Alex Atkins expresses gratitude for Florida State's team-first mentality

Florida State caps their solid season off with a bowl game this week, as do many of America’s college football program. Ahead of the 2022 season finale, FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins is taking some time to appreciate the young men he’s gotten to coach this year.

According to him, it’s been a special group that he’s had a blast with. Also, a very good group of characters in the Seminole locker room, per Atkins:

“Well yeah, I mean, I’m blessed to just be around a group of guys that want to be around each other. You know, the way you kind of create a good team is when the guys want to play for somebody else. Like: I don’t want to let you down. And I think we got a lot of that. Every coach talks about brotherhood and teammates and love and family. All that sounds good until you have to make a decision that was greater for the team than it is for yourself. And I think we see a lot of that.

“Now we’re also going to protect them from from themselves too, you know. It’s our job to monitor and make sure they’re doing a good job and make sure we give them the best possible things for their future. But, you know, you want it where you have to protect them from themselves, because all they can think about is not letting their teammates down and that’s a blessing to have.”

Alex Atkins also went on explain the program’s mindset towards practice, where each and every day is “fourth and one” for Florida State.

“There’s a consequence kind of mindset every play. You know, coaches try to use this phrase: Every day is fourth and one. So I think that competition level has got to be on point. Just raises yourself more. Now, we don’t have a dog eat dog mentality, meaning basically…hey, I’m just gonna throw this out there and whoever comes out, you know, now we want to teach and develop and put you in a good situations to have success. But also, you got to be on point to be able to be on that field at Florida State.”

With leadership like Atkins and head coach Mike Norvell, Florida State is headed for more successful seasons with great dudes on the team too.