For coaches, "no news" often good news

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who will kick off his 33rd season with the Seminoles in August, has seen a lot of changes in college football during his 42 years as a head coach. But some things haven't changed much at all.

"There are some phone calls you get where you just know it's going to be bad news," Bowden said. "That was true 40 years ago, and it's still true today."

Along with Virginia, FSU has re-learned that lesson the hard way since the end of the 2007 football season. The message goes hand in hand with another old adage: Sometimes, no news is good news.

Back in December, it wasn't difficult to paint pleasant pictures for the Seminoles and the Cavaliers, while looking ahead to the 2008 season. FSU, 7-6 last fall, had a slew of starters with remaining eligibility, plus the excitement of having touted offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher back for a second season in Tallahassee after a year of difficult adjustments to his scheme. Virginia, 9-4 in 2007, also had a huge number of projected returning starters.

Over the past five months, though, both teams have fallen apart unexpectedly, piece by piece. College coaches always can anticipate the challenge of replacing their departing seniors. The other stuff — transfers, dismissals, suspensions, early NFL entries, etc. — often is much harder to overcome.

"We make our plans as a football program based on a five-year plan for most of our players," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "If you have too many guys who are cutting that five-year plan short, you're probably going to have some holes."

In all, the Seminoles have lost seven key underclassmen, among others, since the end of last season. The Cavaliers have lost six.

Here's the breakdown for FSU:

* Starting defensive tackle Letroy Guion, a junior, left early for the NFL draft, stating that he believed he had a chance to be a first-round pick. He fell to the fifth round of the seven-round draft before being selected by the Minnesota Vikings.

* Starting linebacker Geno Hayes, a junior, left early for the NFL draft. He dropped all the way to the sixth round, where he was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

* Backup quarterback Xavier Lee, a junior with six career starts, left early for the NFL draft, in part because the Seminoles were talking about converting him to tight end. He was not selected in the draft. He later accepted an invitation to the Baltimore Ravens' minicamp, where he is practicing mainly as a tight end.

* Rising star Preston Parker, a receiver and return man some called the most talented player on the FSU roster, put his status in jeopardy when he was arrested in April on charges of marijuana possession and carrying a concealed weapon. A school policy adopted years ago will preclude Parker from representing the university in athletics competition as long as he has a felony charge (concealed weapon) pending. Even if the charge is reduced or dropped, Parker likely will face a multi-game suspension this fall.

* Tight end Charlie Graham, a part-time starter, was ruled academically ineligible after the fall semester. He enrolled at a local community college for the spring semester and hopes to return to FSU this summer.

* Starting left tackle Daron Rose was ruled academically ineligible for the 2008 season. His replacement, at the position that protects the quarterback's blind side, will be a converted guard or a redshirt freshman.

* Backup linebacker Marcus Ball, who was expected to move into a starting role this fall, was dismissed from the program.

* The following reserves — running back Russell Ball, offensive lineman Geoff Berniard, running back Jamaal Edwards, tight end Tyler Graves, safety Anthony Leon and wide receiver Damon McDaniel — also left the program with eligibility remaining.

Virginia, already impacted by the departure of a strong senior class led by No. 2 overall NFL pick Chris Long, also has lost a bunch of key underclassmen since the end of last season. The Cavaliers also saw their popular and productive defensive coordinator, Mike London, leave to become the head coach at Richmond.

Dominating guard Branden Albert, a junior, left UVa to become a first-round selection in the April draft. Starting quarterback Jameel Sewell, starting cornerback Chris Cook and two reserves will miss the 2008 season for academic reasons. Starting defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and promising young linebacker J'Courtney Williams were dismissed from the university. All-purpose back Andrew Pearman also left the team this spring, and backup cornerback Mike Brown (facing larceny charges) is unlikely to return.