Florida State football is going to look completely different during the 2025 season. The Seminoles are replacing almost their entire starting defensive line (except Darrell Jackson Jr.) as Patrick Payton, Marvin Jones Jr., and Joshua Farmer are moving on from the program.
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that several NFL scouts thought that the Seminoles had one of the best defensive lines in the country for 2024. However, just like the Florida State football season, that notion fell fall on its face.
Florida State decided to move defensive ends coach John Papuchis to linebackers coach and slid longtime defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins to an off-the-field role. Then they hired former Nebraska defensive line coach Terrance "Pot Roast" Knighton to man the unit.
Knighton has done a tremendous with acquiring talent via the recruiting ranks and transfer portal where he has ten new defensive linemen in the fold.
One name that I am very intrigued about is Nebraska defensive end transfer James Williams. The former Cornhusker had a solid 2024 campaign where he recorded 14 tackles (six for loss) and five sacks. Williams had a tight relationship with Coach Knighton, which led him to Tallahassee.
While the statistics might not wow you right away, Williams was a player who jumped out as a serious contender to start right away. He already has familiarity with new defensive coordinator Tony White's 3-3-5 defensive scheme and knows how to be coached by Knighton.
With an elevated role in Tallahassee, I could see this as being a low-risk/high-reward pick-up for the Seminoles. I get that fans are tired of hyping players up in the preseason considering everything that happened last year, but Williams has been there and done that in his first season with meaningful opportunities. He could make the coaching staff very happy in 2025.