We've known it was coming for well over a week. So I've had some time to come to grips with the fact that Florida State was going to hire Kendal Briles as its next offensive coordinator.
Still, when it was officially announced by the school on Sunday afternoon, I have to admit it was a bit jarring to read.
Because, as you know, there are multiple layers to this hire.
He's a Briles. He was on the staff at Baylor when the school endured one of the ugliest scandals in college football history. His dad, Art, was at the center of it. I'm not going to get into all the details -- you have access to Google, you can look it up -- but in essence, the program was accused of not only turning a blind eye to accusations of sexual assault but actually covering them up in certain instances.
Kendal Briles was there for that. His old man was fired for it.
And now he's going to be wearing garnet and gold.
That is what Florida State fans have to come to grips with. That is what the administration and the Board of Trustees obviously had to come to grips with before allowing Willie Taggart to make this hire.
Your offensive coordinator is a Briles. You're going to have to make peace with it.
Many of you already have, I'm sure.
After all, his on-field resume speaks for itself. The guy has put up gobs of yards and points everywhere he's been. His offense is going to be really good. His offenses have always been really good.
They've averaged 41.8 points per game over the past four seasons. This last year at Houston, his offense scored at least 30 points in its first 12 games. It scored at least 40 points in 10 of those games -- which was the most in the NCAA this season.
Florida State's offense, you might remember, did not score 40 points in 10 games this season. In fact, it didn't score 40 points at all. It scored 30 points exactly once in ACC play. It wasn't what you would call a juggernaut.
So, yeah, you have to imagine the Seminoles are going to be better on offense in 2019.
Well, that's not saying much is it? Because almost anything would be better than what we saw in 2018.
But with Briles at the helm, coordinating the offense, calling plays, you have to figure the Seminoles -- if they can have a semblance of competent offensive line play -- will actually be a high-scoring and fun team to watch now.
That'll be a refreshing change of pace from the last few years around here.
But, again, there's some baggage with this one.
For instance: