I've been saying this, Jimbo got out of dodge. FSU has been going downhill since 2014 and if not for players like Cook it would have been obvious well before now. In 2014 even though FSU went to the playoffs with a team where every starter got drafted or something ridiculous like that they trailed by double digits in something like 9 of 12 regular season games, that's pathetic. 2015 lost 3 games, 2016 lost 3 games, 2017 lost 6 games... see a trend? And to your point was something like 3-5 through 8 games, FSU had to reschedule a cupcake just to keep their bowl streak alive.
Towards the end Jimbo went star chasing without regards to team needs. Always had top 5 classes but neglected areas like oline. Or would sign 2-3 QB's in one class or 2-3 highly ranked runningbacks which inflated rankings but didn't address all the needs of the team. They aren't that talented. Jimbo's staff also sucked, guys like Trickett and Charles Kelly were overmatched. Jimbo was/is a fraud. Lost 3-4 games every year save for those two Winston years with superior rosters then ran the program into the ground and bailed.