From TV booth, analyst Tim Hasselbeck has had bird's-eye view of FSU Football's dramatic improvement

Tim Hasselbeck first realized something was very different about this Florida State football team when he sat down to watch film last week in preparation to broadcast the Seminoles’ game against Boston College.

The first big giveaway from that footage of FSU’s early season victories against LSU and Louisville was the play of the offensive line.

“It was like, ‘Man, they’re moving people,'” Hasselbeck told Warchant in a phone interview Friday afternoon.

For Hasselbeck, who had called other FSU games in recent years, it was a stark contrast to the porous pass-protection and ineffective run-blocking he had seen so many times from the Seminoles. He watched with surprise as FSU’s running backs actually got to make their first cuts past the line of scrimmage, as opposed to in the backfield.

“And all three of their backs look really, really good,” Hasselbeck said of Treshaun Ward, Trey Benson and Lawrance Toafili.

The second sign for the former NFL quarterback-turned-television analyst was the way FSU’s coaches talked about their players during conversations before the game.

As part of his gig with ESPN and the ACC Network, Hasselbeck gets to sit down with coaches from each team in the days leading up to games. During those chats, he is able to gather insight into each program’s strengths, weaknesses and areas of concern.

There are times, Hasselbeck said, when he can tell that a coach isn’t really all that engaged with his players. He knows their heights and weights and skills, but he doesn’t really have a close personal connection.

Then there are other times, when those relationships are so strong that it’s palpable.

“I talk to coaching staffs from two different programs every week,” Hasselbeck said. “And it’s just obvious sometimes — when a coach knows about a kid, and knows his family and his siblings. And knows if the kid’s having a hard time, or if he’s playing with a lot of confidence, or if he’s not. It’s obvious when a coach knows that or doesn’t know that. And I think that matters as much as technique.

“Most of the coaches at this level know how to coach technique. But are they relating to the kid well? When the kid drifts off, are they able to bring him back in? All those things matter.”

And through his conversations with head coach Mike Norvell, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, offensive coordinator Alex Atkins and others on the staff, Hasselbeck said it was glaringly apparent how connected FSU’s current coaches are with their players.

For that reason — along with the improved play he saw on tape — it wasn’t a total surprise when he watched from the booth last Saturday night as the Seminoles demolished Boston College, 44-14.

Unlike the Florida State teams he had covered in the past, this one played hard, smart and together.

“Look, people are running the same plays. People are calling the same defenses,” said Hasselbeck, who played six years in the NFL after starring at Boston College. “Do some people coach it a little bit better? Yeah, they do. And some kids are faster than others kids. And some kids are harder to get to the ground than others. And some guys are great at tackling and other guys aren’t.

“But having said all that, it’s still people. It is still about people. And when you feel like somebody really knows you and has been honest with you and you trust them, you’re gonna do things different. You’re gonna do some things that maybe you don’t want to do because it’s ultimately less about you and more about the goal that everyone is trying to achieve.

“They have pointed this program in that direction. They 100 percent have done that.”

As Florida State prepares to face Wake Forest today at 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC), Hasselbeck vividly remembers calling the Seminoles’ game against the Demon Deacons three years ago in Winston-Salem, N.C.

It was Willie Taggart’s second season as FSU’s head coach, and the Seminoles suffered a 22-20 defeat. Taggart would be fired two weeks later after getting blown out at home by Miami.

Hasselbeck recalls thinking at the time that it didn’t make sense how poorly FSU performed in certain areas, particularly on the offensive line. While the talent might have dropped off a bit, he knew that it wasn’t a position bereft of ability. He pointed out that players such as Baveon Johnson and Dontae Lucas were among the highest-rated players at their positions coming out of high school.

“Why are they not playing well? Why are they not moving people?” Hasselbeck remembers asking himself.

Then he watched FSU’s offensive line perform last Saturday against Boston College, when it paved the way for four rushing touchdowns and a career-high 321 passing yards from Jordan Travis — with Travis playing just 2 1/2 quarters — and Hasselbeck said he couldn’t think of another OL group that has made those types of strides.

“You can just tell, they’re building an offensive line culture. Like an offensive line standard and identity,” he said. “I thought that offensive line group, from the Wake Forest game that I called at Wake Forest to now, it’s probably the most improved group that I’ve seen.”

And they are blocking for Travis, who now is one of the top-rated passers in college football after being thought of as an athlete lining up at quarterback for the first few years of his career.

While many believe that Travis has dramatically improved his skills and ability to read defenses seemingly overnight, Hasselbeck isn’t so sure that’s the difference. He thinks what has helped Travis the most is that he finally has a coaching staff that fully believes in his passing ability and has made it clear to him that they know he can win games with his arm.

“If you’re a really good runner, which he always has been, not only do you naturally want to rely on that, but you end up playing for coaches that want to use it,” Hasselbeck said. “So you call these designed quarterback runs. And then when you talk about a pass play, you say to the kid, ‘Hey, if it’s not there, go make a play (with your legs).’ And then you compliment him when he does.

“So even if you’re not overtly saying, ‘Hey, don’t throw it,’ the message sometimes that the player is hearing is, ‘We’re better when you’re running.'”

On top of that, Hasselbeck believes it’s unfair in general to judge the accuracy of mobile quarterbacks because of the physical demands of running the ball so often. Travis, for example, is averaging less than four carries per game this season; last year, he averaged 13.4.

So that might help account for his completion percentage rising from 62.9 to 65.9, as well as his improved decision making.

“I believe this to my core,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s unfair to judge guys as passers that run the football the way that some guys are asked to run the football. It’s unfair to judge them the same way as guys that aren’t asked to do that. …

“It’s the same philosophy as this: I can go shoot and make 10 foul shots in a row. But if you make me run up and down the basketball court 20 times and then make 10 shots, I’m gonna miss a bunch of them. … So you have to consider what you’re asking of a guy as a runner and when you ask him to throw the ball.”

Then there is the relationship aspect, which Hasselbeck noted repeatedly during his pregame conversations.

The coaches explained there was a “disconnect” between the players on the roster when they arrived in Tallahassee in late 2020, which was understandable after two coaching changes in the previous 24 months. There had been a revolving door of position coaches and coordinators, and the players had no idea who they could trust.

It has taken some time — and the removal of some players and the additions of others — but those issues now seem long gone as the Seminoles take a 4-0 record and No. 22/23 national ranking into today’s home game against No. 21/22 Wake Forest (3-1).

*ALSO SEE: Matchup Analysis: Complete breakdown of FSU Football vs. Wake Forest

Even before watching FSU dismantle BC last Saturday, Hasselbeck said he could sense things were totally different by the way Norvell talked about Travis, and how the other coaches discussed their players.

“I feel like he really knows him — like really knows him as a player. He really knows his path and what he’s been through. And where he’s going,” Hasselbeck said. “I think they’ve done a good job of really getting to know the players, and they’ve worked to put the players in good situations.

“And I think it’s created trust. I think it’s created a good culture. I think ultimately that’s showing itself on the field.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.