Jimbo Fisher Not Thrilled Florida State To Play On 5-Day Turnaround

November 2, 2011 /
PalmBeachPost.com, Tom D’Angelo
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/seminolepost/2011/11/02/florida-state-coach-jimbo-fisher-says-five-day-turnaround-for-a-football-game-is-hardest-thing-to-do-in-sports/

If Jimbo Fisher had his way, Florida State would be sitting at home Thursday night and preparing to fly to Boston on Friday for a Saturday game after a full week of practice.

Fisher understands why FSU is an attractive team to play on a Thursday night but that still doesn’t mean he has to like it. FSU has played a Thursday game eight times in the last 10 years and 12 times in its history.

The Noles are 7-5 all-time on Thursday but just 3-4 in its last seven, all on the road.

Fisher believes the five-day turnaround from one football game to another is the “hardest thing to do in sports.”

“You get into a routine, what you do the next day, how you unwind as a player and start your preparation the next day, watching film, making decisions a lot of time in a day, day and half,” he said. “Now those decisions have to be made quickly. We had to have a practice (Sunday), we worked ahead, making sure you get the right decisions made.”

Fisher and his staff looked at BC film during its bye week in late September and did more work on BC late last week.

“Academically it stretches you and I think physically it stretches you,” said Fisher, who acknowledges it’s equally tough on both teams.

As for the exposure?

“Anytime you get exposure it’s great but everybody’s got exposure now,” he said. “It’s exposure galore. Who isn’t on TV?”

Cornerback Mike Harris said the most difficult part this week was being prepared mentally.

“It wasn’t too tough of a game this past weekend from a physical part of it,” he said of FSU’s 34-0 win over NC State. “So it’s just getting the mental aspect down and just being prepared.”

The grind is more difficult on the team that has to travel. This trip is more than 1,000 miles and the longest of the season for FSU. ACC road teams are 24-34 on Thursday nights.

FSU stopped playing Thursday home games after beating Clemson in 2002. The games would create a logistical nightmare because of parking and classes being held at Doak Campbell Stadium, so school had to be shut down for two days. The university vowed in 2002 it would not allow a football game to determine the academic schedule.

Athletic Director Randy Spetman told Warchant.com the team will explore playing a Thursday home game in the future.

“It’s not a dead issue for the future,” Spetman said. “I think we’ll eventually get one in time but that’s something we’ve got to work on.”


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