Following Florida State’s first of three scrimmages scheduled to take place inside Doak Campbell Stadium during this year’s fall camp, Mike Norvell was asked about the federal injunction granted to Class of 2022 athletes seeking a fifth year of eligibility in the NCAA and the possibility of any former Seminoles making an unexpected return to Tallahassee for the 2026 season.
Novell told reporters, “We’ve talked to compliance. We’ve had some former players that we have communicated with, or they reached out, to get a sense of what it might look like,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday. “So, we’re just going to work through the process there. I know that it is definitely a unique dynamic.”
It’s always good to do due diligence, but the thing about federal injunctions, even in college sports, is that they tend to be very specific. In this case and to this point in the legal proceedings, the injunction does not apply to players who signed pro contracts this offseason, nor does it allow players who did not and are seeking to return to enter the transfer portal.
The federal injuction leaves FSU with only 2 potential returners
So, for Power 4 programs at least, that leaves a very narrow range of players who expended their eligibility in only four years, are good enough to be impactful if they return for 2026, but not good enough to sign an NFL contract, even as an undrafted free agent.
For Florida State, that’s just two players: linebacker Elijah Herring and quarterback Tommy Castellanos, who accepted NFL minicamp invites as a wide receiver but did not sign a pro contract. That would exclude players like Squirrel White, who has since retired from football after signing a UDFA deal with the Chicago Bears, and cornerback Jerry Wilson, who signed as a UDFA with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Castellanos was one of many players fighting for additional eligibility after the 2022 class was not grandfathered into the NCAA’s new five-in-five eligibility rules. He has made it clear that he’s open to a return, and unless all the conversations were between the program and Herring, Norvell seemingly confirmed that the two sides have been in contact.
The only problem is that Castellanos making a return to Florida State is the last thing the program needs, less than a month from its season opener in Week 0 and with Ashton Daniels clearly cemented as QB1.
There’s no benefit to FSU exploring a fifth-year return after the federal injunction
As staunchly opposed as I am to the NCAA’s efforts to limit the earning potential of its revenue-generating labor force, even I have to concede that there is some merit to the argument that players extending their collegiate careers well past a fourth or fifth year does take away opportunities from younger athletes looking to enter the sport, and potentially, create generational wealth for their families.
That’s not worth overhauling the entire system and forcing players to stay in unfavorable positions with transfer limits or anything like that, but it is one of the NCAA’s stronger counterpoints. There’s also wisdom to it when thinking about building a football team.
Football coaches in the NFL and college often fall for the temptation of familiarity. NFL teams sign journeyman veterans to fill roster holes. College programs hold onto veterans as long as possible. While it may, at times, provide a safer floor of production, it limits younger players from bubbling up to the top of the roster and developing into meaningful difference-makers. At this point, that’s all Castellanos would do for Florida State.
Now, Norvell is probably exploring the possibility because he’s in a make-or-break season, so he’s not thinking about future development. Daniels is his quarterback, but if Castellanos could provide production as a slot receiver and all-around offensive weapon, he may consider that arrangement, even if that’s not what’s best for the program.
All Castellanos would do is block younger players from getting their opportunity. Jayvan Boggs is back to potentially start in the slot, and true freshman Jasen Lopez is pushing him for those snaps. At backup QB, FSU fans are desperate for Kevin Sperry to win the job and prove this staff has any ability to develop a homegrown signal-caller.
In the latter situation, he’d be continuing to learn a new position and jumping on a moving train during fall camp. It’s not even the same offense he ran with Gus Malzahn calling the plays last season.
Even in the backfield next to Daniels, FSU has Ousmane Kromah, Quintrevion Wisner, Samuel, and Singleton Jr. all vying for carries. There are already too many mouths to feed. There’s no reason to add another, particularly one that will be the loudest of them all.
The same is true of Herring, for that matter. He played 375 snaps for the Noles last season and was a solid run-defender, but not good enough to take snaps away from transfer Chris Jones Jr., Mikai Gbayor, or true freshman Izayia Williams, who seemingly has unlimited upside. Williams is already the best athlete in the second level of FSU's defense. There's no reason to delay his development.
On Tuesday, Indiana brought back Stephen Daley, who was an All-Big Ten honorable mention last year and finished with 19 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. Like it or not, he's the perfect player to benefit from this ruling, an instant-impact veteran returning to a familiar defensive scheme in a program with national championship aspirations. Castellanos, Herring, and FSU meet none of those criteria.
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