Mike Norvell knew he needed talent and leadership as the 2024 season eroded like sand in an hourglass. He also knew he needed new coaches, and those new coaches could help him find the talent and leadership necessary to bring FSU back to respectability in 2025.
Enter transfer defensive end James Williams, who I knew would be an immediate target as soon as it was clear Nebraska defensive line coach Terrance "Pot Roast" Knighton would follow Tony White to FSU.
Williams entered the transfer portal soon after and was the fourth FSU commit from the transfer portal(and the second Nebraska player). It was evident Williams had leadership qualities when he visited FSU before committing:
James Williams guy seems bout his business...not saying he would be the next Jermaine Johnson at all...but the leadership aspect/role would seem similar
— Kelvin Hunt (@khchopchat) December 17, 2024
Williams spoke with the media for the first time after enrolling and spoke with a maturity level beyond his years. I've heard good things about his work ethic(he was already doing workouts before he got settled in Tallahassee), which made me perk my ears when I heard what he said in this portion of his interview on Thursday:
Listen to this portion where he's comparing the talent level at Nebraska and #FSU....and the possibilities 🤔😤‼️🍢 pic.twitter.com/GJyRB9Mjs0
— Kelvin Hunt (@khchopchat) January 31, 2025
This sentiment is something I mentioned when Tony White got hired. Nebraska had back-to-back top-20 defenses (White was only there for two years) with less talent. The biggest issues for the FSU defense last year were they faced a lot of dual-threat quarterbacks, had issues stopping the run as the season went on, and had no pass rush. Most teams struggle against good dual-threat guys, and I believe the defense was tired of giving everything when it was clear the offense couldn't do anything whatsoever.
FSU addressed the pass rush issue with multiple guys from the transfer portal. Tony White's specialty is stopping the run. If FSU can generate any type of pass rush? That would help the FSU secondary tremendously. As Williams said, the talent on the backend is different than what they had at Nebraska. If Tony White can have a top-20 defense at Nebraska with less talent, there's no reason to think he can't get close to that in his first year at FSU.
Aside from the Alabama season opener, FSU will have multiple games and a bye week early in the season to work out some potential kinks before traveling to Miami for the fifth game. I know some fans are pessimistic, but I expect this defense to be good in 2025.