Forum: Talk Seminoles

In chatting with Peter Tom Willis on Thursday for a story in today’s Tampa Tribune, you couldn’t help but notice how disappointed he remains in the way his exit from FSU’s radio booth was handled.

Willis was unexpectedly fired last month as FSU’s radio color analyst. The former FSU quarterback, who now calls Valrico home, didn’t see it coming. While the school provided no specific reason, FSU coach Bobby Bowden has said publicly he believed Willis was too critical at times.

“The main thing is that it didn’t have to be handled the way it was handled,’’ Willis said. “Believe me, in the big scheme of things, me not doing the radio anymore is not that big of a deal. I think the world of that university. Having played there, and been a part of that place, it’s just very disappointed how I’ve been treated.

“I do think they got a good guy in William Floyd. I think he will do an excellent job.’’

Willis scoffs at the notion he was too critical of the program.

“What people have to understand is, I love Florida State, and I don’t want to be critical, but at the same time, I can’t sit up there and say things are going great when they aren’t going great,’’ he said. “When we do stuff well, I probably get overly excited. Our fans aren’t crazy. They’re not going to watch what has been happening over the last seven years, and say that’s great offense. It’s not. I’m not going to be the one to sit up there and say it is. If people want to get mad at me for that, they can.’’

Willis has not spoken to Bowden since he was fired, and whether he will in the future remains uncertain. When asked if it was important to him to smooth out whatever differences Bowden may have with him, Willis replied:

“I used to think that way, but I’m not so sure anymore.’’

Here are a couple of extra leftovers:

Q: Will you still come to games at Florida State?
A: “I don’t know if I’ll come up this year, but I’ll definitely come back up. I’m not going to let one or two people run me off from there. I love the place. I love everything about it.’’

Q: Do you have any regrets about the way you did the job?
A: “I’m comfortable with the way I’ve conducted myself over the last 10 years. I’ve apologized for a couple of situations where I have probably used the wrong wording, but other than that, I feel I have nothing to apologize for.’’

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As Florida State slowly moves out from under the dark cloud of the academic cheating scandal that involved more than 20 football players – nearly half of those players are no longer on the team – the Noles got a boost when the NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) this week.

All of FSU’s athletic teams scored above the cut-point of 925 based on data over the last four years (2003-04 through 2006-07). As a result, no team faces any penalties.

“We are proud to announce that all Florida State varsity teams have met the NCAA APR benchmark,” FSU athletic director Randy Spetman said in a statement.

What is the APR? In simple terms, a formula measures a team’s academic success each semester by tracking each student-athlete on the team. The data includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation.

An APR score of 925 projects to an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of approximately 60 percent. High-performing teams receiving awards posted APR scores ranging from 965 to a perfect 1,000 and were in the top 10 percent of their respective sport.

“When gauged against other similar institutions across the country, Florida State ranks above the national average in several sports,’’ FSU director of academic support Bill Shults said. “This is a positive reflection of the commitment to academic success by our student-athletes, coaches and administration.”

The FSU teams scoring above the national average include men’s basketball (958), football (954), men’s swimming (969), men’s tennis (992) and men’s golf, which earned a Public Recognition Award for maintaining a perfect rate of 1000.

On the women’s side, basketball (963), golf (986) and volleyball (980) were also recognized while softball (992) also earned a Public Recognition Award for earning a score in the top 10 percent of its sport.

Here is FSU’s sport-by-sport breakdown of the multi-year APRs. In parentheses, you’ll find the Football Bowl Subdivision national average:

Men’s Teams
Baseball 934 (942)
Basketball 958 (925)
Cross Country 961 (964)
Football 954 (936)
Golf 1000 (965)
Swimming 969 (964)
Tennis 992 (963)
Track/indoor 939 (949)
Track/outdoor 947 (949)

Women’s Teams
Basketball 963 (960)
Cross Country 962 (971)
Golf 986 (980)
Soccer 967 (972)
Softball 992 (969)
Swimming 968 (979)
Tennis 961 (973)
Track/indoor 941 (963)
Track/outdoor 945 (964)
Volleyball 980 (972)

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T.K. Wetherell didn’t become president of Florida State University and a well-seasoned politician by not knowing how the game works.

In fact, Wetherell is a master negotiator in many ways, and that’s why Jimbo Fisher doesn’t need to worry about making a hefty withdrawal from the bank any time soon.

“I’m just human,’’ Fisher said in late December after flirting with the idea of returning home to West Virginia to coach the Mountaineers just two weeks after Wetherell orchestrated the deal to make him Bobby Bowden’s replacement. “If I’m wrong for [considering West Virginia], I apologize if people didn’t understand it, and for the ones who do, I appreciate it.’’

Wetherell understood, and that’s why he hasn’t, and won’t, seek the $2.5 million payment from Fisher for talking directly to West Virginia athletic director Ed Pastilong during the search for Rich Rodriguez’s replacement.

Based on the language in Fisher’s coach-in-waiting agreement with FSU, he owes FSU $2.5 million for even talking to another school about a job. Wetherell couldn’t be reached Thursday, but in an interview with The Tribune in February, he said there was never any consideration to penalize Fisher financially for talking to the Mountaineers.

Wetherell wants Fisher to be the person to replace Bowden, and forcing Fisher to fork over all that cash probably would put a damper in the relationship.

According to FSU officials, Wetherell’s commitment to Fisher hasn’t changed following the release of a transcript of Pastilong’s deposition in the lawsuit between WVU and Rodriguez. In the deposition, Pastilong said “following Rich’s official resignation, I had telephone conversations with Jimbo Fisher.’’

Of course he did. The West Virginia job was Fisher’s if he wanted it, and Pastilong was the man making the hire.

Now, if Fisher ever talks to Jeremy Foley about a job, guess here is Jimbo better head to the bank as soon as he hangs up the phone.

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In the spring of 2007, Florida State center Ryan McMahon was an unknown commodity who anyone around the FSU football program had hardly ever noticed.

That was before first-year offensive line coach Rick Trickett saw him, fell in love with his work ethic, and made him the Seminoles’ starting center last season. McMahon took every snap in 2007, and enters the 2008 season as one of the nation’s top centers.

If you’re looking for validation, McMahon is one of 42 centers on the initial watch list for the Rimington Trophy. Here is the official press release:

New York—Florida State center Ryan McMahon is one of 42 centers on the initial watch list for the Rimington Trophy. The award is sponsored by the Boomer Esiason Foundation and is presented to the top center in America. A Seminole has never won the trophy in its nine-year history.

McMahon, a converted defensive lineman, went on to have one of the best seasons in America by a young center. He was the only freshman or sophomore in the FBS to take every offensive snap for his team at the center position. The Rome, GA native was named a Rivals First Team Freshman All-American, College Football News First Team Freshman All-American, AON/FWAA Freshman All-American, TSN Second Team Freshman All-American, Sporting News All-ACC Freshman Team, Rivals All-ACC Freshman Team and Miami Herald All-Florida Team.

In 2007 McMahon graded out either first or second seven times in 13 games and was the top lineman in games versus Miami, Maryland and Duke. Three times in 2007 he went an entire game without missing an assignment and he was not flagged for a penalty all year despite being on the field for every single offensive snap. McMahon allowed just two sacks in 959 plays and recorded 20 knockdowns and in a system where a grade of 68% is passing, McMahon graded out at 78% or better seven times in pass blocking.

Past recipients of the Rimington Trophy include Nebraska’s Dominic Raiola, Ohio State’s LeCharles Bentley, Miami’s Brett Romberg, Virginia Tech’s Jake Grove, co-winners Michigan’s David Baas and LSU’s Ben Wilkerson, Minnesota’s Greg Eslinger, West Virginia’s Dan Mozes and Arkansas’ Jonathan Luigs.  Since its inception, the Rimington Trophy has raised over $1.3 million for the award’s benefactor, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which is hosted by the Boomer Esiason Foundation that to date has raised over $65 million for CF research.

Rimington, the award’s namesake, was a consensus first team All-America Center at Nebraska in 1981 and 1982, during which time he became the John Outland Trophy’s only double winner as the nation’s finest college interior lineman.

The Rimington Trophy is a fully accredited member of the National College Football Awards Association. The committee uses these four prestigious teams to determine a winner:

American Football Coaches Association
Walter Camp Foundation
The Sporting News
Football Writers Association of America

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Talk about a strange night at Dick Howser Stadium on Wednesday.

Florida State catcher Buster Posey, the ACC’s leading hitter and a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick in next month’s MLB draft, not only struck out twice, but he didn’t get a hit, dropping his average to a measly .444.

Still, that’s not the half of it. The No. 3-ranked Seminoles (40-8) lost to Jacksonville, 7-6.

The last time that happened, Posey had yet to collect his first Little League hit. The Dolphins (25-24) snapped a 25-game losing streak in Tallahassee, knocking off FSU on the road for the first time since May 1, 1991.

“It was a ballgame that undoubtedly we played tired,’’ FSU coach Mike Martin said. “It’s one of those games when we were definitely outplayed. You have to give Jacksonville a lot of credit. We just didn’t play the kind of baseball we had played.’’

FSU returned home late Monday after sweeping a three-game series at Clemson. The Noles rested Tuesday, but it was back to work on Wednesday with a lackluster performance.

The Noles fell behind 4-0 after three innings, but came back to lead 5-4 after six. Jacksonville responded by scoring three in the top of the eighth for only its 11th win in program history (84 games) at FSU.

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Florida State, which faces Boston College in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference softball tournament Thursday in College Park, Md., had four players earn All-ACC honors Wednesday.

OF Carly Wynn was named first-team All-ACC for leading the Noles with a .372 average. OF Whitney Buckmon, IF Brittany Osmon and RHP Tiffany McDonald earned second-team honors.

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First, talented linebacker Marcus Ball left the program on Monday, and on Tuesday, FSU fans learned starting offensive lineman Daron Rose is academically ineligible.

Any good news? Hey, FSU always has Warrick Dunn on its side. The Bucs running back was at it again on Tuesday, donating three homes to Tampa-area families through his charity organization.

Tribune colleague Anwar Richardson shadowed Dunn, and for FSU fans needing a little pick-me-up this morning, check out this story in today’s Tampa Tribune.

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Last season, the University of South Florida’s football team was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation. In Tuesday’s Academic Progress Report (APR), based on the eligibility, retention and graduation of each scholarship student-athlete, the Bulls came in with the nation’s third-lowest APR among BCS football programs.

Only Arizona and Washington State were worse academically than USF among the 67 BCS football programs. The reports are based on NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate (APR) data submitted by each institution for the four academic years between 2003-04 and 2006-07. There is a maximum score of 1,000.

USF was one of four BCS programs that had football and men’s basketball programs with both teams among the lowest 10 APR scores in each sport. The others: Mississippi State, Purdue and South Carolina.

Four BCS programs had football and men’s basketball programs that each ranked among the APR’s highest 10 scores: Duke, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Wake Forest.

Here’s a look at the 10 teams with the best and worst APRs in football and basketball among the six BCS conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and SEC).

Football BCS Top 10 APRs
1. Stanford 986
2 (tie). Duke 977
2 (tie). Rutgers 977
4. Boston College 972
5 (tie). Miami 969
5 (tie). Notre Dame 969
5 (tie). Northwestern 969
8. California 967
9. Georgia 965
10 (tie). Penn State 964
10 (tie). Wake Forest 964
Noteworthy: Six of the top 11 schools played in bowl games last season – and all six (Rutgers, Boston College, Cal, Georgia, Penn State and Wake Forest) won their bowl games. Not surprisingly, the ACC had three teams ranked in the top five and four of the top 11. The Pac-10 had two teams, which is impressive, until you look at the bottom 10 football schools below. Of the six BCS conferences, only the Big 12 was not represented in the BCS Top 10.
Top 3 by conference: ACC (Duke 977, BC 972, Miami 969); Big 10 (Northwestern 969, Penn St. 964, Michigan 951); Big 12 (Oklahoma 942, Texas 942, Nebraska 941); Big East (Rutgers 977, Syracuse 955, UConn 950); Pac-10 (Stanford 986, Cal 967, USC 948, Washington 948); SEC (Georgia 965, Florida 962, Vandy 959).

Football BCS Bottom 10 APRs
1. Arizona 902
2. Washington State 916
3. South Florida 917
4. Kansas 919
5. Purdue 920
6 (tie). Oregon 921
6 (tie). South Carolina 921
8. Mississippi State 924
9 (tie). Michigan State 926
9 (tie). Oregon State 926
Noteworthy: While the ACC dominated the BCS Top 10 APR rankings, not one ACC team could be found in the BCS Bottom 10 APR rankings. The Pac-10, however, took Bottom 10 honors with four teams: No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Washington State and the Oregon duo of the Ducks and the Beavers. As far as last year’s bowl lineup, No. 3 USF and No. 6 Oregon met in the academically challenged Sun Bowl, while the Orange Bowl had the next lowest combined APR bowl matchup with No. 4 Kansas and Virginia Tech, which just missed the Top 10 with the 14th lowest football APR.
Bottom 3 by conference: ACC (Va. Tech 929, NC State 941, Maryland 943); Big 10 (Purdue 920, Mich. St. 926, Minnesota 927); Big 12 (Kansas 919, Iowa St. 927, Texas Tech 928); Big East (USF 917, West Virginia 935, Cincinnati 939); Pac-10 (Arizona 902, Wash. St. 916, Oregon 921); SEC (South Carolina 921, Miss. St. 924, Arkansas 936).

Basketball BCS Top 10 APRs
1. North Carolina 995
2. Villanova 990
3. Illinois 989
4. Vanderbilt 985
5. Duke 984
6. Kansas 981
7. Oregon 975
8. Wake Forest 974
9. Northwestern 972
10. Notre Dame 971
Noteworthy: Each of the six BCS conferences are represented with the ACC (North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest) leading the way. The Big East (Villanova and Notre Dame) and Big 10 (Illinois and Northwestern) each had two representatives. Seven of the top 10 made the NCAA Tournament with three reaching the Sweet 16: Villanova, North Carolina and national champion Kansas.
Top 3 by conference: ACC (North Carolina 995, Duke 984, Wake 974); Big 10 (Illinois 989, Northwestern 972, Penn St. 964); Big 12 (Kansas 981, Missouri 957, Okla. St. 957); Big East (Villanova 990, Notre Dame 971, Syracuse 955); Pac-10 (Oregon 975, UCLA 968, Stanford 954); SEC (Vandy 985, Georgia 958, Arkansas 944).

Basketball BCS Bottom 10 APRs
1. Southern Cal 863
2. Iowa State 869
3. Cincinnati 872
4. Colorado 873
5. Kansas State 880
6. Purdue 894
7 (tie). Indiana 899
7 (tie). South Carolina 899
9. Mississippi State 901
10. South Florida 904
Noteworthy: You won’t find any ACC teams on this list, but you’ll find plenty of Big 12 clubs: No. 2 Iowa State, No. 4 Colorado and No. 5 Kansas State. The SEC (South Carolina and Mississippi State) and Big East (Cincinnati and USF) also were represented by two teams. Five of the BCS Bottom 10 reached the NCAA Tournament, but none won more than one game. The most academically challenged first-round NCAA Tournament game last year: No. 1 Southern Cal vs. No. 5 Kansas State.
Bottom 3 by conference: ACC (Maryland 906, Clemson 920, Georgia Tech 931); Big 10 (Purdue 894, Indiana 899, Ohio St. 909); Big 12 (Iowa St. 869, Colorado 873, Kan. St. 880); Big East (Cincinnati 872, USF 904, DePaul 918, St. John’s 918); Pac-10 (USC 863, Arizona St. 905, Wash. St. 905); SEC (South Carolina 899, Miss. St. 901, Auburn 905).

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Former Florida State power forward Julian Vaughn, a 6-foot-10 freshman who asked for a release from his scholarship last week, is transferring to Georgetown.

The Hoyas recently lost Vernon Macklin, providing an roster slot for Vaughn, who under NCAA transfer rules will have to sit out next season before playing for Georgetown.

Vaughn played in 31 games for the Seminoles last season but wanted to transfer to a school closer to his Washington, D.C.-area home.

“I feel like I can get better and take my game to the next level and pursue my basketball goals,’’ Vaughn told Dave Telep of Scout.com.

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Since I started covering Florida State in the fall of 2006, Brandon Warren is the one player no longer here that I’d like to have seen play more.

As a freshman tight end for the Seminoles, Warren showed the kind of natural ability that makes recruiters spill their coffee when they first see him play. He started shortly after arriving on campus and showed why on the field, hauling in 27 passes in his only season with FSU.

Shortly after leading the Noles out onto the field for the 2006 Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, Warren left school and returned home to be closer to his family. While physically gifted beyond most 18-year-olds, Warren displayed a kind of immaturity that made you question whether he was ready for his time in the spotlight.

The answer turned out to be no. He left FSU in February 2007 and enrolled in at Pellissippi Technical School near his Knoxville-area home with hopes of one day enrolling at Tennessee.
According to The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Warren crossed another hurdle toward his ultimate goal on Friday when he won his appeal to the NCAA that officially released him from his national letter-of-intent with FSU, giving him three more years of eligibility.

Warren still must enroll at Tennessee and be declared academically eligible to play in 2008, but he is now closer to that than at any time since he departed FSU.
If Warren has matured and stays healthy, Tennessee has landed a future star.

Why do you think FSU coach Bobby Bowden was so determined to keep him, and refused to release him from his scholarship.

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Sophomore linebacker Marcus Ball’s disappointing stint at Florida State is over. The school announced Monday that Ball is no longer on the team after asking for a release from his scholarship.

Ball’s career started with promise when he played in the first four games of his freshman season. However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Rice and missed the final nine games.

Ball returned last season, recording 24 tackles and a sack in nine games. He also served a one-game suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules, believed to be a failed drug test based on FSU’s student-athlete code of conduct. A player is forced to serve a one-game suspension for a second failed drug test.

A third failed drug test results in dismissal from the team.  Ball was also implicated in the academic cheating scandal that included more than 20 football players and missed the Music City Bowl. He also faced a three-game suspension at the start of next season if he had stayed.

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Former FSU receiver Damon McDaniel is set to transfer to West Virginia and rejoin his high school coach, Chris Beatty, according to reports from Rivals.com and the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail.

Beatty recently joined the Mountaineers as running backs/slot receivers coach.

McDaniel arrived at FSU from Landstown High in Virginia Beach with lofty expectations in 2006, but the prep teammate of Florida’s Percy Harvin failed to make much of a mark with the Noles.

He caught only three passes as a true freshman, and personal issues prevented him from breaking out as a sophomore. McDaniel missed time and fell behind on the depth chart when he returned home to Virginia for the birth of his son, a life-changing event that prompted McDaniel to transfer to a school closer to home.

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Former Florida State football star Ron Simmons earned election to the College Football Hall of Fame on Thursday, becoming the fourth FSU player to join Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden and former coach Darrell Mudra in the Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, former Seminole great Deion Sanders, considered by many the most talented and important player in FSU history, remains on the outside looking in. Sanders failed for the second consecutive year to earn enough votes from the National Football Foundation members.

As for Simmons, here is the official press release courtesy of Florida State’s sports information department:

Florida State football great Ron Simmons has been chosen as a member of the 2008 Football Bowl Subdivision Hall of Fame Class, Steve Hatchell, President and CEO of The National Football Foundation, announced Thursday.  Simmons, a two-time first team consensus All-American nose guard who played for the Seminoles from 1977-80, was selected from the national ballot of 75 players and eight coaches and a pool of hundreds of nominees.

Simmons and the rest of the 2008 FBS Hall of Fame Class, which includes 13 All-America players and two legendary coaches, will be inducted at The National Football Foundation’s Annual Awards Dinner on December 9, 2008 at New York City’s prestigious Waldorf-Astoria. The class will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend, Ind., in the summer of 2009.

“When I was first notified about it, I couldn’t believe it was true,” Simmons said, “because normally, when honors like these are bestowed upon you, it’s usually late in your life or sometimes even after your dead.  At this point of my life, I am able to enjoy it.  It’s a great honor.  Out of the millions of young men that have played college football, to be chosen among such a select few, it’s unbelievable and a very good honor.  The fact that they considered me worthy just to be in the College Hall of Fame is a dream come true.”

With the induction, Simmons becomes the fourth Florida State football player to earn the distinction. Ron Sellers (1988), Fred Biletnikoff (1991) and Charlie Ward (2006) have also been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as has head coach Bobby Bowden (2006).

When Simmons was signed out of Warner Robins, Ga., he was one of Florida State’s greatest recruiting victories. He made an immediate impact as a freshman and was the difference in his first game at FSU earning national lineman of the week honors. He would finish his first year as The Football News freshman lineman of the year.  The greatest defender in FSU history, Simmons’ number 50 was retired in 1988, making him the first defensive player in FSU history to have his number retired.  FSU’s first two-time consensus All-American (1979 and 1980), he was a finalist for the Lombardi Trophy in 1980.

The powerful middle guard anchored the center of the defense that took FSU to a pair of Orange Bowl appearances in 1979 and 1980, resulting in FSU’s highest national ranking at the time, No. 5 in the final AP poll.  He also led FSU to a Tangerine Bowl and to four consecutive victories over Florida. Simmons, a three-time All-South pick (1978-80), set school records for quarterback sacks in a career (25) and season (12) in 1979, a mark that held top ranking at FSU for 23 years and now ranks among the top five. He ranks second on Florida State’s all- time tackles list (483) and career tackles for loss (44).  Simmons played professionally for a short time for the Cleveland Browns in the NFL and then the Tampa Bay Bandits in the United States Football League before becoming a professional wrestler.  In 1986, he was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.

To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been named a First Team All-America by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams; played their last year of intercollegiate football at least 10 years prior; played within the last 50 years and cannot be currently playing professional football. Coaches must have coached a minimum of 10 years and 100 games as a head coach; won at least 60 percent of their games; and be retired from coaching for at least three years; be retired from coaching and over the age of 70 (no waiting period); or over the age of 75 (active coaches eligible). In both cases, the candidate’s post-football record as a citizen may also be weighed.

Once nominated for consideration, all player candidates are submitted to one of eight District Screening Committees, depending on their geographic location, which conducts a vote to determine who will appear on the ballot and represent their respective districts. Each year, 15 candidates, who are not selected for the Hall of Fame, will be named automatic holdovers and will bypass the district screening process and automatically appear on the ballot the following year. Additionally, the Honors Review Committee may make recommendations to Honors Court for exceptions that allow for the induction of players who played more than 50 years ago and coaches who have not won at least 60 percent of their games.

The ballot was mailed to the more than 12,000 NFF members and current Hall of Famers whose votes will be tabulated and submitted to the NFF’s Honors Court, which deliberates and selects the class. Chaired by Gene Corrigan, a former ACC Commissioner and NCAA president, the 11- member NFF Honors Court includes an elite and geographically diverse pool of athletics directors, conference commissioners, Hall of Famers and members of the media. Of the 4.6 million individuals who have played college football, only 829 players have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. From the coaching ranks, 178 individuals have achieved Hall of Fame distinction.

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One of those NCAA rules that is stupid—actually, most of them are if you want to know my opinion—is how a coach can’t comment about a player until said player has signed a national letter of intent.

The NCAA allows a coach to call that player at different times of the year, allows the coach to talk to a recruit’s cousin or his girlfriend’s best friend or the recruit’s high school coach every day, but if the coach blurps to a reporter on the record something like, “I’m telling you, that Derwin is darn good,’’ the coach commits an NCAA violation.

Stupid we say.

So, what’s the point of all this? Oh, FSU coach Leonard Hamilton finally can talk about Derwin Kitchen, the sixth member of FSU’s 2008 recruiting class.

FSU has received Kitchen’s letter of intent. So, Coach Hamilton, what can you tell us about Kitchen? Is he a good cook?

“We are very excited about Derwin and his future as a Seminole basketball player,’’ Hamilton said. “His size and athletic ability will allow him to fit in with the players on our team and with the recruits we will have joining our team for the upcoming season.  His skills will be a tremendous complement to the players on our roster.  He will help make his teammates better and his new teammates will help make him a better player during his career as a Seminole.”

For the record, Kitchen is a 6-foot-4 gaurd from Iowa Western Community College, where he averaged 14 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season. He is a former Florida signee from Jacksonville who went the JuCo route after failing to qualify.

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TALLAHASSEE – Former Florida State running back William Floyd is replacing Peter Tom Willis as FSU’s radio color analyst.

Willis was recently fired after 10 seasons for being too critical of the Seminoles in the past.

Floyd, who was FSU’s starting fullback in 1993 when the Noles won their first national title, will join play-by-play announcer Gene Deckerhoff in the booth.

“I’m ecstatic about working with one of the best play-by-play personalities in all of sports,’’ Floyd said Wednesday. “I’m garnet and gold down to the marrow. I love Florida State and I love the program. It really doesn’t get any better than this. I can’t wait for August to get here so I can watch practice and see how the team looks.’’

A former star at St. Pete Lakewood, Floyd spent three seasons with the Noles before being drafted in the first round of the 1994 NFL draft by San Francisco. He played seven seasons in the NFL, retiring in 2000 following three seasons with Carolina.

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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