The Florida State football team is back on the practice field. While the calendar still says July, the Seminoles returned to the work — and the heat and humidity. It’s the first of 25 practices on Wednesday afternoon as the Seminoles are exactly one month away from the season opener against Alabama on Aug. 30.

Coaches usually take a very basic, "this is a football" approach, to practice No. 1 and that's basically what today was. Helmets and shorts, pass blocking 101, offensive linemen working double team blocks with one lineman handing the defensive lineman off to take the linebacker on the second level.

“Even today, just being in helmets, at least being able to see different looks,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “It was good to at least see guys get the opportunity to go out there and communicate, work to execute. I thought that was something that was positive throughout the course of the day, didn’t see a ton of mistakes from guys that were here in the spring.

“I do think that there's going to be a big step from today to tomorrow. When you have that first practice, and obviously a lot of anxiety, a lot of excitement for what's ahead. I thought there was good workflow. But obviously a great deal of improvement needs to be shown from day one to day two.”

Below are observations from the Osceola’s Jerry Kutz, Bob Ferrante, Nick Carlisle and Curt Weiler as Norvell allowed media to observe four periods of practice:

Bryson Estes walked in wearing No. 86 and worked with the tight ends. He’s listed on FSU’s roster as an OL/TE and also having his old No. 77. In the four open periods, the redshirt senior worked with the tight ends. He’s slimmed down to 269 pounds and could be an effective blocker for FSU in 2025.

“Bryson's a guy that he's been here for a good while,” Norvell said. “He's been good program guy. You're trying to find a role, if he can be able to define that, maybe as a guy that can go in there and bring that physical presence in some of the multiple tight end sets. A guy that is working to make an impact here in his last year. Definitely a lot of respect for the work that he's pouring into it.”

Running back-turned-receiver Micahi Danzy dropped a pass and Norvell quickly arrived to yell “two hands! two hands!” Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn encouraged Danzy to jump in and take the next rep, with the sophomore catching the pass.

Ousmane Kromah looks as close to college ready for a freshman who arrived over the summer. The first impression: He’s got quickness and agility. It’s just Day 1 but if the 6-foot-1, 218-pound Kromah also fares well in pass protection will be in the mix for playing time in his first year on campus.

Jaylin Lucas was working with the receivers and looks good as he continues his comeback from knee surgery last September. Is he a running back? Is he a receiver? Assistant coach David Johnson called him a “stick of dynamite” on Tuesday, and feels Lucas can line up anywhere on the football field.

We saw a good amount of sophomore Amaree Williams at tight end. Williams ran routes and hit the blocking sled with the tight ends. Assistant coach Chris Thomsen said on Tuesday that Williams would work with offense and defense in preseason camp.

Randy Pittman (6-2, 240 pounds) is very well built in the lower body. While not known as a blocker, and a little shorter than the ideal height for a tight end, it will be fun to see how he blocks.

Markeston Douglas was gone for a year, winning a Big 12 title at Arizona State. But after considering the transfer portal in the spring, Douglas looked at home at FSU and wearing No. 87. After he did a rep on the blocking sled, a coach praised him with “That a boy!”

Herb Hand as well as assistants like Cooper Williams and Ben Miles were active with the offensive linemen. In drills with the line, Hand stood just behind the center and said, “Come off the ball and strike.”

There's a lot to see in the offensive line drills, where veteran transfers look comfortable with what Hand is asking of them at this point. Lucas Simmons caught our eye in terms of size as he's beginning to fill out his post-player frame.

But the young lineman that perhaps surprised the most was incoming freshman Chastan Brown, a late four-star commitment to Florida State. At 6-8 and 265 pounds, Brown was an AAU basketball player who was named offensive lineman of the year in Georgia in his first season playing football.

It's unlikely he'll see the field anytime soon, but he is absolutely an offensive tackle who stands out. Keep an eye on him.

Receivers coach Tim Harris Jr. emphasized the fundamentals of perimeter blocking and hand placement as receivers blocked. He wanted receivers to keep their hands inside and strike up into the chest and avoid having hands outside on the shoulders, which will often get flagged for holding.

A few receivers caught passes along the sideline and stopped — not turning upfield and running to the end zone. Norvell was quick to jump in and yell “Finish!”

FSU’s defensive linemen were being coached by Terrance Knighton and Odell Haggins. Both coaches’ voices were booming. Knighton is intense and effective, coaching Nebraska transfer James Williams hard with some jabs at him: “They say you can only rush the passer.” Haggins often yelled “Stay low! stay low!” during a three-man sled drill.

It was a relatively low-key entrance for practice No. 1. There wasn’t a ton of enthusiasm, although sophomore receiver Elijah Moore was smiling as he sang the FSU fight song and ran passed the construction area and down a narrow corridor to the indoor practice facility with his teammates.

Early impressions of QB1

Last and not least, Tommy Castellanos. He's not tall by quarterback standards but he's a damned sight better-looking athlete than a lot of players you've seen. He's built like a running back — a taller Warrick Dunn — who has that same thick base that made Dunn more powerful than other running backs his weight.

In the open portion of practice, where he threw swing passes to the backs, he looked comfortable and accurate with a route that's tougher than it looks for many quarterbacks. Castellanos has a presence, he carries himself well, and interacted with his teammates. That was missing last season and good to see on Wednesday.

Thoughts on field, construction work

It was a pleasant surprise was to see the artificial 60-yard practice field next to the new football operations building, installed and the team was able to use it for practice No. 1.

Not so pleasant was the condition of new sod installed along the edges of the one grass practice field. It appears construction compromised that portion of the practice field and the new sod hasn't grown in yet, something the coaches will have to work around until those roots are established. But with the full length indoor practice field, and the 60-yard practice field to work with, the team should be able to work around it in August.

Quote of the day

FSU receiver Duce Robinson, who grew up in Phoenix and played two seasons at Southern Cal, was asked about the heat and humidity of day 1 at practice:

“The best way I can describe it is when you go outside in Phoenix it feels like you're stepping in an oven. It feels like you are just being baked. When you're here, it literally feels like you are drowning in just hot air. It's definitely a different type of heat out here. But I really like it out here. Obviously it gets hot, it gets humid. And the humidity was a little bit of an adjustment. But I really like Tallahassee.”

Coming up

FSU will practice on Thursday and Friday before taking Saturday off. Wednesday’s practice is currently the only scheduled open practice of the preseason.

Photo at top of story is of freshman Ousmane Kromah by Nick Carlisle.

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