Young FSU offensive lineman posts video illustrating exact mindset young players need

FSU football has suffered from a myriad of issues over the past few years, and one of the major narratives surrounding the program is that FSU can’t develop its high school talent. That’s been especially true with the offensive line unit. FSU hasn’t had an offensive lineman drafted since the 2018 NFL Draft.

Poor evaluations, poor coaching, injuries, and the transfer portal have all contributed to the lack of development at the position. FSU offensive line coach Herb Hand is the most accomplished offensive line coach FSU has had since Rick Trickett, and it looks like he’s cleaning most of the old signees of the previous coach off the roster.  

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Multiple players who had been on the roster for two or more years never became contributors. However, one player who committed to Hand got on the field as a freshman for nearly as many snaps as those older players.

Three-star Chavez Thompson redshirted, but played 68 snaps behind All-ACC First Team center Luke Petitbon. He’s already putting work in for the upcoming season. A video posted by his mother is exactly the type of mentality and work ethic needed by these young FSU players:  

It’s the fact that he’s willing to do extra work while home for the holidays. It’s why I’ve been preaching about it’s more on the player’s willingness to put in the work to develop than anything the coaches can do. There’s only so much time at practice each day, but what’s the player doing before or after practice? What are they doing in the offseason? There’s no coincidence that Thompson was already getting on the field as a freshman with this type of work ethic.

The crazy part is he wasn’t even an early enrollee in the spring. The willingness to enter the transfer portal or not work and be told to enter instead of competing is soft and weak. Hopefully, this mentality and work ethic of Chavez Thompson has rubs off on others and spreads like wildfire throughout the program.