The opinions on what happened to FSU football in the 2024 season have been posted ad-naseum. I've said my piece on that topic more than enough times and won't rehash it here. Mike Norvell made some major changes by firing both coordinators, the linebacker, and the receivers coach.
The Noles have 46 new players on the roster from the transfer portal and high school players in the 2025 recruiting class. Most of the portal additions have proven production and experience, which is something the portal class from 2024 didn't have.
They also have several sophomores who played a lot of snaps in 2024 and will likely play important roles in 2025.
Most importantly, they'll have a player at quarterback who's confident and plays with a fiery passion in Thomas Castellanos.
Related Story: FSU Will Have The Better QB When Alabama Rolls Into Tallahassee
Are all of those things enough to change the culture at FSU? Youtuber J.D. PicKell gave his opinion on what's the most important thing for FSU in 2025:
It's easy for FSU to get up for Week 1 when Bama rolls in. But is the culture improved enough to get dialed in for a Friday night at Virginia?
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) July 1, 2025
That's where we learn about the progress for Florida Statehttps://t.co/jcWjZpLC6W pic.twitter.com/uXn0EL1IzD
We've seen clips of some transfer players showing vocal leadership at practice. We've seen Thomas Castellanos speak with confidence regarding the season-opening game against Alabama, and several players have mentioned his leadership in different interview settings.
I agree with PicKell regarding the mindset FSU will need to carry in 2025. It's why we mentioned some context like this in our game-by-game predictions piece a few weeks back.
I've always thought good teams play well, no matter who or where they are playing. It's what made the FSU teams led by Bobby Bowden so lethal. However, that comes back to expectations and having a team that holds one another accountable.
Will the coaches hold the players accountable, and will the players do the same? Will they fold under pressure and lie down like many of the NIL merchants FSU had on the team last year? Will they fight like the stone-cold killers FSU had on the 2022 and 2023 teams?
The Alabama game could answer some questions, but he's right. The game on the road against Virginia after playing two cupcakes in back-to-back weeks will tell us everything we need to know about this team's culture and response.