With Florida State kicking off preseason football practice this morning, we are setting the table by presenting five key questions facing the Seminoles on offense and defense.

After first tackling five questions about the offense and offering five predictions on those topics, today we are focusing on the defense.

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1. How much of 2020's defensive problems were a result of a first-year coaching staff taking over in a COVID-affected season?

This is a question many Florida State fans have been asking themselves for the past nine months or longer.

There's no need bringing up the numbers detailing how bad FSU's defense was in 2020. It was poor in just about every statistical category. Other than Asante Samuel Jr. and a few flashes from individual players, there just wasn't anything to like.

But when you consider all of the things that were working against them, it's fair to wonder if they ever had a chance.

* For starters, college defenses across the country struggled during the COVID-affected season. I've seen a number of theories for why that is -- with a main one being that most teams didn't conduct as many tackling drills because of concerns about contact tracing and depleted rosters -- but it seemed to affect first-year coaching staffs more than others. Only a handful of first-year staffs produced solid defenses last season, and obviously Florida State was not one of them.

* The Seminoles were besieged by a long line of injuries and other ailments. Among the starters and key contributors who missed multiple games were defensive linemen Marvin Wilson, Cory Durden and Dennis Briggs; safeties Renardo Green, Travis Jay and Hamsah Nasirildeen; and cornerbacks Meiko Dotson and Akeem Dent. Continuously changing lineups obviously did not help with chemistry and continuity.

* As was the case on offense, several players who were holdovers from the Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart regimes struggled with the transition to Mike Norvell's staff. Some players who were expected to be key contributors, including defensive backs Cyrus Fagan and Isaiah Bolden, either transferred or were dismissed.

There's no way to know how Adam Fuller's first season as defensive coordinator would have gone without those challenges, but it's important to remember that it was not a normal year.

I'll be surprised if the Seminoles' defense doesn't show substantial improvement in 2021. I expect them to be more cohesive, and I believe we will see far fewer breakdowns and blown assignments. If that doesn't happen, however, the heat will get immense around Fuller and the defensive staff.