Deen: No shortage of motivation for Golson, Florida State in 2015

After playing only two seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to FSU this summer as a graduate student, new Florida State quarterback Everett Golson knows what’s at stake for him at this point in his career.

The 2015 season is one of Golson’s final opportunities to prove himself as a capable NFL player, and he’ll be under the tutelage of FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher, who had each of his last three starting quarterbacks selected in the first round of the NFL draft.

Golson has to first win FSU’s starting job, which Fisher said redshirt junior Sean Maguire, redshirt freshman J.J. Cosentino and true freshman Deondre Francois would also be included in the competition.

Then, he’ll be able to prove all the doubters wrong, including ESPN’s Paul Finebaum.

Golson responded to criticism from Finebaum, who said Golson has been “unimpressive” since the 2012 season at Notre Dame, where he led the Irish to the national title game against Alabama.

The ESPN clip was 30 seconds in total. And despite the fact Golson tweeted a parody account instead of Finebaum himself (@finebaum), I’m sure the message got back to the longtime radio host from Alabama.

Before his response, Golson proceeded to tweet the video to teammates Tyler Hunter, Travis Rudolph, Dalvin Cook, DeMarcus Walker, Lemarcus Brutus, Nate Andrews, Nile Lawrence-Stample and Kermit Whitfield.

Finebaum said FSU — which was ranked No. 8 in the preseason Amway Coaches’ poll — “has no business” being in Top 10, and will lose at Clemson in November.

While the Seminoles have something to prove collectively, the players who have been with the team before Golson transferred in have plenty to prove, too.

The last time FSU played a game, it was conquered by 39 points by the hands of Heisman winner Marcus Mariota and Oregon. The loss was the biggest margin of defeat for Fisher, who has lost only 11 games in five years at the Florida State.

Replacing Heisman winning quarterback Jameis Winston, the school’s all-time leading receiver Rashad Greene, the nation’s top tight end in Nick O’Leary and four starting offensive linemen are some of FSU’s challenges on offense for 2015.

Schools like UCF and FIU — in addition to Miami and Florida — ranked higher than FSU did in total defense and rushing yards allowed last season. The Seminoles were also 114th in the nation averaging 1.21 sacks a game last season — behind the in-state schools above, USF and Florida Atlantic, too.

In a season where the Seminoles fought back from early deficits in eight of their 14 victories in 2014, FSU has a number of concerns that surround every team before heading into a new year.

But you can’t deny the success FSU has had in recent years. Winning 29 of 30 games — including a national championship in 2013 — and breaking the modern-day NFL record for most players drafted within a three-year span doesn’t just happen because of good fortune.

The week we’ve been waiting on is finally here.

FSU will begin its fall camp on Thursday, and there’s no shortage of motivation for the Seminoles heading into the 2015 season.