OPTIMISM WITH TRANSFERS?
Florida State football had a disappointing 2-10 showing in 2024. However, 2025 is a new year filled with optimism of a roster filled with pieces from the transfer portal and recruiting ranks.
Sound familiar?
That is because last year, head football coach Mike Norvell went to work in the transfer portal to create a squad that would be serviceable enough to match up to the competitiveness of the 2023 team that finished with a 13-1 record.
While I know that team was special, this was a high point in Norvell's career that he wants to get back to and sustain. It doesn't get any easier as the Seminoles take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday, August 30th, on ABC at 3:30 PM EST.
IS THOMAS CASTELLANOS THE MISSING PIECE?
An important factor in the game will be former UCF and Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos. This was someone whom the Seminoles recruited out of high school as a running back in the 2022 recruiting cycle. However, after Florida State struggled facing off against him in 2023 and 2024, Norvell became a believer in what the Georgia native brought to the table.
The head football coach had a confident quote about the signal-caller during a Seminole Booster tour event in Jacksonville, Florida, on Thursday afternoon.
IS THE OVERCONFIDENCE A GOOD THING?
This phrase is something that might be a foreign language to those individuals outside of the program. When evaluating the top quarterbacks in the country, most wouldn't put Castellanos in that category.
The signal-caller completed 10 of his 16 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the 2024 meeting versus Florida State. Then he added 14 carries for 73 rushing yards and one touchdown. To make matters worse, he had 20 of his 33 pass attempts for 305 yards and one touchdown, with 16 rushing attempts, 95 yards, and one touchdown in the 2023 matchup.
I also realize that fans are exhausted when they see Norvell hyping up transfer portal players. This is because the 2024 season went so wrong. Honestly, I cannot blame those individuals for being upset with the overconfidence in the former Boston College quarterback who was benched towards the end of last season.