Florida State's spring practices are finished, and they ended without a spring game, which frustrated the fan base. Numerous teams across the country had their games, even arch-rivals Florida and Miami.
This is not logistically the greatest occurrence for the Seminoles coming off a 5-7 season. The program needs excitement, and it instead has a fan base that wants head coach Mike Norvell gone and thinks he is a dead man walking.
It didn't make it any better that the Seminoles named a transfer quarterback, Ashton Daniels, the starting signal-caller, which would be the third straight season that Florida State has gone with a transfer over a home-grown high schooler to be the quarterback.
There is plenty to discuss on the offensive side of the football, but it seems like the defense isn't getting the love that it deserves.
Florida State defense has a chance to be serviceable in 2026
Florida State's defense started with a bang, as they defeated Alabama in the season opener by a score of 31-17. The contest in August became a thing of the past, as the Seminoles ended up losing seven of their last nine games to not even make a bowl game.
The defense was inconsistent under new coordinator Tony White, who came from Nebraska and implemented a new 3-3-5 scheme. While much of the excuse could be because the defense was learning the new scheme, it didn't even look like it had the players to be successful.
However, the program decided to change that aspect by retaining defensive linemen Mandrell and Darryll Desir as well as Kevin Wynn and defensive backs Ja'Bril Rawls and Ashlynd Barker. It also helps that Florida State should be getting help from transfer newcomers such as Rylan Kennedy, Chris Jones, Mikai Gbayor, Nehemiah Chandler, and Ma'khi Jones.
Plus, returnees such as Daniel Lyons, Omar Graham Jr., Caleb LaVallee, and Quindarrius Jones have shown to be taking another step this spring. Tony White has a track record of improving from Year 1 to Year 2 during his stops at Syracuse and Nebraska.
Florida State should have better defensive linemen (couldn't get much worse than last year), linebackers (same thought as defensive linemen), and secondary (has a chance to be one of the better units in the conference).
Florida State fans don't have to drink the Kool-Aid of this defense, but this could be something that the Seminole faithful can be cautiously optimistic about.
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