On The Bench: An FSU football podcast network

Bryant McFadden was an all-conference performer while at Florida State, a second-round draft pick, an eventual Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is currently an accomplished analyst for CBSSports.

He’s succeeded at everything he’s done. But one accomplishment eludes him: Beating Miami.

This is missing from the South Florida product’s résumé. McFadden, who is starting his own podcast ‘All Things Covered’ with his cousin and star cornerback Patrick Peterson, joins On The Bench to discuss the bitterness of the UM-FSU rivalry, which rival fan base is most annoying to him, and why he’s preaching patience under Mike Norvell. 

What will Florida State do at quarterback moving forward?

The Seminoles’ 16-13 loss to Georgia Tech revealed some of the flaws from James Blackman that many around the program hoped were a thing of the past. The offense sputtered for a variety of reasons, but the quarterback’s inability to elevate his team played a major role in the upset loss.

On The Bench takes a final look at the GT game while spending a majority of the episode on the quarterback position and where FSU goes from here.

Florida State opened its 2020 season with a 16-13 loss to lowly Georgia Tech. The Seminoles squandered a 10-0 lead and fell apart on offense en route to the upset loss.

Major issues emerged -- or reemerged -- on offense, and the defense wasn't nearly as dominant as we expected. 

What the heck happened? On The Bench goes over the game while the wounds are still fresh in our first ever Instant Reaction podcast.

Florida State football is days away.

It’s surreal, but football is back. With that in mind, On The Bench can finally and confidently lean into a season preview episode in which we go over superlatives, outlooks and give season predictions.

Plus a quick look at Week 1 opponent Georgia Tech and take a ton of listener questions.

Florida State released its depth chart today, so it feels like the perfect time to run down each position to preview the 2020 season.

It’s game week -- finally -- and On The Bench has you covered with an in-depth look at the roster and the depth chart.

Plus we go over the Friday-night performances of some FSU recruits, update you on a few injuries and more.

You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

On The Bench takes dozens of listener questions asked on our message board and goes over each of them ahead of Florida State’s 2020 football season.

Topics include how early on-field winning can impact recruiting results, debunking a few narratives, feelings on the offensive line, skimming past Sonnone’s insecurities (again) and more.

Florida State coach Mike Norvell announced James Blackman as the starting quarterback to open the 2020 season.

He also added some insight into how Blackman won the job, as well as how FSU’s reserves factor into the rotation now that a starter has been declared. And we also have some scheduling news for the upcoming season.

So the developments made it appropriate for us to put together a quick, emergency pod. Brendan Sonnone and Chris Nee breakdown the news items in the latest episode of On The Bench.

What would happen if you took Florida State’s roster and divided it into two teams to go through the 2020 season?

That’s the hypothetical at play here as Chris Nee and Brendan Sonnone each pick 22 starters and 3 reserves from the roster to field their own team. Commissioner Josh Newberg keeps the GMs on track as they go back and forth to fill the rosters for the Box Checkers and the Landing Stickers in the 2020 FSU Draft.

Who had the better team to make it through a season? Find out on this episode of On The Bench.

On The Bench celebrates the hard work of two walk-ons turned scholarship players, provides the latest intel coming out of Florida State’s camp and takes listener questions in the latest episode.

Also, Newberg, Nee and Sonnone explain the scholarship situation -- as they see it -- for FSU after Deonte Sheffield and Wyatt Rector were placed on scholarship.

Florida State held its second scrimmage of preseason camp on Saturday, and by all accounts, it was a banner day for the defense.

Which means that wasn’t the case on offense.

On The Bench goes into the details coming out of FSU’s scrimmage, what we’re hearing about the struggle on offense and more in the latest episode. Plus we go into FSU’s scholarship situation and if there’s room to take on a late transfer.