On The Bench: An FSU football podcast network

FSU is confident that its offense will be markedly better this season. We're hearing that enough to the point where we're starting to buy in on a major turnaround on offense in 2019. Chris Nee and Brendan Sonnone share their reasons for optimism in the latest episode of OTB.

Florida State offensive coordinator Kendal Briles sat down with members of the media for nearly 20 minutes to preview the 2019 season.  FSU's new OC went over his quarterbacks, the collection of skill talent, his relationship with Randy Clements and more in the interview.

Willie Taggart  has "seen this movie before" when it comes to building a program. Past experiences at Western Kentucky, USF and Oregon give him confidence that Florida State is on the right track, despite a forgettable first year.   Joey Knight, the USF beat writer at the Tampa Bay Times, recounts the Taggart tenure at USF and how he saw patience pay off. Will a similar blueprint be executed at FS...

Florida State is more than halfway through preseason camp, and the Seminoles are starting to figure some things out. Sometimes that clarity can be really good and sometimes confirmation can be negative, but it’s often a little of both. That’s the case so far as FSU continues to sort out its roster and tries to maximize its talent in Year 2 under Willie Taggart. Chris Nee, Josh Newberg and Brendan...

Florida State is rolling on the recruiting trail.  The Seminoles, a week after landing Jaylan Knighton, landed another four-star running back commit: Lawrance Toafili.   Toafili’s pledge gives FSU one of the top 1-2 running back punches in the 2020 recruiting cycle, and some additional momentum on the trail. On The Bench breaks down the Toafili and Knighton commits, who’s left on the running back...

FSU is four days into preseason camp. The team is still very much so a work in progress, but trends are becoming clear and positions are already becoming solidified.

What a weekend for Florida State. The Seminoles exit Sunday with three public commits from the Saturday Night Live recruiting event, and two more are expected in the next couple days. On The Bench goes over the significance of this weekend, analyzes the commitments from Morven Joseph, Thomas Shrader and Lloyd Willis, and lets you know how we expect the next 48 hours to get even better for Willie T...

Chris Nee and Josh Newberg have worked for weeks to put together an extensive list of visitors for SNL, and the two hop on the bench to share their intel. Who’s on commit watch? Who could pull an FSU offer? Are there some potential surprises? 

Florida State’s branding decisions have been scrutinized, by some, in recent years. Remember the “Keep This Chief” movement when FSU updated its logo in 2014? Or the outrage after viewers struggled to read uniform numbers on FSU’s road jerseys in the 2014 opener? And most recently, Jameis Winston pushing for FSU to change its numbers on home jerseys to white? TaReef KnockOut, a Tallahassee rapper...

FSU coach Willie Taggart said James Blackman will get the initial first-team reps to begin preseason camp, but he expects Alex Hornibrook to compete for the starting job. What should we make of Taggart's comments from ACC Kickoff? Chris Nee and Brendan Sonnone read between the lines in the latest episode of Noles247's On The Bench podcast. Plus we go over whether or not FSU is toying with a 3-4 sc...

Florida State landed two key commitments during our time off, so we’re playing catch-up in the latest episode of On The Bench. Newberg, Nee and Sonnone breakdown WR pledge Ja'Khi Douglas and DT commit Manny Rogers while also taking a closer look at FSU’s running back board (and why fans  recently went after the position coach via social media).

Noles247 Analyst Josh Newberg sits down with long time Florida State fan and comedian Benji Brown for this one-on-one interview.  Brown reminisces over his time becoming an FSU fan, performing in the locker room for Jameis Winston and the 2013 team, to how he thinks FSU will fare in 2019.  

Is it time to panic for FSU?  Not yet, but a slow month of recruiting in June shows how small the margin for error is for the Seminoles moving forward. It seems evident now that FSU needs a strong showing during its Saturday Night Live event later this month, and then a good debut against Boise State to get momentum back.

Voices lend themselves to the end of Jimbo Fisher's tenure at FSU, although the most noteworthy development in an in-depth Bleacher Report article could've come in a throwaway line. On The Bench goes over the article, matching it to what we've reported over the past year or so...and looks at what we learned. Was it noteworthy about the voices we heard from? Did Willie Taggart get absolved too much...

Florida State had a couple dozen high-priority players on campus this weekend during its football camp. Noles247’s On The Bench recaps a weekend that included visits from RB Jaylan Knighton, WR Michael Redding III and RB Keyvone Lee. Josh Newberg and Zach Blostein share their thoughts and intel from camp in the latest episode.

The long offseason reached its pinnacle this past week, when former FSU players engaged in Twitter beef while fans sat by and watched the drama among the program. Trey Rowland of The Rowlcast joins On The Bench to give his thoughts on how the program is being perceived by fans, how to help Brendan Sonnone become more likable and give his view on the 40 Most Important 'Noles of 2019.

Legends don’t come around very often. So when they do, it’s probably best to take the time to listen to what they have to say. With that in mind, we were lucky to get a legend On The Bench this week. Continuing the “Meet” series with Josh Newberg, we had Larry Blustein join the show. Larry Blustein has covered recruiting/preps in South Florida for decades, helping pave the way for the widespread r...

Florida State had an active weekend in several areas: Recruiting, baseball and the Twittersphere. Noles247’s On The Bench has you covered with a recap on the following... --FSU’s Big Man Camp, 7-on-7--Some Miami Booker T. Washington players stand out--The recruitment of tight end Sage Ennis (and Lou Dorsey)--Twitter beef with among former FSU players, and current members of program--A weekend to r...

On The Bench starts with a summary of Willie Taggart’s spring booster tour, and the balancing act he faces between building confidence among the fan base without overselling a team still in the process of a rebuild. On the recruiting front, we drop some intel on FSU targets Sage Ennis and Thomas Shrader, go over the top seven list for Richie Leonard (plus Sonnone’s prophetic dream?), and recent vi...

Three defensive backs make this portion of Noles247's 40 Most Important Players, as does a specialist and a late addition to the list. Chris Nee and Brendan Sonnone breakdown No. 35-31 in this episode of On The Bench.

Is Florida State's offensive line in better shape now than it was a year ago?  That remains to be seen. But losing Landon Dickerson, at least for the 2019 season, seems like it represents a substantial setback. The guys at On The Bench weigh what Dickerson's loss truly means and what FSU's line looks like without him. Plus Nee was on the bench this past week (sort of) and gets you caught up on the...

On The Bench goes over a cornucopia of football and recruiting topics: Defensive end depth following Xavier Peters' departure, the most important players in 2019, new crystal balls for the 'Noles, and Twitter narratives/rumors.

247Sports national recruiting analyst Charles Power has been fascinated by the Briles' offense since he was a student at South Carolina, watching Houston spread it out vs. USC. Power joins On The Bench's Josh Newberg to go over why he loves what Kendal Briles does on offense, how it can work at FSU, his thoughts on quarterback recruiting, and more.

Florida State has a new(ish) athletic director and an academic mess to fix from the previous regime...and things are devolving quickly in Gainesville. Noles247’s On The Bench goes over the latest happenings in the world of FSU athletics in the latest podcast.

Marvin Jones. Derrick Brooks. Paul McGowan.  These legendary Florida State linebackers -- at the heart of some of college football’s most dominant defenses in the 1980s and 1990s -- were molded by Wally Burnham. Burnham, joining Noles247’s On The Bench podcast, chats with Josh Newberg as he recalls the joys of coaching guys like Jones and Brooks, working with Bobby Bowden, defending Kendal Briles’...