Garnet and Great

James Colzie talks about the highs of the dynasty era and the struggles of a decade later

While he may not hold the all-time FSU interception record, James Colzie does hold a special place in the hearts of Nole fans -- all because of one special INT. In 1994, down 31 - 24 to the Hogtown rivals, Colzie's diving grab of a Danny Wuerffel pass set up the tying TD in the legendary Choke at Doak.

Colzie played three more years at FSU, graduating in '96. But his days with the Noles were far from over. After coaching high school in Miami, and a year on the FIU staff, he returned to Tallahassee as a grad assistant, working from '04 thru '06 under his former coach, Mickey Andrews.

Following a season at Valdosta State, Colzie became D-Coordinator at Div. II West Georgia. Will his hard work and fast climb up the coaching ladder bring him back to Florida State for a third time? Who knows? But after listening to this edition of Garnet & Great, as Colzie looks back on two very different eras in FSU football, it's hard to imagine a better addition to Jimbo's staff.

For Tommy Polley, the choice between football and basketball became a slam dunk

This profile is based on highlights from  an interview Tommy Polley did with Access Athletes. Our thanks to AA's founder, Matthew Allinson. You can read the entire interview here.
While a Senior at Dunbar High in Baltimore, Tommy Polley had a dilemma:  Football or basketball? In shoulder pads Tommy was named USA Today Player-of-the-Year in Maryland and helped Dunbar to back-to-back state titles. 

On the court, Polley was a top 60 prospect and led Dunbar, a school famous for its basketball, to four straight state titles with his 20.4 point average.

All of that created a second dilemma: Polley had to choose from a long list of colleges. His final list included FSU, Southern Cal, Syracuse, Maryland, and Florida, chosen because they had outstanding programs in both sports.

What made Polley select FSU?

“I just always liked Florida State.  It was one of my favorite schools growing up.  Derrick Brooks, Bobby Bowden…the whole Seminole chop.  I just wanted to be a part of it.  When I went down there, I just fell in love with the players and the atmosphere.”

That was one dilemma solved. The other worked itself out during Polley's freshman year (1996). Redshirting in football allowed him to walk-on in basketball. He practiced with the team, but soon decided to focus on football, the sport in which he felt he had the best chance to go pro. 

The time commitment of playing both sports wasn't the issue for Polley. The basketball team’s mediocre record was. 

“At Dunbar we won all the time...And then going to Florida State, in football they were used to winning all the time. So when you are used to winning all the time, your mentality is a little different. The basketball mentality was just used to mediocrity. It just wasn’t my type of vibe...[It] worked out better for me in the long run.”

He obviously made the right choice. Polley became an All-American linebacker at FSU and led the defense in back-to-back BCS championship games—the 2000 Sugar Bowl and 2001 Orange Bowl. 

Polley played a pivotal role in the Sugar Bowl win over the Hokies and Michael Vick, blocking a punt in the first quarter that led to a touchdown. “I had the play of the game as far as defense, but then the injury came out of nowhere,” said Polley.

Tearing his left ACL while trying to tackle Vick in the second quarter, he was forced to postpone his dream of entering the NFL draft. Polley underwent reconstructive knee surgery and seven and a half months of rehab before his senior season. And that was just the physical part.

“The mental adjustment is coming off a major knee surgery. Just coming back. Wondering if you can get back. Wondering if you are going to be as fast as you were. My motivation always was I got a family to feed. That was my main thing.”

Polley returned for an All-American season that included 100 tackles with 53 solo, 7 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, and recovered a team-high 3 fumbles. He ended his FSU career with 289 tackles (170 solo) and was a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award, third team Football News All-American, first team All-ACC selection, and a finalist for the ACC’s Brian Piccolo Award, thanks to his courageous comeback from the Sugar Bowl injury.

His best memory about Bobby Bowden? Tommy says it wasn't just one thing, but the entire package.

A family member runs interference to stiff the Gators and lead Barry Smith to Tallahassee

As the recruiting season cranks up, Barry Smith talks about his personal countdown to signing day. In this the third in our series with the FSU Hall of Fame receiver, Barry tells what led to signing with the Noles over the Gators and Canes, as well as an out-of-state contender. He also reveals how he was the only player of his era to escape the dreaded off-season conditioning hell known only as...The Room.

Gene and Vic's memorable play-by-play call of the Classic Choke at Doak

One of the most unforgettable games in Florida State football history inspired one of the most heart pounding radio dramas ever heard. Sure, the video highlights are available on-line. But nothing beats Gene D. and Vic Prinzi's description of the Noles' wild fourth quarter comeback. Here it is, those incredible final 15 minutes from start to finish, complete with a Doak crowd so insanely loud, it practically drowns the guys out.

Why FSU Hall of Famer Barry Smith will be rooting for Georgia Tech on Saturday

Simply because blood is thicker than alma mater ties. You see, Barry's son Andrew (left) is a Senior wide receiver for Tech. Which explains why Barry is wearing a cap with a Yellow Jackets logo and why he'll be cheering for that other team in Gold this Saturday.

In this brief clip, Barry talks about his temporary lapse of FSU loyalty, and reveals a surprising Smith family tradition of playing at Bobby Dodd Stadium that spans 70 years.

His name is as common as it gets, but his stats and speed were something special

During a 20 year period from the early 70s to early 90s, one Seminole receiver stands out in the record book. And today, Barry Smith's amazing stats for catches, yards and TDs still rank near the top.

What was it like to play in the era when long hair was in and football was considered "establishment?" How did players handle the transition from the intense Bill Peterson to the laid back Larry Jones? And what's the story behind FSU's "chicken wire scandal," as the press dubbed it, that sent the program into a tailspin? We asked the man who went through it all, and is still proud to be a Nole and of his place in the FSU Hall of Fame.

Larry Strickland, the linebacker whose bite was worse than his bark

Wrapping up our series on Dan Whitehurst, we spotlight his partner in mayhem at linebacker: the equally hard-hitting Larry Strickland. This personal account of the colorful Strickland -- including his infamous bite -- is courtesy of Garnet & Great reader Al Washington, who played with Larry at Rickards and knew him well at Florida State. Al graduated from FSU in 1972, then served 30 years in the Marines, retiring as a Colonel. Thanks for the memories, Al.

In the fall of 1967, Larry Strickland was being recruited by several Southern football powers. Larry's reputation as a relentless, hard-nosed linebacker---(his football motor NEVER stopped during games or at practice)---quickly spread throughout the North Florida area.  I was his teammate at Rickards High School in Tallahassee. Before the start of a scheduled scrimmage in early September 1967, our head coach approached me and asked me to play running back in a special drill (3-on-1) in which Larry as the defender would face two offensive lineman with the back running for the open hole. After the first whistle blew, I realized that Larry wasn't going to allow for an open hole, in fact, he plowed through lineman after lineman to tackle me in the backfield. After 5 straight losses carrying the ball and eating a lot of dirt, I staggered away and saw for the first time that college scouts from Georgia Tech, Auburn, Florida, Miami and FSU were on hand to watch the drill. Larry completed the season in a starring role (All Big Bend, 1st Team All State AAA) and led Rickards to our first state playoff berth. Coach Bob Harbison handled Larry's FSU recruitment.

He tussled with the Tuna and lived to tell about it

We asked Dan Whitehurst, our latest Garnet & Great guest, about his position coach at FSU, the now famous Bill Parcells. Those of us who covered the team back in the early 70s remember Parcells as the loudest coach on the practice field. Whitehurst agreed:

"Yeah, he was also the roughest and meanest. I told him he could yell at me all he wanted to, but to never put his hands on me. So one time we were doing a field drill and he grabbed me by the hips and slung me down. Well, I just came back wide open. I had on full pads and he had on nothing. So I knocked him out. Actually, I thought I was going to be kicked off the team. And I was called in the next morning to a coaches' meeting. I walked in the room and Coach Peterson was sitting at the head of the table -- it was like a board meeting -- and Parcells got up on the other side of the room, walked over to me, stuck his hand out and said, "Whitehurst, I've got a lot of respect for you, son." That was my sophomore year, and I started for him 33 more games.

"We never had any cross words since then, and we're real close now. We talk fairly often and we're good friends. In fact, we did a little brokerage deal together a few years ago. And I went up to New York to see him and we just have a personal relationship now. He'd always tell me when I was a player that we were building relationships like soldiers in a fox hole. Back then it didn't mean anything to me, but now I realize what he was talking about."

He made over 200 tackles as a Nole, including one that stunned a national TV audience

Dan Whitehurst was a big ol' linebacker from a little South Georgia town. During the 1970 - 72 seasons, Dan brought down many opposing ball carriers with teeth-rattling tackles. But the one that older Noles remember best goes back to Thanksgiving night in 1970. FSU was playing Houston, the final game on the turkey day TV menu. The Noles had a fairly stout defense that year, but Houston took advantage of a key second half injury and...But let's allow Whitehurst himself to tell the story.

"We were ahead 26 - 12 at the half. And then Tommy Warren (QB) dislocated his shoulder and didn't tell Coach Henning (offensive coordinator Dan Henning). So he was throwing wounded ducks out in the flats, and they kept intercepting for touchdowns. And on the third one that was going for a touchdown, the guy (Nick Holm) came down our sideline and (Bill) Parcells said 'somebody oughta get him.' And I go, 'I got him, coach.' So I held onto Parcell's arm and reached out just as far as I could -- I had to lean way out there to get him with my foot to trip him. So I didn't even think, I just did it on impulse." 

Were the coaches upset?
"Well, we wound up losing the game 53 - 21, one of the worst defeats we had in ten years or so. But Coach Peterson said he felt like doing it himself. And Parcells's reaction was 'at least I know he's paying attention.' So they didn't give me a real hard time about it."

What was your most memorable game at FSU?
"I guess it would be the inaugural Fiesta Bowl. We couldn't stop Danny White and Arizona State. And Parcells was openly weeping after the game. He just couldn't get the defenses right and Danny White just picked us apart. It wasn't lack of effort, he knew it was coaching, so that's why he was so upset after the game (Note: FSU's Gary Huff threw for 347 yards and two TDs in a seesaw battle won by ASU 45 - 38)."

You played under both Bill Peterson and his successor Larry Jones. Was that a tough transition for the players?
"Jones kept the assistant coaches, so it didn't change too much except that Parcells kind of ran the show. He was a dominating kind of guy. Larry was a good coach, too, a good organizer. But he didn't have an aggressive personality like Parcells did."

Johnny Grubb on the 1970 team that came came within a whisker of winning the College World Series

A trip to the College World Series by the '08 Noles merits a rare baseball tribute here on G&G. We rewind to 38 years ago, back when Florida State's 1970 team came the closest ever to bringing home a national title. FSU played Southern Cal in the championship game, taking the Trojans 15 innings before Frank Alfano's bases loaded infield single broke the 1 - 1 deadlock.

Johnny Grubb was the Centerfielder on that '70 team. Grubb, who went on to play 16 years in the majors, told us it's a game he'll never forget. 

"It was a heartbreaker, because we were leading 1 - 0 and had Pat Osburn pitching for us, a real good lefthanded pitcher. We just battled all the way through, and they happened to tie the game up and brought in Jim Barr, and we had our relief pitcher, Mac Scarce -- both of whom went on to pitch in the majors. And we hooked up 1 - 1 until the 15th inning*. They made a lot of good plays and we made a lot of good plays, but they ended up beating us 2 - 1. I remember standing on the first base line receiving the awards for second place and none of us were very happy about it. I think we should have won it, but we gave it a good battle.

"We got a fantastic reception when we came back, with a police escort and everything. As a young kid it was quite impressive."

Tell us about your Coach, Jack Stallings.
"We had a real good coach in Jack. I think he had played pro baseball so he knew the game and pretty much treated us like pro ball players. He just put us out there and let us play. He was an aggressive coach and we learned a lot from him."