Clark: Excitement abounds as FSU Football gets set to open camp

In less than 72 hours, the Florida State football team begins the first traditional preseason practice of the Mike Norvell Era.

Don't worry. I'm not going to sit here and write that last year didn't count. Or that it's a mulligan. Or that we should refer it to as, "Year Zero."

Because that's not reality. We were here. We watched those games -- the ones that were played anyway -- and we were mostly either frustrated or horrified by what we saw.

Those memories are still there. They haven't been zapped out of our brains. So, again, I'm not going to pretend they didn't happen.

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That doesn't mean I can't cut some slack to a first-year head coach in 2020, though.

Because what Mike Norvell and his staff went through -- what we all went through, really -- was unlike anything he possibly could have been imagined when he was hired in December of 2019.

Think about where we were a year ago at this time: There was very genuine, very reasonable concern that we wouldn't have college football at all in 2020. The Big Ten actually canceled its season, only to realize the rest of the world doesn't automatically follow its every whim, and decided that it would, in fact, play football after all.

The rest of us wondered about outbreaks and quarantines and cancelations and what it would mean for the sport in general and the FSU football team specifically.

Well, it wasn't pretty on either front, was it?

The 2020 college football season was more joyless and angst-ridden (Who is available to play? Who isn't? Are they still on the team or not?) than any in history. On top of that, the Seminoles were a bad football team, which routinely got obliterated by mediocre quarterbacks.

What a fun trip down memory lane this has been! Good night, folks!

No, I point that out to celebrate where we are now. On multiple fronts.

First, while COVID-19 is still very much a part of our daily lives, none of us think the college football season is in peril. Even the Big Ten is going to ride it out!

With the new NCAA protocols announced on Wednesday (vaccinated players won't be tested or contract-traced unless they're showing symptoms), there figures to be very few -- if any -- cancellations in the Power 5.

That's enough to celebrate by itself. As is the fact that we will finally get to see what a full offseason can do for Norvell's football program.

I'm not here to try to convince you that the Seminoles are a championship contender in 2021. After all, you're not dumb ... and I'm not a hypnotist.

But I do think they have a chance to be much improved. Maybe a bowl team. Certainly a competitive team. And if he can get this program back to a winning season again, I think that would be a great sign of things to come.

I don't doubt that he can do it. Soon.

But there's one other aspect of this college football season that I really want to celebrate.

And it starts here. Right here. With Gene Williams, first and foremost, and then with you guys and gals as well.

Gene started this website in the mid-1990s. And it has been the dominant outlet in the market for really two decades.

Because of that interest, because of our subscribers, and the passion you folks have about this football team and this site, he was able to go out this summer and crush the transfer portal like nobody could have possibly imagined.

As you guys know, I'm not one for hyperbole, but as we head into what we hope is the dawning of a new day in Florida State football, Gene has put together a staff that might be the strongest in the history of the world.

Of any world. In any universe. (Prove me wrong, people!)

And I can't wait to see it in action.

Practice starts on Saturday. Jeff Cameron's new radio show with Tom Lang starts on Monday afternoon. Aslan and I will continue to roll out our "Wake Up Warchant" podcasts each morning. Ira will continue to dazzle like he always does. Michael will continue to write dozens of recruiting articles and updates each week, and Austin will help out in a variety of ways each and every day.

We will be posting videos and podcasts and columns and everything in between.

But it's more than just the quantity. It's the quality. Taking myself out of the equation (which is dumb, because I'm awesome), I still don't know that you could have more valuable members of one college athletics beat on the same site.

Ira has been covering FSU for 20 years. Jeff has been on the air in Tallahassee for 25-plus -- nearly as long as Gene has been running the website.

Michael has been covering FSU recruiting since, I think, Mudra was the coach. And Aslan, Tom and Austin all broke into the media while still students at Florida State, and they each bring a ton of skills to the table.

This isn't a column designed to tell you how great Warchant.com is (even if it's 100 percent true!) as much as it is to just show genuine appreciation for Gene's vision and our subscribers' passion and loyalty.

I have never been more excited for the start of a football season.

Part of that is because last year didn't feel like a football season at all. And part is because I'm genuinely pumped to be part of a site that has added such serious talent in the last year.

It helps that I'm actually very good friends with Tom and Jeff, but it's so much more than that. They are very, very, very good at their jobs. And the content we're going to be able to provide -- from interviews to opinions to analysis -- in so many different platforms has me giddy just thinking about it.

And if you know me at all, if you've ever interacted with me in any capacity, you know that Corey Clark don't get giddy (that should be a T-shirt!).

But I can't help it.

Gene has put together a roster that, again, even excluding myself, is loaded with talented people who care deeply about this website and this program. And if you do decide to include ol' Corey Clark in the mix (that's two third-person references in a row!) then you're talking about a roster that is not only talented but loveable and handsome, too.

How lucky are you!

In all seriousness, the way this staff has come together over the last year, the way Gene has done as much as possible to make the site as strong as possible, is a testament to what kind of owner he is and how much Warchant.com means to him.

And I know what you're thinking: "Man, Corey's contract must be coming up soon. Or he's trying to break some sort of butt-kissing record that he can tell the folks at Guinness about."

Not true, my friend!

I'm just sincerely excited about the team that we have assembled for you and the type of content we're going to be able to produce. The subscribers at Warchant deserve the best coverage -- heck, you've lived through these last few seasons of FSU football and you're still here! -- and I believe that's what Gene has gone and brought to you with these latest hires.

Thank you for being along for the ride and making it possible.

Now let's hope we'll be covering a winning football team again very soon.

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