Florida State has some faces heading into the 2025 season regarding recruits, transfers, and coaches on its staff. Changes had to be made after the Seminoles finished 2-10 in 2024.
The offensive scheme will be run by Gus Malzahn, but he technically has some of the same philosophies that head football coach Mike Norvell had since they are in the same coaching tree with working together at Tulsa when Norvell was a graduate assistant.
However, they went in a different direction with the defensive coordinator hire as the Florida State Seminoles added former Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White. The coach's unit had the Cornhuskers as a top-20 defense last year.
If you remember, Nebraska had Colorado's offense (that had Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and superstar quarterback Shedeur Sanders) searching for answers. It was an exotic 3-3-5 scheme that played very aggressively.
The Cornhuskers did not stay in 3-3-5. They mixed up the looks and confused opposing offenses. The only aspect I worry about is that Florida State will lose pieces such as Patrick Payton, Marvin Jones Jr., Joshua Farmer, Byron Turner Jr., Shawn Murphy, Fentrell Cypress II, and Azareye'h Thomas.
They add several transfers and recruits that will be contributors in 2025, including former Nebraska defensive end James Williams, who could be a superstar in the defense.
One player who has not announced anything yet is redshirt junior safety Shyheim Brown. The former three-star prospect had a goal of reaching his dream of making it to the NFL. However, many players from this team had their opportunities not available with what transpired on the field.
Brown had a career-high 70 tackles in 2024, but there were times when he did not finish tackles and looked out of sorts. He would benefit from another season in Tallahassee. We also mentioned Patrick Payton and his extended decision as to whether he would return to Tallahassee, but then he ended up transferring to LSU.
Brown would be playing the ROVER position in the defense, where he would be a hybrid safety/linebacker. It would be good to see the defensive back coming downhill in run support. The next question mark would be who to put beside Brown. Who would you choose between KJ Kirkland, Conrad Hussey, Earl Little Jr., etc?
I think that Brown would greatly benefit from returning in 2025 for Florida State.