We’re not PBU, we’re DBU:” Norvell pushing FSU defense to “focus on the finish” during Jacksonville road trip -- interview with Norvell, DL Coach Terrance Knighton and DL Deante McCray
Over the last week, a common complaint has found a home amidst head coach Mike Norvell’s practice evaluations — missed opportunities.
Even when complimentary of his team’s mindset, approach, execution and potential, he’s found himself repeatedly expressing disappointment in the lack of fully taking advantage of moments that hold even more weight when the season rolls around, particularly on the defensive side.
“We’ve had some opportunities to to create takeaways defensively, left a few of them out there, really within all three groups,” he said following Thursday’s practice in Jacksonville. “Plenty of people are happy with PBU. We’re not PBU University. We’re DBU University. You got to go make the play. Go finish the play, put yourself in position. You have to be able to finish in those moments — when you’re back there [during a game], the entire stadium when a defensive player is “oh, oh man.” Those are game-changers, ones that absolutely impact the course of all things, so it’s one of the things we’re really emphasizing — the focus to the finish.“
The hope is that the Seminoles’ road trip to Jacksonville, an annual excursion under Norvell, will accelerate both the understanding of expectations and the team-building that occurs in the dog days of summer.
“They understand the opportunity that we have,” Norvell said. “You get an opportunity to come be in a place where it’s just us and our guys know that. Everybody’s got their own unique journey, our own backstories and when you get to spend time together and get to know a little bit more of somebody’s why, when you get to really spend more of that quality time, it just continues to bring you together.”
Defensive line coach Terrance Knighton’s backstory includes Jacksonville, where he spent three years after being selected by the Jaguars in the 2009 NFL Draft, a fact not lost on lineman Deante McCray — himself having spent time in Duval.
“It’s awesome to be in a room like that,” McCray said. “Like he’s been where we’re all trying to get to. So, we’re going to listen to what he says. He’s really relatable. He’s seen it. He’s coached it. He’s seen it all. Like, you know what I’m saying? That’s a guy where you believe everything he says. No question. Like, he wants you to run in a wall 100 miles per hour, you gonna run into a wall 100 miles per hour.”
Knighton has seen his example embraced by his unit, to a degree that they’ve begun emulating his personality. Asked if he brought up any tales from his days in a Jaguars uniform, he said his players beat him to the punch.
“They do it all the time. They give me crap about it,” he joked, saying “they pull up old YouTube videos and things like that — obviously I tell them I was the best ever, so they go and look for film on it. We have a good time with it, they were like, “Oh, coach, you’re back in Jacksonville. Are you going to cry?” And then all you know, all this stuff. But we have a good time, man, you always know your group as a position coach takes on your personality. So, I’m used to the banter and the locker room talk. So, we’re having a lot of fun with it.”
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