TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Jimbo Fisher has been quick to assure that potential starting quarterback/left fielder Jameis Winston won't have any trouble balancing life as a two-sport star this spring. Baseball will take a clear backseat.
For wide receiver Marvin Bracy, however, the dynamic isn't quite so cut and dry.
Bracy will only be a sporadic participant at Florida State's spring practices as he concentrates on track events throughout this spring. Bracy is considered one of the top sprinters in the country -- and perhaps the fastest football player in the nation.
The speed might make Bracy a standout on the track, but Fisher said it's going to take more than that to get him on the field for the Seminoles in the fall.
"You have to have some time to be out there or you're going to be relegated to certain things," Fisher said. "You can run a post, a deep ball, return kicks -- but when you're actually learning to run routes and how they adjust to coverages, that does affect you."
Bracy hasn't been completely absent. He has participated in football meetings and continued to meet with coaches and watch film. He'll be at numerous practices this spring, too. But the part-time work isn't likely to help him climb the depth chart at a crowded position, and Fisher said there's a risk in putting a player on the field this fall when the opposition knows he's only prepared to run a small fraction of the plays.
Of course, that doesn't mean Bracy can't make up ground. Fisher said he has dealt with a slew of track-star football players in his career, including NFL receivers Devery Henderson and Trindon Holliday at LSU, and he believes Bracy can follow a similar path.
"He's going to have to have a great summer, but he'll have a role," Fisher said. "We'll find some things for him to do, I promise."
To read the rest of David M. Hale's story, click here.
