FSU football started its 2025 spring camp on Wednesday, and there are tons of new faces, from players to the coaching staff. Mike Norvell and FSU need a significant bounce back after an unprecedented 2-10 season where FSU was the butt of jokes across the nation, especially after less than a year after getting snubbed by the CFB Playoff Committee.
Mike Norvell hired two coordinators with proven track records and allowed those guys to hire some folks they had previous relationships with. The coaching staff upgraded in those areas and the team added several transfer portal players while retaining the majority of the young talent on the roster.
The team will be more talented than at least eight teams on its 2025 schedule. Talent won't be an issue and they should win at least eight games despite the pessimism of most media and fans. However, there are concerns as spring camp gets underway:
- Safety Depth
- Wide Receiver
- OL Depth
- Scheme Implementation
- Leadership
The safety position was a liability last season, and Conrad Hussey and Shyheim Brown will miss most or all of spring camp. While that does allow some other guys to maximize opportunities for more reps, they are missing valuable reps in a new scheme.
FSU has talent at wide receiver, but they either have little production, or players have dealt with injuries. We know FSU will look to run the ball, but they must have receivers who can block and make plays down the field.
The offensive line is about half of guys with very little experience and the other half have one year left to play. FSU added four players from the transfer portal, and one will miss most of spring camp. One guy who played significant reps down the stretch last year will miss most of spring camp. The four transfers will likely start, but which guys will emerge to create that 8-10-man group who can play without a significant dropoff?
As of now, we don't have to worry about a global pandemic impacting whether or not coaches can implement their schemes like in Mike Norvell's first spring camp in 2020. These coaches have done this several times, so I'm comfortable with that. However, how quickly can the players assimilate into the schemes? We've seen quick turnarounds before. Mark Stoops turning the defense around in one year in 2010 after Mickey Andrews retired is a great example. I'm not concerned with the defense as much as I am with the offense. The offense was the biggest issue last season.
I think FSU has better leadership from a coaching standpoint. I think some players have better leadership qualities than what FSU had last year. Some players leaving the team were addition by subtraction, so that helps. However, we won't know who the true leaders are for a while. I wrote about some prime candidates here. However, this is still a major concern after how last season ended.
I think this football team will be drastically different from last year. It has to be if Mike Norvell wants to continue as the head coach. These will be some of the things I'll be looking at as spring camp progresses.