Colzie happy to be home

James Colzie said he is happy to be back in familiar territory -- and the Florida State coaches are just as happy to welcome him back to campus.

Colzie, a member of FSU's heralded 1993 recruiting class and a four-year contributor on the field, returned to the practice fields on Monday for the first time as an assistant coach. Colzie will serve as a graduate assistant and will coach the cornerbacks and punt returners.

"I'm happy to be home," Colzie said. "This is home. This is where I graduated and I had some really good years here."

Colzie was a high school All-American at South Miami High and was part of one of the most storied recruiting classes in FSU history. He recorded memorable interceptions against Florida -- one in the so-called "Choke at Doak" -- and spent time as a starter throughout his career.

Colzie said he spent the last two years coaching defensive backs as a full-time assistant coach at Florida International, a Division I-AA program. He said he had no qualms leaving the full-time job to work for his former mentor, Mickey Andrews.

"It's quite a leap from the program I was in," Colzie said. "FIU was (Division) 1-AA and now I'm with one of the top programs in the country.

"A lot of the stuff that I taught there is what I learned here. (Coach Andrews) hasn't lost his touch."

FSU coaches also spoke with former receiver Lawrence Dawsey and former safety Dedrick Dodge about the open position. Dawsey recently accepted a full-time job with South Florida and Dodge had other interests he wanted to pursue.

"We talked about it and Coach Bowden wanted to bring back a former player if we could," Andrews said. "So we talked to three guys and the guy who could work it into his schedule was a guy we were happy to get. James played corner here. He's been coaching the corners. He can come in and get started right away.

"It is a good thing to see a former player come back. It turned out good for James and good for us, too. It's a good fit."

The timing of the appointment is a bit awkward. The Seminoles are in their fourth day of spring practices and Colzie is literally jumping into the spring schedule with very little preparation.

"It will be a little bit of a learning process for him, but he will be a lot further along than if we had waited until the fall," Andrews said. "We're very excited about getting James back."

Andrews said he was proud to see his former cornerback return to the program. He said he liked the fact that a former FSU cornerback would be teaching the FSU style of defense.

"Fundamentals don't change," Andrews said. "Techniques might change a little bit. He knows what we want out of our players. We're going to be demanding, just like we were demanding on him. That's the way we expect him to coach."

Colzie said his decision to return to the program was made easier after talking to former graduate assistant Kirby Smart, who accepted a full-time coaching position at LSU earlier this spring.

"I talked to Kirby Smart and he explained to me how he and Jody Allen and John Lilly were all GAs here and now they are full-time," Colzie said. "It's a process, I know that. I'm only 29 years old. I just know I'm happy to be back here."

Colzie said he has kept a close eye on the FSU program since he left in 1996. In fact, he said he had a pretty good idea of who he would be working with before he took the job.

"I watch every Florida State game," Colzie said. "I know who's here and I know who left. It's a lot of different faces, but a lot of things haven't changed. It's a lot of teaching."

Colzie said one fixture at Florida State has changed -- just a little.

"Coach Andrews doesn't scream at me as much now," Colzie said with a laugh.