It came as little surprise Monday when Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher named Notre Dame transfer Everett Golson the Seminoles’ starting quarterback.
Golson has more than 20 career starts and has passed for nearly 6,000 yards while accounting for 55 total career touchdowns. Golson is also no stranger to be the big stage after playing in a number of marquee games for the Fighting Irish including the BCS National Championship at the end of the 2012 season.
The big issue for Golson however, has been turnovers. After a 5-0 start for Notre Dame last season, Golson’s issues became magnified as the Fighting Irish dropped five of their final seven regular season games which led to Golson serving as a backup to Malik Zaire in Notre Dame’s 31-28 Music City Bowl victory over LSU. During an ACC teleconference on Wednesday, Fisher praised Golson’s confidence and leadership.
“He did a great job interacting and bonding with our players,” Fisher said. “He’s a tremendous young man.”
Giving Golson the nod seemed like the smart move for FSU given his skill set. Golson is a good athlete and his ability to run should bring more versatility to an offense that is replacing four starters up front, an All-American tight end and the school’s all-time leading receiver.
“He can throw the ball down the field,” Fisher said of Golson. “He can make plays with his legs when he has to.”
Golson’s biggest competition for the starting spot seemed to be redshirt junior Sean Maguire, who passed for 304 yards and a touchdown against Clemson last season in his only career start, but is regarded as mostly a pocket passer. Waiting until the week of the game to name a starting quarterback isn’t something brand new for Fisher during his time in Tallahassee.
“We never named Jameis (Winston) until about 10 days before the first game,” said Fisher of his former Heisman Trophy quarterback who beat out Jacob Coker to win the starting job prior to the start of the Seminoles’ 2013 national championship season.
As FSU offensive coordinator in 2008, Fisher announced that the starting nod would go to sophomore Christian Ponder over senior Drew Weatherford just four days before FSU’s season-opener against Western Carolina. Florida State begins the 2015 season against Texas State at home on Saturday night.
