Florida State assistant coaches met with the media on Monday, two days before the start of preseason camp. Below are a selection of quotes as well as videos with coordinators Tony White and Tim Harris as well as a few position coaches.
FSU defensive coordinator Tony White
(On year 2 for many of FSU’s players in his scheme) “Anytime you’re in the second year and you’ve taken thousands of reps in OTAs, you’ve seen it on film, you can see the thinking turning into instinct. The ‘Am I supposed to be here?’ To ‘I’m here and I’m going to go do this.’ It’s been fun to watch the maturation of the group, from the d-line, being able to do different things with the d-line. Last year, you had to really lock in guys at different spots, whether it was athletic ability, whether it was young and not knowing what was going on, you had to lock them into spots.
“Whereas now, hey, you can throw three d-linemen out there and they can play all of the spots. They can do all of the things that you’re asking the whole d-line to do. Same thing with the linebackers. Now, coach Sims has them all learning both positions, blitzes and all that stuff. Secondary, same deal. It’s fun to watch the maturation of the group, coming together, No. 1. Be closer than the group was last year. But also you see the work. You see the extra film study, you see the extra VR room, you see the extra Monarc training. You see all the extra action. And so that gives anybody a great hope to see a big jump in the defensive group.”
FSU offensive coordinator / wide receivers coach Tim Harris
(On freshman receivers Jasen Lopez and Devin Carter) “As good as some of the things that we’ve seen from Jasen and Devin throughout spring ball, they still have a lot to learn. And training camp is going to be one of those situations that really push them and show them, show their teammates, show us as a staff if they’re truly ready to make the impact that some of us believe they can. I’m excited to watch those guys.”
FSU quarterbacks coach Austin Tucker
(On starting quarterback Ashton Daniels) “The cool thing about that is how Ashton has grown in a lot of different areas in his life, from spiritually to relationships to people that he’s been around. He would attribute a lot of that to his spiritual growth, which I’m excited for him about that. He had an opportunity to talk to some of our campers, we had a quarterback camp, and he really just focused on knowing where his foundation was and so it was cool even as a coach to sit back and watch him tell his story to a lot of young high school kids that are dreaming to go through the things that he’s been through. To hear him and just his maturity, you go through a lot of things in life.”
FSU offensive line coach Herb Hand
(On junior Andre’ Otto) “He’s a standard-bearer. That’s the best way I could put it. We have standards within the program that your culture is built upon. In college football, environment right now is very fluid with the amount of movement that’s taking place with rosters and personnel. But you still have standards with the program. Each team is different. This year’s team has a different feel than last year’s team. But the standards of the program and the culture of the program is what you want to get everybody into. Otto has been a standard-bearer in that regard. His work ethic, his attitude every day. When he comes in the building every day, he comes in with a tremendous amount of joy and enthusiasm. His presence has been awesome from a leadership standpoint.
“He’s right in the mix with the other dudes. He’s been repping with the 1s at left guard. He’s played some center with us as well. He’s right in the mix of it. I have very high expectations for him. It’s his time.”
FSU linebackers coach Ernie Sims
(On his linebacker experience in college, NFL) “I grew up in a traditional 4-3 defense, Mickey Andrews. Get to the NFL, and we were in a 4-2-5 (in Detroit). I came under the Tampa two regime. And then when I got to the Cowboys, I played in a 3-4 scheme. But I’ve never played in a 3-3-5 scheme. When I first got into coaching, that was a scheme that we ran at FAU and South Florida. That’s where a lot of my experience from coaching the position came from because when I was there with Glenn Spencer at FAU and South Florida, that was the very scheme that we ran. A three-high safety system. I think it’s a strong system and you got to have linebackers that are versatile. And I think that’s where we’re really going to thrive.“
The Osceola will have more coverage from Monday’s interviews with FSU’s coaches later this week. Read all of our position previews in the Osceola’s football archives.
