FSU runs a pro-style offense, but
Jimbo Fisher’s playbook is complex even by NFL standards.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter spent plenty of time familiarizing himself with FSU’s playbook the last couple of months as his franchise committed itself to learning as much as it could about
Jameis Winston. The Bucs eventually took Winston No. 1 overall, partially because the Bucs viewed Winston as the most pro-ready quarterback prospect in the
2015 NFL Draft.
“Heck, Florida State was probably installing more stuff per day [this spring] than we do,"
Koetter told reporters at the Bucs' rookie camp on Monday. "I’ve known about Jimbo Fisher and his style of offense for a long time, they truly do run an NFL-style system. They ask a lot of their guys, mentally.
“Jameis is as well prepared as most any guy could be right now.”
Lovie Smith said the night the Bucs drafted Winston. “You look at, Jimbo did a great job at Florida State, and we saw him in a lot of the same situations that you’ll see him in in the NFL. That was just a part of it.”
Fisher’s offensive philosophy has often been described as complex; his quarterbacks are asked to make several reads and checks on passing plays, and receivers are required to know how to run a full route tree and usually have different options on what patterns to run based on what a defense does in coverage.
The sophistication of this offense increased under Winston, who had the innate ability to quickly learn concepts and then properly apply them.
Fisher has stellar success sending quarterbacks to the NFL; FSU’s past three starting quarterbacks (Winston, E.J. Manuel and
Christian Ponder) have all been first-round draft picks, which has never been done before. Ponder has not lived up to his first-round billing and Manuel was benched last season, but Fisher’s offense has at least provided a comfort level among NFL coaches and executives during the evaluation process. That, in turn, has become a recruiting tool for Fisher.
“I just don’t understand, if you go to a university and you want to major in business, you’re not going to take music classes,” Fisher said last month. “You have to take music but you don’t take a bunch. You take business classes. Or if you’re in music you take music classes and not a lot of business classes. Well, if you want to be an NFL player, play in an NFL system on offense, on defense and special teams. To me that only helps you become that.”
Email Brendan at [email protected]. Follow Brendan's FSU coverage on Twitter at @OSFSU
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