s starting quarterback is excited to hit the field at 3:30 p.m. against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

“It is a great blessing,” Blackman said. “We just knew we had to work until this moment came. It is here now. Now we just have to got to put all the work that we’ve been putting in and put it on display.”

Before turning to the panel, host Rece Davis spoke of new head coach Mike Norvell’s scoring prowess at Memphis, with a backdrop of James Blackman’s differing numbers in wins versus losses as a starter in 2019.

“You can really see those numbers take off because virtually everybody that has played for Norvell as a coordinator or head coach has flourished,” Davis said.

After that interview, the panel of David Pollack, Desmond Howard, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit spoke on the opening game of season one under Norvell.

Pollack continued Davis’ point about offensive production under Norvell, historically.

“That’s pretty fun,” Pollack said. “Knowing your offense is going to be high flying, it’s going to be a lot of fun. Then you have a coach that has coached at a very high level, it makes you buy in right away and you know you can put up numbers, which is going to be really fun.”

The conversation then transitioned to what has been the bane of FSU’s existence over the last several seasons, one of the nation’s worst offensive lines.

“I think when you look at Florida State the past several years, it’s been the offensive line that you have had so many question marks about,” Pollack continued. “Well, if you watch Mike Norvell and his system, they take care of the guys upfront. They do a really good job of building walls and being a unit. They’re not the greatest players upfront, but you watch them, they all get on tracks, they all work together, communicate exceptionally well, without those elite guys. So I think that gets you excited right now.”

Pollack went on to discuss the ‘explosive’ passing attack and ‘smoke and mirrors’ utilized by Norvell in his passing attack, which tends to showcase a wide receiver that produces stats among the nation’s best.

“Who is going to be the next big play wide receiver? Norvell always has one,” Pollack said before going over wide receiver Tamorrion Terry’s stats from a season ago. “This guy right here will be elite this year. He will have a huge season.”

Pollack concluded his portion of the segment by sharing a general excitement about the future in Tallahassee.

“If I’m a Florida State fan, I’m excited. If I’m a player, I’m excited, because he’s going to build an offense that’s fun, getting the ball out of his [quarterbacks’] hand and very, very explosive,” Pollack added.

Desmond Howard then reiterated Pollack’s point about FSU’s recent history of poor offensive line play, dating back to Jimbo Fisher’s final seasons with the Seminoles.

“The offensive line was horrible, horrendous, so that is the first order of business for Norvell and his staff,” Howard said. “I’ll tell you what, Blackman, they say he’s had a great camp. He’s very confident. He understands the system. He is throwing accurately. I like Norvell’s system for James Blackman. I think he is going to be a great fit for him.”

Lee Corso shared some good news, bad news for FSU. First the good news.

“Everything they control, they have really improved this year in the offseason,” Corso said. “Their strength and conditioning. Their nutrition. Their accountability towards each other. Now it is time to play.”

The bad news per Corso, FSU has lost three consecutive openers, but ‘not this year’ he added, while predicting a victory.

Kirk Herbstreit then chimed in, stating that Norvell’s success won’t be measured in wins and losses as much as how he alters the outlook of his locker room.

“Everybody wants to throw out, does he need to win 8 or 9 or 10 games. What does he need to do in order for people to say ‘Wow, this is the right guy’. We were talking earlier this week, I think it is about changing the culture,” Herbstreit said. “The end of the Jimbo Fisher years, leading into what we’ve seen the last couple years, I just think it has been about individuality. I think it’s been about trying to get to the league and not about trying to win.”

Herbstreit then evoked great players from FSU’s dynasty run who also found their way to great professional sports paths, like Charlie Ward and Derrick Brooks, while winning games and having fun in Tallahassee.

“I think that is the charge for Mike Norvell,” Herbstreit said. “Can he get them back? Steer that titanic back to caring about winning and representing that brand. Getting Florida State back. Because man, we’ve missed them, it has been too long.”

The final person on the broadcast to chime in was Chris ‘Bear’ Fallica.

“I kind of liken the situation that Mike Norvell inherits at Florida State to maybe what Scott Satterfield walked into a little bit last year at Louisville,” Fallica said. “It’s kind of building their confidence back up and getting them to try to play.”