Link Jarrett describes emotions of getting Florida State over the hump of regional round

While Florida State leads in all-time berths in the Super Regionals, the Seminoles hadn’t been there since 2019. They have found their way back, though, with them hosting a Tallahassee Super Regional this weekend at Dick Howser for the first time since 2017.

Link Jarrett discussed what it’s like to get the program back to that round during his postgame press conference following their 12-4 win over UCF to sweep the Tallahassee Regional. He said it felt great as the realization of an expectation that the ‘Noles had set well before they ever started this season.

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“This is great,” said Jarrett. “I expected to do this. This is what I wanted to do. It’s not easy. We talked about this all fall, all spring, into the season.”

“To perform consistently with athletic, talented players gives you an opportunity to sit where we’re sitting right now,” Jarrett said. “That’s what this is about.”

Florida State returned to the NCAA Tournament this year after missing last season in Jarrett’s debut leading the program. In that season, they went 23-31 (9-21) overall for their first-ever losing record and missed the field entirely for the first time in four decades.

That historically poor finish obviously left the Seminoles very frustrated. It also forced the program to reevaluate everything to ensure that it wouldn’t occur again.

“It was as bad as it gets. I knew we had to make some roster maneuvers. It took one day to realize what we needed to do. Looking ahead to try to deepen the roster – gain some experience, become more athletic, cover the pitching staff with some depth and some left-handed arms. It was really tough. As you’re going through that, you better be recruiting and you better create a roster that you feel like puts you in this position. It’s not easy,” Jarrett said. “As you’re going through that, you’re saying, ‘This cannot and will not happen again’. Now how do you solve it? The only thing you can do is try to coach them the best you can last year and then try to manage the roster and recruit.”

Whatever Florida State did worked emphatically with them posting a 45-15 (17-12) record this year. That 22-win improvement is the best such leap in school history.

They played for the ACC Championship in Charlotte before becoming the No. 8 overall seed nationally, which earned them the right to host both a Regional and Super Regional at Mike Martin Field. Their response also included the outcomes of their last three games with a 7-2 victory over Stetson and a combined score of 17-6 over the Knights.

The Seminoles had to put 2023 behind them the best that they could. They did exactly that with what they’ve managed to do to this point of 2024.

“Last year? It was what it was. Not much we can do. Zero we can do,” said Jarrett. “This is the attention now and I’m proud. It’s about them. They went and did this. We helped get them here. They went, performed, and executed.”

This isn’t the end for Florida State, though. They’re now going to play for more against UConn in hopes of now making their potential return to the College World Series.