Jimbo Fisher rubbed the head of his backup quarterback, who was burdened with the responsibility of preserving No. 1 Florida State’s College Football Playoff hopes while the rest of his team was embroiled in controversy. Fisher then moved on to hug Jesus Wilson, a receiver who was suspended for the season opener.
The fifth-year coach then turned to his team and his players as they took a knee around him in the locker room. He stood there, sizing up a room of 105 players that battled to a 23-17 overtime win against No. 22 Clemson without its best player for an entire game and best defensive player for the final half. He rubbed his eyes.
“Let 'em flow, Coach!”
“Let it out, Coach, let it out!”
“Don’t cry, Coach!”
If the pregame video of Jameis Winston prepping his team before last season’s Clemson game was for the cameras, the 2014 post-game version was unadulterated emotion.
Florida State great LeRoy Butler, who spoke to fans before the game about the legendary Puntrooskie play against Clemson, filmed the locker room scene in a series of videos he posted to his YouTube page.
“How good it is to come to work and work with people like you,” a vulnerable Fisher told his team in the video. “God, I’m a lucky man. Let me tell you that right now. I’m a lucky man.”
The Seminoles dealt with distractions through much of the week after Winston jumped on a table in the middle of Florida State’s campus and yelled a profane and sexually explicit statement. He was suspended Wednesday for the first half. Fill-in starter Sean Maguire said the team initially viewed it as a distraction before moving on.
Then Winston was suspended for the entire game late Friday night, and the headlines and distractions recycled.
In the first half, the Seminoles played like a team that looked distracted, but the defense kept Florida State in the game until Maguire launched a game-tying 74-yard pass with 6:04 left. In overtime, after a fourth-down stop by the Seminoles’ defense, the rushing game found new life as Karlos Williams rushed for the final 25 yards and game-winning touchdown.
“Each person, we have flaws, but I’ll tell you that’s what a family does -- love and trusts and believes in each other, that plays until the end. I don’t have words for you,” Fisher said.
Assistant coach Sal Sunseri addresses the team in the next video and gives the game ball to Fisher.
In the final video, Fisher is mobbed by his team.