Posted by: Chris Vannini on August 16, 2012

Florida State held its first preseason scrimmage on Thursday afternoon, and there were some things Jimbo Fisher didn't like.

He used his media session to publicly challenge his team for their inability to finish strong.

"I was a little disappointed. I thought we could have finished better. I really did," Fisher said. "I think we could have finished better. That's the one thing I told them at the end I was not as happy with. One thing you don't ever want to know as a football player, say you're not tough and you're not finishing, playing relentlessly hard. That you give in a little bit.

"I don't think it was out of conditioning, I think it was just a mental weakness on some guys getting frustrated on some things. We can't allow that to happen. It's something that can't be fixed, and I don't think it's a major thing, but there were some little things that I saw that I didn't like."

Fisher was asked what the team's motto was this year. He replied that there is a theme, but words don't mean anything. Instead, Fisher challenged the meaning of Florida State's imagery to his players.

"Do what's right, and do your job," Fisher said. "T-shirts aren't going to say nothing, it's going to be a helmet right there. When people look at that helmet, what do you want them to think? All them words and mottos, you think you have to come up with something fancy. No, you don't. When they see your helmet, it's like when you see the other team's helmet, there's always that.

"When you think of Florida State, you think of that helmet with that spear on it. What do you want the opponents to think? What do you want people to think when they see that helmet?"

What does Fisher want it to mean?

"I'm going to wait and let them decide that. I know what I want, but that's not up to me. It's up to them."

Watch Fisher's powerful statements beginning at the 8:15 mark of this video.

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Chris Vannini is a lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com