Florida State Preparing For Life Without Offensive Coordinator Alex Atkins In Ireland

FSU offensive coordinator Alex Atkins isn't allowed to be on the sidelines for the first three games of the 2024 season due to ongoing NCAA sanctions.

Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins arrives for an FSU spring football practice of the 2023 season on Friday, March 10, 2023. Alex Atkins1 1 Of 1 / Ehsan Kassim/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

In a season opener that will feature plenty of unknowns for the Seminoles, head coach Mike Norvell confirmed that the team will be dealing with an unusual situation when the team kicks off against Georgia Tech in Ireland. Earlier this year, the NCAA brought down sanctions on the program for recruiting violations that occurred in the spring of 2022.

Among the penalties were a three-game suspension and two-year show cause for offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Alex Atkins. That absence will begin on Saturday for Atkins, who remains fully involved with the game preparation leading up to the contest. He'll travel with the team but can't participate once the action begins.

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Senior offensive analyst Gabe Fertitta will be handling the offensive line coaching duties on game day. Fertitta is entering his third year in Tallahassee and is a member of the staff that Norvell 'has a lot of confidence' in.

"Alex [Atkins] will not be available there on game day so we're going to go through a normal week of practice, obviously everything leading up but on game day he'll not be with us. We've got a plan in place, we kind of implemented the plan throughout our scrimmage opportunities here in fall camp." Norvell said on Sunday. "Alex has done a wonderful job and continues to do a great job in helping prepare our players in all things. Coach Fertitta is going to take over that role on game day operation, a lot of confidence in him and what he brings and what he has brought to our program over the last few years. It's going to be as smooth as a transition as we can have it on game day and like I said, we've kind of been preparing for that these last few scrimmages but that'll be the status."

Fertitta has worked hand-in-hand with Atkins over the past few years in the offensive line room. Prior to his time at Florida State, he served as a quality control assistant for Louisville and had successful stints as a high school head coach in Louisiana and Mississippi. Fertitta first crossed paths with Atkins on the coaching staff at Itawamba Community College in 2010.

The Seminoles have been preparing for the coaching adjustment dating back to the spring. They've been getting ready for this trip to Ireland and the challenges it will bring for even longer. From nutrition, to sleep habits, and even equipment, Florida State has a plan that is ready to be executed.

"This has been probably the most preparation going into a travel plan or game that I've ever -- it's been a year and a half process," Norvell said. "I'll tell you, for our operations staff, they've been remarkable, whether it's Jason [Baisden] and our staff there in equipment, just top-notch in the preparation. Scott Trulock, Josh Chapman, our athletic training team, just the preparation, the planning, the research. Obviously Bruce Warwick and the overall operation group, Jeff Kupper and player personnel, it's been just a full team effort, whether from the little things of getting everybody passports to making sure they're all ready to go to the planning of nutrition to our sleep habits to what we're going to do when we get there, how we kind of broke out our schedule. There is a very specific plan in place, and I think our guys have a lot of confidence. Just in the operational aspect of it, we've got guys with over 20 games of international game experience at the NFL level, of what that looks like, what that needs to be. We feel very confident in the plan, and now we've got to go out there and execute it."

The process will come to a head this Saturday when Florida State kicks off against Georgia Tech at noon EST.

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International travel is already a hectic situation and that's before you factor in the nearly 200 players and coaches that Florida State will be shipping off to Ireland later this week.