The line of quarterbacks waiting to play for Jimbo Fisher got a little longer Tuesday when it was announced that former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson would transfer to Florida State for his final year of NCAA eligibility.
Many FSU fans were surprised by the decision and didn’t give the notion much credit initially. We had already been dragged along with the Braxton Miller ride, and it felt like this was yet another circus that we were unwillingly getting dragged into.
But here we are. Fisher confirmed that he had talked to Golson about the transfer and did not guarantee him a starting spot in any manner. The stable of Sean Maguire, J.J. Cosentino, Deandre Johnson, and Deondre Francois just added another horse.
It’s not hard to see why. Fisher has coached nine quarterbacks into draft positions, with four of them being first-rounders. Ever since his freshman year at Notre Dame when he saw some action over Tommy Rees, scouts have said that Golson has potential to be an NFL caliber player. There might not be a better coach to go to than Fisher to capitalize on this potential. If anyone can get him to the next level, it’ll be Jimbo.
He still has one year to go through however. While fans won’t be seeing another Jameis Winston for a while, there are still expectations that next year’s quarterback will have to live up to.
Many don’t appear to be confident in Maguire at this point, instead vying for one of the younger backups to be named starter and at least get experience for the next few years. Golson would seemingly be the next best solution to the problem: A decent-to-good quarterback with experience coming in and playing for a year while the project pieces redshirt. So why is there trepidation within many at FSU? Well, it’s about what exactly he brings with him to Tallahassee.
SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 08: Everett Golson #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs around end to try to score a touchdwon against the Purdue Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2012 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
This last year was only Golson’s second year starting and first year of getting control of the offense. His original 2012 season was efficient if not unimpressive. Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly didn’t ask him to take many shots or sling it around too much, and the numbers reflect this decision.
His yards-per-attempt average of 7.6 was only good for 48th among FBS quarterbacks that season and he had a grand total of 18 touchdowns and 10 turnovers. While those end numbers are decent, he achieved them on just a sub-60 percent completion rate. Despite all this, it was hard not to get excited for what looked like a legitimate rising star within Notre Dame’s ranks. He had just led the team to an undefeated regular season and appearance in the national championship without even being the centerpiece of the offense. Big things were expected of Golson.
Those big things never really came to fruition. Golson was suspended for the entire 2013 season after it was revealed he had cheated on a test, and Notre Dame finished out at 9-4 with a Pinstripe Bowl victory over Rutgers. While the Irish were still a good team, it became obvious that they would not reach their ceiling without a good talent at the quarterback position. Enter Golson. After being readmitted to the university and the team, Golson was named the starter for the 2014 season.
Golson looked fantastic to begin the season and many thought he finally was living up to his lofty comparisons. It had been observed by a lot of pundits that Golson had a bit of a Russell Wilson skill set. He was mobile, but by no means a “run first” quarterback. He didn’t have the prototypical frame, but it didn’t seem to matter when he stepped on the field.
Early in the 2014 season before the FSU game, Golson had 20 total touchdowns with 9 total turnovers; fumbles seemed to be an issue but he wasn’t throwing ducks that were easily intercepted. It really did look like he had turned the corner and justified being in the talks as one of the best FBS quarterbacks of the season.
TALLAHASSEE, FL – OCTOBER 18: Everett Golson #5 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish yells to his teammates against the Florida State Seminoles during their game at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 18, 2014 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Heck, for about half of the Florida State game, he really did outplay Jameis Winston. While Winston’s second half was clearly better than his, Golson had come into Tallahassee and pushed the defending national champions to the wire. Seminole fans will forever remember him being flushed out of the pocket on a 4th-and-18, only to fire a laser down the sideline and hit an open receiver to keep the drive alive. Golson had finally convinced the nation that he had what it took to be the next great Notre Dame quarterback.
But then it all came tumbling down. After the heartbreaking 31-27 loss to FSU, Golson seemed to be mentally scattered in the passing game. He had a bounce back game against Navy, only to throw four interceptions and lose a fumble in the Arizona State game — a 55-31 loss. Golson would get benched during the USC game and would split snaps with backup Malik Zaire for the rest of the season.
By the end of the year, Golson had committed 22 turnovers. Even Winston’s turnover-prone 2014 season didn’t meet that mark and he started in 13 games.
With the departure of Nick O’Leary and Rashad Greene, it is largely expected that FSU will be a run-dominant team in 2015. So why are fans still worried about Golson coming, even if he has the potential he showed?
Quite frankly, it’s not totally convincing that Golson can reach his potential at FSU. He has played in a Notre Dame spread scheme for two years with two completely different responsibilities in the offense and neither year is overly impressive upon review.
If Golson is to succeed at FSU, he will need to learn a whole new playbook and scheme in one summer/fall and show enough proficiency to beat out multiple guys — some who have been learning under Fisher for years.
But honestly, that’s not the main concern. Golson is a smart guy and it’s certainly not impossible to conceive that he could win the starting job. The real kicker is what he will be working with in the FSU offense. The Seminoles are breaking in a very young team that includes a few wide receivers and an almost entirely new offensive line.
In Golson’s last year at Notre Dame, he had four receivers with 500-plus yards receiving including 1000-yard receiver Will Fuller. FSU had that as well — except now the top two are in the NFL. Granted Golson will have Dalvin Cook and the corps of talented backs to help him out, but he’s going to have to deal with a lot freshmen and sophomores at the skill positions.
Once again, this would have to be achieved with only a summer/fall of preparation. Winston did as much as he could with a young group of players on offense and we all saw how much the team struggled to stay on the same page. Golson is quite simply not at Winston’s level and he will have to deal with the same issues that Winston did but amplified.
Does Golson coming in hurt anything for FSU? Not really. In all scenarios, the worst that could happen is he doesn’t win the starting job and acts as a capable backup. The issue is that most fans simply don’t think he’ll be able to provide FSU with anything the quarterbacks already there cannot. Is that true?
Obviously, we will have to wait and see how the competition plays out, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see Golson actually come in and succeed. It has been mentioned that Golson has a Russell Wilson type of skill set. Interestingly enough, here’s a statistical comparison of each one’s final season before transfer:
| Pass Yds. | Comp % | Pass TD | Int. | Rush Yds. | Rush TD | |
| Wilson | 3563 | 58.4 | 28 | 14 | 435 | 9 |
| Golson | 3445 | 60.0 | 29 | 14 | 283 | 8 |
With Fisher’s track record with quarterbacks, Golson might see the revival that Wilson did. The storylines seem all too familiar to those who followed each: Both had accuracy issues, both have the ability to run, both didn’t like the situation they were in at their previous college, etc. Sometimes, you really do need a new setting to fully realize what kind of quarterback you can become.
Many were shocked by the news and to a varying extent, we all have different opinions on whether or not Golson coming to Florida State is a good thing. The best thing he can do right now is get straight to work to prove to the coaches that he has the ability to succeed in a new system.
Golson brings a lot of potential with him to FSU. He also brings some baggage that he needs to get rid of in order to reach this potential.
With a younger roster, turnovers cannot be negated like they were last year. If Golson comes in and can’t get over the issues he had last year with interceptions and fumbles, don’t be surprised to see him get yanked quickly. But if he can take Fisher’s advice and grow as a quarterback, the rest of the ACC better watch out.
