Heading into the 2025 season, Florida State wiped the slate clean on much of the roster. That’s particularly true, however, along the offensive line. Mike Norvell hired Herb Hand as his new offensive line coach, and together they brought in five veteran starters from the transfer portal.
That solution kept things afloat for one season, which was a clear step forward even if it fell well below Florida State’s lofty expectations. That progress was only temporary, however, as all five starters graduated, leaving the Seminoles with a clean slate once again.
This time, heading into 2026 after the first day of fall camp, it appears that only four transfers will start up front, with Andre Otto expected to win the left guard job. Still, getting five new starters ready is a serious task. The good news is that Norvell feels it's further along than last year’s group was at this time.
During his pre-camp press conference on Monday, Norvell told reporters that he feels a lot better about the offensive line now than he did a year ago. That’s an encouraging sign for a group that will need to be solid for Florida State to get back to a bowl game and save Norvell’s job.
#FSU head coach Mike Norvell said that he feels a lot better about the offensive line today than he did a year ago.
— Tommy Mire (@TommyM3III) July 27, 2026
He highlighted the cohesiveness that he's seen throughout the offseason. He did note that there are still things to clean up this fall. #Noles
Herb Hand needs to prove his worth with another O-line rebuild
Norvell bet on Hand to turn around Florida State’s offensive line play after a disastrous showing in 2024. For the most part, he pulled it off. The offensive line was far from elite, but it was also far from the problem in Tallahassee in 2025. Now, in 2026, with another run-heavy offense built around a dual-threat QB, it needs to finally be a strength.
That will largely hinge on the incoming transfers, though which ones will take the field in Week 0 when FSU hosts New Mexico State at Doak Campbell Stadium is still unclear. Auburn transfer Xavier Chaplin is a shoo-in at left tackle, and Otto is the presumptive left guard.
That leaves three positions undecided as Bradyn Welch-Joiner and Chavez Thompson battle at center and Nate Pabst, Chimdia Nwaiwu, and Paul Bowling vie for the remaining two starting spots on the right side. The most likely configuration has Pabst at right guard and Nwaiwu at right tackle, but Pabst can also kick outside if Bowling proves too hard to keep off the field.
Uncertainty along the offensive line isn’t great because it’s a unit that relies so heavily on cohesion, something Norvell highlighted as a difference between this group and last year’s. However, depth is never a bad thing, and it seems Florida State has finally developed some.
This time around, it’s not solely transfers. Otto should start, and Thompson may usurp Welch-Joiner, though that’s not the expectation. Beyond those two, Jonathan Daniels, a former four-star redshirt sophomore, appears ready to be the swing tackle, and former three-star from the same recruiting class Jayden Todd figures to feature as a depth piece on the interior.
Norvell, feeling better about this line than last year’s, when it was a group of mercenaries stitched together to plug a gaping hole in the program, may not be the highest bar to clear. But this group has cleared it nonetheless, and that’s still an encouraging sign for a program desperate for optimism.
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