There was a moment during Florida State's practice on Wednesday that told you quite a bit about new wide receivers coach David Kelly.
One of his wideouts was running a slant route. The quarterback's throw was low and bounced off his hands. As the receiver was jogging back to get in line for his next rep, he said rather loudly that if it had been an accurate pass, it would have been a touchdown.
He wasn't screaming at anyone. It wasn't angry. It was just more of a, "Hey man, get that thing up a little next time, and we're scoring."
Still. It didn't sit right with Kelly.
"This is Florida State," the receivers coach said. "You're expected to catch that ball anyway. This isn't high school."
Kelly was correct. While it was not a good throw, receivers at this level are expected to make tough catches, But that wasn't even the main point he wanted to get across.
A few moments later, he went back over to the receiver.
"We don't blame our teammates around here," Kelly said. "Those days are over. We pick each other up. We don't blame our teammates. Because when you make a mistake, you wouldn't want them doing that to you."
He then added again, in no uncertain terms, that it's a new day on the FSU practice fields. Teammates aren't going to be sniping at each other. He wasn't going to allow it.
Kelly's message was received loud and clear.
The 1980s-era sweatsuit-wearing assistant coach -- the one whom offensive coordinator Walt Bell referred to as "Yoda" earlier in the day -- had spoken.
And listened his players did.
