I know it's been a rough year, friends.

I know the first 358 days of 2020 haven't exactly been scattered, smothered and covered with joy. I know we're all just counting down the days until 2021, when we can finally turn the page on this horror show of a year and hope -- with all our hearts -- that our world will be turned right-side-up again.

With that in mind, I thought we could get a kickstart on what absolutely has to be a better year (jinx alert!) with a visit from your favorite Warchant.com character, Santa Clark.

He's like Santa Claus in most ways, except he drinks Mich Ultra, not milk; he isn't morbidly obese like the dude in the North Pole; he doesn't have long white hair like he's a roadie for the Doobie Brothers; and he hates flying on any aircraft, let alone some unregulated sleigh being piloted by a red-nosed freak of a reindeer.

Other than that though, the similarities are eerie.

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And like Claus, Santa Clark is also able to grant wishes around the holidays. Only his pertain exclusively to Florida State athletics (which is a very niche market admittedly, but if any fan base needs some Christmas miracles, it's this one, am I right?).

So without further delay, here are some wishes for the coming year that Santa Clark will see come true.

1. Mike Norvell gets some cool toys

He's already unwrapped one in McKenzie Milton. Let's hope the 2021 model is as fun as the 2017 and 2018 ones were. But the Florida State head coach is going to need a few more toys to make this a memorable Christmas. Luckily for him, and really every other head coach in the country, the Transfer Portal has turned college football into a 24-hour shopping mall, with no lines and no hassle. It's like Amazon if it delivered instantaneously.

Having Milton is great. But Norvell desperately -- and I don't use that word loosely -- needs some wide receivers to join the cause. Maybe a current freshman or two steps up and becomes a playmaker, but it's fair to question what their potential is when they couldn't make a real impact at all on THIS team, with THESE receivers on the roster.

I like what Norvell and Dillingham did with the offense this year, once they catered it to Jordan Travis. But at some point, no matter who the quarterback is, receivers have to go make plays in space, they have to go make plays down the field, they just have to go make plays, period. And other than a couple of grabs by Ontaria Wilson, this group did virtually nothing in that department in 2020.

So here's hoping the Transfer Portal delivers Norvell a big-time wideout for Christmas. And maybe a defensive end, too! And a safety! And a linebacker! And ... well, you get the idea. My man has a few needs to fill.

2. Jordan Travis stays healthy

I don't know if he's FSU's staring quarterback in 2021. For that to happen, he's going to have to beat out a player who has accounted for 92 touchdowns in his career. But no matter how the QB situation shakes out next year, a healthy Jordan Travis should be a BIG part of the Seminoles' plans.

We sometimes seemed to collectively shrug our shoulders about Travis's ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. Like it was almost normal.

Oh, he just made two guys miss on that 30-yard TD run? OK. Oh, he just snaked through three defenders to pick up a first down on third-and-7? Cool. Oh, he just outraced an entire secondary for an 88-yard touchdown? Neat.

What Travis did in 2020 wasn't normal. He didn't just make defenders miss, he made them look foolish. He's the best runner FSU has ever had at that position. He was arguably the best running quarterback in the country this season, and he was inarguably the best playmaker on the Florida State team. I think he can be a dynamic quarterback on the college level. I think he has a chance to be special. Because I think he throws it well enough to keep defenses honest. But ... none of it matters if he can't stay healthy.

So, here's hoping his body reacts better to the grind of a college football season than it did in 2020. And here's hoping he continues to make an impact on the FSU team and be appreciated by this fan base. Because as bad as this season might have been, if it wasn't for Jordan Travis, it might have been an 0-9 one. I truly believe that.

3. Adam Fuller finds some peace on earth

It would appear that the defensive coordinator's job is secure heading into next season. You can argue the merits of that, and I'm not here to try to convince you he did a good job. Because he didn't. It was the worst Florida State defense in at least 45 years. Maybe the worst of all time.

But this is where we are. A coordinator going into his second year, with a roster void of any obvious NFL talent, trying to figure out a way to turn an awful defense into, at the very least, a mediocre one.

So my wish for Fuller is that he finds a way to coach better.

That might seem harsh, but Santa Clark ain't that tub of yuletide goo, Santa Claus. He doesn't sugarcoat things! I have no doubt Adam Fuller is very intelligent and understands defensive football. I have no doubt he knows where his players should be, what schemes work best against certain looks, etc., etc. But there was some sort of disconnect this season between his teaching and the players' learning.

Because they got worse as the season wore on, not better. Duke got shut out the week before it played Florida State. Then, in what turned out to be the season finale, it put up 35 points on the Seminoles. Some of that with a backup QB.

So, whatever was going on in 2020 (and listen, I know there are some legitimate excuses for many of the issues), it doesn't need to happen again in 2021. Whether the Transfer Portal rains presents down on Fuller or not, the only way he's going to have any peace by next Christmas is if this unit begins to look like an actual college football defense. And not whatever it was we saw this past year.

4. A Final Four for Hamilton

I would have put this higher on the list, but I liked the symmetry of using the Final Four as the No. 4 wish. It also happens to be the number of his best player, a kid named Scottie who has already given us plenty of flashes of potential greatness on the basketball court. He's not there yet, but he's also played just six college games.

Even with Barnes, and the continuing evolving play of Anthony Polite and M.J. Walker, this team isn't as talented as last year's unit. That's not a stunning proclamation, of course. Last year's team had two lottery picks and Trent Forrest for crying out loud. What does it say about FSU's program, by the way, that Patrick Williams has already started more games in the NBA than he did in his lone college season?

Anyway, Hamilton's team lost some serious talent. But that doesn't mean they aren't good enough to make yet another run. Hamilton's teams have made a habit in recent years of finding their stride late in the season. Barnes is going to get even better. Roles will be figured out. The defense will improve.

And perhaps this team will continue to win enough to get into the NCAA Tournament and then make a historic run once it begins. There are many people who believe last year's FSU team would have won the national championship. There's no way of knowing that, obviously, but it certainly had all the pieces (NBA talent, selflessness, senior leadership, confidence) to cut down the nets.

We don't know if this versions has all those characteristics quite yet. I do know that Leonard Hamilton has accomplished just about everything you can as a head coach, including being a nominee this year for the Basketball Hall of Fame. The one thing he hasn't done is reach a Final Four.

And how fitting would it be to get there the year AFTER his best-ever team had its season cut short?

I think I'd even fly on a death-trap sleigh to make that a reality.

5. And finally ... here's a wish that we all have a Happy New Year

I usually stay pretty optimistic. Truly, I do. Don't let my snarky columns or my Santa Clark persona or my Atlanta sports fandom fool you into thinking I'm a pessimistic person. I'm not.

I genuinely enjoy life. More specifically, I enjoy MY life.

I have a great job that almost never feels like "real" work. I am forever grateful that this is my occupation. I am also very thankful to be at Warchant, working with the people I get to work with. And I don't take it for granted that I get to write and talk about sports for a living. Especially not this year.

I have a 12-year-old son who actually seems to like his old man. (We'll see how long that lasts, because we've just turned the corner, punched the gas and are heading straight toward the teenage years!) But for now, he seems to enjoy my company. He has a big heart. He gets good grades (though we're still trying to improve those study habits!), he's turned into a pretty good baseball player, and just last week he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in his rec league basketball game!

I didn't get to see it because I was in Tallahassee working, but afterward he Facetimed me and told me all about it. The look on his face, as he was telling the person he knew a game-winning shot mattered to most in the world, was a look and a conversation I'll never forget. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face as he shared all the details. Just an all-time great Clark moment!

I have an ex-wife who still genuinely seems to like me as well. Or at least tolerate me. And we're co-parenting as well as we possibly can. There's a mutual respect there that didn't dissolve, even when the marriage did. That's something I'll never take for granted either.

I also have a great girlfriend. (Although I still contend this is a very strange word to use for people in their 40s. It's crazy to me that the teenager I dated in high school and the mother of two I'm dating now are given the same title. But that's where we are.) And Stephanie has been a great partner (maybe that's the word!) through the last 3 1/2 years. I can't imagine my life without her in it. Ever.

And here's the point of this long diatribe about my life: It wasn't to brag, I promise. Plus, I really do have a girlfriend. She's real. I'm not making her up!

No, the point of this was to admit that even with a life I enjoy so much, even with a life full of love and laughs and long columns like this one, there was a slight bout of depression early on during this pandemic. When I wondered if I would have a job, if I would get to see my son play sports, if there would be any sports at all in 2020, if I would infect my mom, if I would ever just be able to drink a beer with buddies, if the important people in my life would get out of this virus with their jobs and families and health intact.

I know I wasn't alone.

And even as the billion-dollar sports machines cranked up, even as we wrote and talked about touchdowns, dunks, Norvell, Fuller, Travis and Barnes and everyone else, there has been a pall over all of it. And that most certainly includes watching in utter shock as Florida's Keyontae Johnson was stretchered off the court at the Tucker Center a few weekends ago.

That was just another reminder that nothing -- and I mean nothing -- has felt normal about this college sports season so far.

I'm lucky. Mine was just a slight bout of depression. I know it's been much harder for some of you.

I haven't had anyone in my orbit die of COVID, I haven't had anyone even hospitalized, but I know some of you have. And I'm sorry. I know some of you lost your jobs. I'm sorry for that, too. Sincerely.

It's been a dark, dark year.

But there's a light starting to break through. Hopefully, within a few months, everyone reading this will be able to get the vaccine. The numbers of cases will plummet, the deaths will stop, and the world will be turned right-side-up again (and we can get back to Warchant.com writers sticking to FSU sports, am I right?).

Seriously, sorry to get so heavy with you guys, but I couldn't write about a Christmas wish list without including the biggest wish of them all: That we all get to -- and then through -- 2021 safely.

With that, thank you for reading. Thank you for staying with us. Thank you for being a part of this site. It means more to us than you'll ever know.

So, please, have yourself a Merry Christmas and (please, please, please) a Happy New Year!

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.

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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council