FSU Seminoles

Offensive line, a position of need for Florida State during this recruiting cycle, got a boost Wednesday night.

Alec Eberle (Mechanicsville, Va./Altee), a two-way lineman, committed to Florida State, calling Rick Trickett and Jimbo Fisher to give them the news.

"I really like it as a school," he said. "I talked to Coach Trickett a couple of times and I pretty much knew when I left that school that it was where I wanted to go. It seemed like the best opportunity to go and win games and championships. And to have them help me get to my next goal which is to play in the NFL.

"It was the best school for all that stuff."

That was music to the coaches' ears.

Fisher had expressed some concerns that Eberle wouldn't make the trip all the way down to Florida for school. But that's what Eberle intends to do.

"They were excited," he said. "Coach Trickett and Coach Fisher was extremely excited. Coach Trickett said that Coach Fisher was a little worried that I wouldn't come all the way -- I live 10 or 11 hours away, but I made the commitment and I am going to stick to my commitment and I can't wait to get down there and play."

At 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, Eberle will be coming in to play on the interior.

"They told me I was coming in as a guard or a center," he said. "I'll probably play center."

Florida State didn't face too stiff of opposition for his commitment. But that didn't stop it from knowing what they wanted.

And Eberle could tell that just from the way the Seminoles came to recruit him.

"There wasn't a lot of schools in the picture yet, UConn, Maryland, Temple, ODU," he said. "When FSU offered me, a school that doesn't really recruit my state that much, that sends a message. They are going to use you and you are going to get playing time. It's a great opportunity."

Florida State set a school record with 11 NFL draft picks over the weekend. That also happened to lead the entire nation, ranking ahead of national champion Alabama, LSU and yes, even Florida.

So what does this say about the Noles as a program? Are they finally back, or just a pack of underachievers? Andrea Adelson and Heather Dinich debate.

Andrea says: The proof is in the picks.

We all know the Seminoles have their detractors, who believe every season must be a perfect season or else it is a complete and utter disappointment. Raising the bar the way this program did in the late 1980s through the mid-2000s means living with the type of expectations reserved for only the most elite programs in the entire country.

Coach Jimbo Fisher lives with these expectations every day. But he also lives in reality. And reality says that Florida State stumbled badly in the final few years under coach Bobby Bowden, and it takes more than snapping your fingers, rolling a Florida State helmet onto a field and planting a spear to get a program back into national championship contention.

It takes time. And it takes talent. And, well, Florida State had a lack of talent. In Bowden’s final four seasons, 2006-09, the Noles had 12 total draft picks -- including one in the 2009 draft. That’s just one more than Florida State had this past weekend. So, Fisher has gotten the talent on par with what Florida State used to produce.

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