Bryan Stork enjoyed a successful football career, earning All-American honors and a national title at Florida State in 2013 before winning a Super Bowl ring in 2014 with the New England Patriots before retiring from the NFL in 2017.

After a few years in coaching at the NAIA level and with East Tennessee State, Stork’s life is now fulfilled with his 3-year-old daughter as well as his passion for woodworking. Stork is enjoying being a father, although he’s not coaching her flag football team, but he’s been able to connect with teammates and FSU friends through his woodworking as he shares projects on social media.

“I remember the recruiting spiels everywhere you go, ‘Oh, it’s a life decision. The relationships you build here last a lifetime.’ That’s no BS. That’s true,” Stork said. “And it might be a little different now because loyalty is not the same as it used to be because people are getting paid. It’s been probably the biggest constant in my life, is that people from Florida State, they’re always staying in touch.

“The woodworking has brought me in touch with people I haven’t talked to in years and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s a chance to make somebody smile and they get a piece of handcrafted woodwork.”

If you follow Stork on Twitter/X or Instagram, you can see a variety of his work. He often specializes in spears but has also branched out and done work for fans of other college teams.

Stork was honored on Sept. 6 with a pillar inside the Champions Club, which features a photo of him in garnet and gold. He joined our Front Row Noles / Seminole Sidelines show to reflect on his journey from Vero Beach to FSU and the NFL. Below are some excerpts, and you can watch the full interview on YouTube or the video below.

You made the transition from high school tight end at Vero Beach to the offensive line at FSU. Why did it work for you?

Stork: Why it worked out? Because I didn't care. I just wanted to play. I wanted to put on the garnet and gold, right? Probably haven't heard of somebody (talk) like that in a while. But it started probably when I came to visit for a summer camp, the Seminole Showtime. I was supposed to go with James Coley and the tight ends. Big Oak (Garin Justice), who is (now) the O-line coach for SMU, by the way, comes and grabs me because he's (Rick) Trickett's GA at the time. I go with Coach Trickett. Next thing I know, I'm snapping a football, which wasn't snapping. I was attempting. So I should have known there. Do my senior year, play tight end, and I had a little bit of (offensive) tackle, too. I had to switch jerseys during the game.

And two weeks after signing day, I'm about 265, running 4.8s, 4.9s. I was moving for that size and getting bigger, and they said, 'Hey, you're gonna play guard. I'm like, 'Okay, so what? Let's go.' So I kept gaining weight, and I showed up 285, ready to go. Not mentally though. I had no idea what a Mike call was. I never ran inside zone. Anything I've ever known was if somebody's inside of you, you block down on. Nobody's there. Look for the next guy, man up, and if he's there, block him. If nobody's there, you go to the back. That's all I ever knew. So going from that to 'Hey, this is the Mike. This is six-man protection. It's a seven-man, five-man-empty protection. ... That was totally foreign to me. It was a tough adjustment. Hence why I redshirted. I came in great shape physically. Just needed a long way to go mentally to prepare for that, and so I backed up Rodney Hudson for a while, and then (David) Spurlock went down with his with his injuries in 2010, and I ended up playing right guard later in the year.

You strike me as a guy who's accountable and reliable. Attributes that helped you in your career and life?

Stork: I would say so. Anymore now I'm like, 'You can't break me. Good luck.' And and I think that's an important trait to have. Be able to ride the waves, go up and down. Not trying to get too cliche here, but be able to take some punches. It's gonna hurt along the way, good or bad. And understand that God upstairs got a weird way of working things to getting you to where you're supposed to be. And football was my life for so long, and now I'm here do my woodworking. And why I'm not coaching? Because I can be a part of my daughter's life. And that's where I'm supposed to be right now. Do I coach later on life? Maybe, but for right now, I'm supposed to be working with my wood and be with my daughter.

What's fun for you watching her play flag football and have fun?

Stork: I love just watching her go out there. She doesn't really have a clue what she's doing. Doesn't understand defense yet, but you can just see she's happy to be out there. She's playing with all the kids. She's talking with them. And I think my favorite part, honestly, she has a teammate that I think is on the spectrum. I don't know what. She is like her best friend. She grabs her and drags her out there on the field. 'Let's go.' Just seeing that pureness of good hearts, good souls are not tainted from the outside world, and they're just all trying to play. And when she does run the ball, she runs right through the smoke. Tries to. She's like her dad. Just wants to just run through instead of around it. So I can appreciate that about her.

FSU is taking on the identity of a run-based scheme on offense in 2026. Can you appreciate what it takes to get so many transfers on the same page? The passing game isn’t there just yet but it feels like the run game is taking some shape with these backs, Ashton Daniels' mobility and this offensive line.

Stork: From SMU, assessing what I saw, I'm not sitting here trying to say anything negative. I know the running back (Ousmane Kromah) is good that they got, but I'd like to see him hit the hole quicker and not just kind of dance around. And I know some plays like the holes have to form, but it'd be cool just to see him hit it, get North now and just get the yards that you can. When you hit it now and you hit it quick, half of the time you're going to run through some arm tackles and get even more yards.

But it's hard. Coach (Herb) Hand has got a hell of a hell of a deal on his hands, if you will. He's trying to take guys that haven't worked together before and make them work now, and that's a tough task. I coached offensive line at the NAIA level, and they had two, one in pass protection and a couple run plays when I got there, and that was it. And then I had to turn them into making Mike calls. So I can appreciate the challenge.

I came from the school of be lean as you possibly can without losing your strength. Those guys are a little bigger than what I was. They're more like the SEC-type-built linemen. But we were more of an outside zone scheme, so we were trying to hook them and reach them real quick. And you know, I think they do have some of that in them. It just be cool to see them be a little leaner, and help their conditioning. ...

Our coaches are capable. I hate to see their jobs getting called for. How would you like if somebody came to your job and you're two or three minutes late, like you usually are every day or taking that lunch break a little early and getting on your ass? 'Oh, you need to be fired.' Like, 'Come on, guys.' Their kids have to go to school, but is the standard acceptable right now? No, we all want to do better. But like I said, I stood there at practice. I listened. ... They got to they got to make the decision themselves to have the toughness, the effort, the discipline, the pride. Like we had. I'm not saying they don't have it like we had. I don't know. I'm not there every day. But at some point, they got to come together.

You were honored at the ceremony the night before the SMU game with a pillar at the Champions Club. Congratulations to you. I know that was an emotional moment. You've had a little bit of time to process it now, but it must have been pretty cool to know that you're forever honored at the Champions Club at Doak Campbell Stadium where you left your blood, sweat and tears.

Stork: It was really cool to be honored. It was great to be appreciated. I always thought if I ever was going to be appreciated, I wouldn't be on this Earth no more. I just say that jokingly, but seriously there's been so many good players and so many good centers that came before me. A lot of guys that go unnamed. A lot of good offensive linemen that went on to play in the NFL for a long time. But I was definitely, definitely honored to be a part of something like that and just be recognized. It was really cool. I got a little emotional for whatever reason. When big moments like that happen in my life, all those memories just flood back in my brain, and I just start to go 'boo hoo.' I get soft all of a sudden, so I got to work on that. But it was really cool to be a part of that.

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