Everett Golson can be a championship quarterback there.
That’s the answer to the trigger-happy question asked in the aftermath of his transfer to Florida State on Tuesday, first reported by FoxSports' Bruce Feldman.
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Think about that for a second before we back it up with this: Golson and Ohio State's Cardale Jones are the only active FBS quarterbacks who have started in a championship game. Jones won. Golson lost. That's the difference between the top celebrity and top graduate transfer this offseason.
It’s been a while since Golson wore the label of championship quarterback — 2010 to be exact. That’s when Golson led Myrtle Beach High School to a 27-23 fourth-quarter comeback win against a Jadeveon Clowney-led South Pointe team on a soggy field at Williams-Brice Stadium in the South Carolina Class 3A state championship game.
That capped one of the most-decorated high school careers in South Carolina high school history. Golson finished 44-5 as a starter and passed for 11,634 yards and 151 TDs.
Since then, he’s worn just about every other label at the next level.
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Game manager. Golson led the Irish to the 2012-13 BCS championship game and a 10-1 record as a starter as a redshirt freshman. Golson didn’t have the numbers, and he’s remembered-most for the loss to Alabama. It’s easy to forget he beat four ranked teams that season and led Notre Dame to wins at Michigan State and Oklahoma.
Cheater. The Honor Code violation kept Golson on the sideline for the entire 2013-14 season, but that’s a label most college quarterbacks would never shake off. Golson sat out a year, returned for his junior season and won the starting job.
Turnover-prone. Golson committed 22 turnovers last season, numbers that are difficult to explain. Eight fumbles. Four pick sixes. Golson’s media silence this spring in South Bend foreshadowed the inevitable. Brian Kelly was going with Malik Zaire, who didn’t turn the ball over in the Music City Bowl win against LSU.
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Golson’s move to Florida State will be met with the usual apprehensive-and-cynical forecast.
"Look at Florida State! Picking up where Jameis Winston left off. Why would they take a turnover-prone cheater?"
Don’t attach the wrong labels. Remember, Golson took a 16-1 record as a starter to Tallahassee last season, and he outplayed Winston. If not for that one controversial call, maybe the four-losses-in-five-games slide doesn’t happen. Maybe Golson holds onto the starting job. Maybe the label “winner” is attached to Golson instead.
He deserves that more than you think. He left Notre Dame with a 17-6 record as a starter and a degree.
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He leaves that for a roster that is still loaded — one that covered up a lot of Winston’s mistakes last season. He’ll be throwing to Jesus Wilson, Travis Randolph and Ermon Lane. He’ll be handing off to Dalvin Cook. The Seminoles might not see a ranked team until welcoming Miami to Tallahassee on Oct. 10.
Golson helped Notre Dame beat the Hurricanes 41-3 in 2012. That happened to be on the same day North Carolina State beat Florida State, the last time the Seminoles lost an ACC game.
That’s a coincidental way of saying Golson can lead this team to an ACC championship and perhaps another chance in the College Football Playoff in a redemption-plus-redemption storyline we’ll all eat up. Maybe we’ll get that Golson vs. Cardale Jones matchup. Who knows?
Of course, nobody thinks this can happen. Then again, not a lot of people in Williams-Brice Stadium thought Golson would bring back Myrtle Beach back from nine points down with Clowney screaming off the edge back in 2010. He did that. He can get Florida State back to the four-team playoff. The ACC is a better fit than the SEC.
Golson can be a championship quarterback there. He landed in a place where for the first time in five years, that might become reality.
