Transcript 0:00 [rock music] Seminole Sidelines, happy Tuesday. 0:32 Thanks for watching on the Osceola's YouTube channel, Twitter, Facebook. We'll get you later on Spotify, Apple, your podcast destinations. Um, got a good show planned for you today. 0:44 We wanna talk a little bit of spring football with practice starting for Florida State. 0:48 On Wednesday, the Osceola staff had a chance to, uh, to continue connecting with this new coaching staff, six new, uh, FSU football assistants. Um, I thought this was a good opportunity for us. 1:02 Yes, we had a little bit of barbecue, a little, little bit of key lime pie. It, it was a good afternoon, guys. It was a good eating day. Better than normal. Better than normal. 1:09 [clears throat] Nor- normally, uh, they, they've served us Sunny's for, I think two years in a row now. Uh, I don't know what it is with them and barbecue, but, um, I don't know. It w- It, it was better. 1:19 It was, it was good. It was good. I thoroughly enjoyed it, thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a, it was a good afternoon. Barbecue is a direct journey to the sports writers' hearts. 1:29 Uh, I mean, maybe not the arteries so, so cleanly good, you know, all that good stuff. But all right, we got Kurt Weiler, Nick Carlisle, and Bob Ferrante. 1:38 Again, we'll, we'll kinda lead you through some of our takeaways from, uh, Mike Norvell, the assistant coaches, and then we'll get you in a, a few thoughts on, um, who we wanna see kinda have those breakout springs, uh, over these 15 practices that are coming up starting Wednesday. 1:54 But let's start, uh, Mike Norvell. 1:56 A- and Kurt, I think you took, um, an approach of change with, with the theme from Coach Mike Norvell about there are a lot of different things that he's attacked since the end of November, uh, how he's evaluated the program, what adjustments he's made i- in various areas. 2:14 Um, w- let's kinda dive into that. What, what did you think was, was interesting, new, or, or just for, for Coach Norvell to admit something publicly, um, it was intriguing to you? Yeah, I think, uh, it's funny. 2:26 I think I saw... I was talking to a few people. They kinda thought, I think, uh, it might have been y'all, I don't remember. 2:30 We talked to a lot of people about it, it felt a little more maybe coach speaky from Mike Norvell yesterday and less on individuals or certain things than normal. 2:39 And I think a lot of that was understandably now a couple months removed from the season they just had. There were a lot of big picture questions. It was, you know, like, how did, how did this change? 2:48 How did the other thing change? It was, it was... I mean, changes were asked about a lot, and so it ended up being something he talked about a lot. I think, uh, it, it's, it's encouraging. 2:58 I mean, as, as set in their ways as football coaches can be, Mike Norvell's saying a lot of things in terms of being willing to bring in an offensive play caller. 3:06 And he talked a little about, you know, how not being in f- top of, like, at the top of the offensive pecking order in terms of being the primary p- play caller, the game plan, all that, has freed him up, I think, to take a more CEO role that I think he has seen the benefits of right away, and we thought he might, given the, the state of the program. 3:24 I think, uh, he's been receptive to the changes, uh, guys like Tony White and Gus Malzahn and other coaches on the, the staff wanted to bring in. 3:31 I mean, we heard more yesterday about really from both coordinators the physicality of practice and what they want to see from that, and that wasn't always the, uh, the biggest thing on that front, uh, 3:41 i- i- in Mike Norvell practices in the previous regime with his previous coordinators. So that, that seems like it might, might be a change, uh, this spring, this off-season as well. Uh, I mean, obviously a, a change... 3:52 He talked about changes to recruiting. I know that we have a story up on the site that Nick wrote about that. He talked, obviously, there's a change to the media policy, if we wanna get into that a little. 3:59 We don't wanna spend too much time on it, but, uh, change was definitely the, it felt like the buzzword entering a, such a dismal, like, coming off such a dismal season. I, I thought it was interesting. 4:09 He, he called both, you know, Gus Malzahn and Tony White tremendous leaders, and, and the theme of accountability came up yet again, uh, wi- with Coach Norvell. 4:18 You know, when I was in Orlando at the booster club stop, I guess that was at some point mid-February, give or take, um, edge, the players not having an edge was a term he used. 4:29 He wanted players to be desperate to have that edge to make this next year the best year. 4:36 Or if you've only got one year left, pour everything you got into that one year, whether you're a transfer, um, or, or any other terms of what your eligibility might look like, right? 4:46 Um, edge, accountability came up a lot on, on, on Monday. I think that needed to come up. Um, feels almost like a, like a semi-apology fro- from Coach Norvell or saying we, we just didn't have that last year. 5:01 Nick, maybe, maybe let's talk about the recruiting component. I mean, I, I think Coach Norvell hit on it. You wrote on it. 5:06 Um, not just his comments, but putting into context what happened last year, how the recruiting class fell apart, then was rebuilt a- and now moving forward. Um, what'd you hear from Mike Norvell? 5:18 And then le- let's kinda turn it forward into 2026 too. Yeah. 5:24 Uh, I think the word that he used was extreme change, which from the outside looking in, things look relatively the same, but it's kind of in the minute details that you look about. 5:34 You look at who they're looking at and how many players that they're looking at. You kinda see the, the, the little shifts in philosophy that maybe they didn't employ last year. 5:43 Um, I've, uh, for those who have watched Pat and I's recruiting podcast, him and I both believe that maybe they got a little bit high on their own supply last year in terms of kinda the prospects that they were going after, a lot of big fishes in maybe smaller ponds. 5:58 And, um, I think you could tell right away that-That, that's not the case this year. They're going after more prospects in the Panhandle and the Tampa Bay areas. 6:08 They're, they're and using more of their official visits was, was kind of the, 6:13 the one of the main, I guess, and more analytical points of the story that I wrote earlier today is that Florida State only used 56 of their 70 allotted official visit spots last year, and 14 of those came after the summer official visits. 6:26 So hovering around just over half of your official visits used last season, they really had to catch up later on in the cycle. 6:35 And as you saw just the, the, the, the talent that ended up jettisoning from that class, losing two five-star prospects, losing multiple blue chip wide receivers, um, even though they were able to close and kind of miraculously save that class to become top 20 in the final weeks, uh, there was a lot philosophically that I think that they wanted to change. 6:57 Um, I think that in terms of coaching personality, um, the, these coaches have, have dedicated themselves to really submitting themselves into the culture of Florida State and buying into the type of prospect that Mike Norvell wants to have at, at, at Florida State. 7:15 Um, so kind of diving back into the official visit thing, there's no more official visit limits. Uh, that's new this year, so you can see that they're already setting up. 7:24 They're on pace to set up more official visits this year, get more guys in, focus on the trenches, some of the things that we've talked about before, Bob. 7:32 So although when, when Norvell says extreme changes, you kind of take a look at it and say, "Well, there's nothing too, too extreme here. It's in the minute details." 7:41 Um, and of course, he didn't elaborate exactly on what some of the more extreme, maybe more internal things that he changed. Uh, you- he obviously he's not gonna elaborate on those. 7:49 But, uh, in terms of the philosophy o- of h- how they are going about recruiting, it seems like they're, they are, um, going about their changes, uh, steadfast. 8:02 Yeah, I think, uh, it's, it's gonna be interesting to see how recruiting, uh, evolves with the new staff. 8:07 We've already seen, you know, like you said, Herpan has gotten a lot of official visits, you know, locked in- Yeah... very offensive lineman, for example, there. So I think that's a storyline to follow. 8:16 As you know, um, you, you gotta go quantity in hopes of delivering some quality on the OL out of these, uh, recruiting classes, in addition to transfer portal classes. 8:27 Uh, shout out Kelly Lowry, thanks for watching and, and tuning in as always. Our, uh, our Nole alumni for, uh, for checking in. Appreciate you. 8:35 Um, you know, guys, I, I think we, we also got that chance to talk to a lot of the assistant coaches in, in various, we'll call them breakout sessions. 8:44 It's, it's kind of just a, a cluster of writers around the room with, uh, with cameras and, and getting the audio out too. Um, maybe we can start with, with the coordinators. I don't, I don't know. 8:56 I was in on Gus for a little while. Kurt, I think you were too. Um, Nick, were you on, on Tony? Yeah, I talked, uh- Yeah... 9:02 Kurt and I actually talked to Tony for what felt like a good 10, 15 minutes before, uh, I pulled Tony over to the side and the, uh, everybody rushed in to get in on the, on the interview. 9:11 But, um, yeah, I, I, I was, I don't know, I don't know if we could just dive right into it here, Bob. Please do. But I was, I was thoroughly impressed with what I heard from Tony. 9:21 Um, a- and Kurt kind of already alluded to it. A lot of the, the buzzwords, physicality, accountability, um, those, those showed up again when talking to Tony, especially w- talking about how he wants to kind of 9:39 mold his vision of this defense. I as- I asked him about, you know, Gus and his mentality and how Gus is very publicly and openly be like, "We're gonna run the ball, and we're gonna run it down your throat." 9:50 Well, what does that do for, for your defense? What's that look like coming from a Big Ten school, where running the football is something that you're probably gonna be looking out for a little bit more nowadays? 10:03 How does that change what you're gonna be doing with this defense? Because, you know, a lot of coming into this, it's about finding the personnel, um, and, and adapting them to the defense. 10:13 And, and Tony has already said that this defense is gonna be multiple, uh, bare front, three, three-three five, four-three sometimes. 10:21 Uh, it- it's, it's going to be, uh, really diverse, and I was, again, impressed with kind of how he, he [laughs] it's kind of funny. He wasn't very, uh, he, he, 10:32 committable in terms of saying that there was a lack of physicality last year during practices and during games. You know, he's, he kept saying, "I, I don't know. I wasn't here." But I think there's absolutely an, a, a, 10:45 an instilled sense of urgency to make sure that practices are physical. Um, now they're not just gonna lay hat on hat all the time and, [laughs] and hurt each other. 10:54 But there's, there's an extended emphasis on being physical and doing things the right way, so when the, these situations show up on, on S- on Saturdays, that they're going to be better prepared for that 11:08 and also have that edge carry over from the practices during the week, which was obviously, as we all know, one of the major problems that last year's team had. Yeah. 11:20 I, I thought just briefly on the defense about the scheme, the three-three five. You know, John Papuchis, you know, when we were talking, it's adaptable. 11:27 It, it is a three-three five, like you said, but you're gonna see some four and five-man fronts. Um, you know, I asked about Stefan Thompson, uh, who JP, I think, likes calling him Stef. 11:36 I thought about Steph Curry a lot when I'm talking to JP. [laughs] But anyway, Stef, um, really i- is a knowledgeable teacher of, of this scheme, of this Tony White scheme and what the three-three five looks like. 11:48 And I think there's a healthy exchange of JP saying, "Here's, here's what we've done historically on defenses that I've coached," and, and Stef saying, "Here's what we've done at Syracuse and Nebraska." 12:00 So I thought that was a really kind of neat anecdote there.Um, Kurt, let's shift to offense. And, and, Gus, you know- Ooh, I was gonna stay on defense real quick, and then we can go to offense. Why don't we- Yeah... 12:09 like, I, I, M- M- My read, I talked to the two secondary coaches a- and Terrance Knighton on the defense. 12:14 I thought it was interesting with the 3-3-5, Pat Surtain talked about, you know, Florida State ran almost exclusively press man with their corners under, under Adam Fuller. That was kinda what they settled into doing. 12:25 It sounds like it will be less of that. I mean, Pat Surtain kind of talked about, you know, I think Co- Tony White wants our guys to have more vision on the quarterback, was what he said. 12:33 'Cause he said the thing with the press man is it led to breakups, but not as many interceptions. He thinks that it's a change in philosophy that could maybe create, create some more takeaways. 12:41 And obviously it's a, it's a pretty fascinating group with... I mean, they're losing three corner starters, two outsides and the nickel. At safety they've, uh, they've got a bunch of guys who've played. 12:50 Their two, two of the guys that played the most, Conrad Hester and Traheane Brown, it sounds like they're gonna be out most if not all of spring, so that kinda creates an opportunity for guys. 12:59 And then Evan Cooper I thought was the new safeties coach. Some interesting perspective on maybe what the rover role is, and that's kind of that new fifth DB, where it'll be two corners, two safeties, and a rover. 13:09 And he kind of described it as a h- half safety, sometimes a safety, sometimes a linebacker, a guy who's not afraid to hit. 13:16 Kind of like, I think, they kinda talked it up as like a football player's football player, if you will. 13:21 Just kind of like a guy who is knowledgeable about football, likes the physical part of football and all that comes with that. So I thought that was, is a good thing to know going into the season. 13:31 Yeah, and I asked, I asked Tony about, you know, what kind of, d- for, just from a recruiting perspective, you know, what kind of dudes do you look for for this defense? 13:40 With so many roles that may be unconventional or maybe not as m- I mean, not as well known as, like, you know, your Mike, your Will linebacker, you know, your... Jack and Rover are new. 13:54 I don't wa- obviously they're not new in terms of what they actually are, but it's s- specifically [laughs] to a Florida State defense they are. So, you know, I asked Tony, like, "What do you look for?" 14:04 And, uh, he essentially said just really athletic, best dudes on the football field type guys. Like football player's football players, um, as, to, to, to kind of quote what Kurt said. 14:16 So it's those kind of just guys that love and understand the game, I think, and, and are on the best on the field at that position or whatever they're doing. 14:27 Um, I, I found that response really interesting, uh, because a lo- a lot of the mainstays of some of the guys that they've recruited in the f- in the past are long and lengthy, um, and twitchy, you know, e- especially back in the secondary. 14:40 So to have kind of those combined roles where, uh, you have the Jack that's a combo of a linebacker defensive end, and then the Rover, which is the linebacker safety, it, it's interesting to, to see, or ask some rather, like, what they, what he envisions for that. 14:55 Uh, because we haven't seen it yet. At least not in person. [laughs] Yeah. I mean, there's, there's lots to unpack with this, this 3-3-5. 15:05 Again, multiple, but, but essentially 3-3-5 with some of those new roles and some of those new pieces, uh, skill sets that'll be playing in with those various roles. 15:14 Um, hey, i- if, if Wally Burnham or the defensive guys are listening, we started with the defense, guys. I mean, we're always starting with the quarterbacks and the offense. We, we went big- Mm... 15:24 on defense today, so, uh, so thanks guys. If you're, if you are listening or watching, appreciate it. And, uh, we will dive into the offense now, I think. 15:32 And, you know, some of my big takeaways from Gus were he feels like a retired head coach in how he has those shorter sound bites, those clipped answers. 15:43 Um, I won't say there's a ton of meat on the bone, but it's very much kinda mantra, who they are, who their identity is. Um, I think a lot of Gus's identity lines up pretty closely with Mike Norvell's. 15:56 You know, one of his quotes from, from Gus was, uh, "Play fast, run the ball downhill, throw it vertically down the field. When we're at our best, those three things happen." 16:06 I think that lines up pretty closely with, with a lot of, of what Norvell wants to do. 16:12 Um, so Kurt, your big picture thoughts o- o- on Gus, what you heard, um, you know, either about specific players or just implementing the scheme this, uh, this spring? 16:24 Yeah, I agree on the, the retired head coach comment. And I think, uh, the last two months seem to have confirmed for him how glad he is to kinda be back from that role and to kinda just be back. 16:33 He talked about it from his opening press conference of like, "You know, a big part of this was a chance to be a football coach again, for my primary job to be coaching players, not dealing with all the other stuff that comes with it." 16:43 And I think, uh, the last few months seem to have confirmed that for him in a, in a major way of just, I mean, how much, uh, how, how much it's, it's freed him up and kinda, I mean, it, it, I think that's been a relief. 16:55 Uh, I thought it was interesting, I mean, talking about, you know, Thomas Castill- or Tommy Castillanos, sorry, I'm still trying to retrain myself a little bit, uh, as a guy, obviously it's a reunion for him where he coached him at UCF back in 2022 when he was a freshman for one year. 17:09 And I think he, he talked a little about, you know, how much he's, uh, how much he's seen him grow, uh, since he last coached him. They kinda came back in some ways I think kind of a, a different player. 17:19 And there's been a lot of talk about, uh, uh, Norvell talked about it again yesterday, just how naturally he's taken to a leadership role. Hasn't felt forced. Kinda just a spark of personality. 17:29 And I think you're, you're hearing a lot of the right things. 17:32 You don't wanna make a comparison point to the past, but it does sound a little different how they talk about Tommy compared to how they talk about, talked about DJ Uiagalelei 12 months ago. 17:42 It just does sound different of, of... it maybe is something that comes more naturally to Tommy it sounds like, taking over kinda the, the, the leadership role you expect a quarterback to have. 17:54 I thought it was interesting too, Gus was asked, you know, later on i- in my session with him about Brock Glenn, and just says, you know, he's a winner. 18:00 He's, he's kind of that guy who takes control, takes charge in those off-season, those tour of duty workouts, those, those meeting rooms. And I mean, you would expect that. He's been on campus a while. 18:11 He was that younger guy that we remember going through that spring at, at 18 years old, and now he's, he's been around. 18:17 And it hasn't looked great on the football field, but-It might down the road, because you never know when you're going to need a second quarterback, maybe even a third. 18:27 You hate to get into those thought processes, but we've seen it historically here at Florida State. 18:32 You need the number two and potentially the number three, unfortunately, just because of how things, how things play out. Um, I listened to Tim Harris a little bit, the interview that you did, Kurt. 18:44 But, but Nick, think about some of the offensive interviews you did. Um, just, just kind of what, what takeaways do you have? 18:51 Yeah, I talked to running backs coach David Johnson for a while, and I think that his room has a very unique opportunity here. 19:00 Uh, because obviously the offensive line was probably the big Achilles heel of what made that offense just totally inept last season. 19:08 Uh, and a lot of what will allow this new offense to work well is the massive transfer influx of starting offensive linemen that are going to be able to make this run game, uh, be a little bit more accustomed to what we saw in the twenty twenty-three and twenty, uh, and twenty twenty-two seasons. 19:25 Yeah, just talking to, to David Johnson, he, he, there, there's a, there's an opportunity for this room to contribute on multiple levels, especially in terms of who they're getting back. 19:36 Uh, Roydale Williams and Jalen Lucas coming back for another year, those, that's really big. 19:41 And Kaziah Holmes, and Kaziah Holmes has always been in that weird situation where, you know, he'll flash at times during the spring and fall, and then he just can't quite put it together to get more meaningful reps when it matters. 19:53 But to be able to get the Swiss Army knife in Jalen Lucas back, uh, getting Roydale back for another year, and also, you know, kind of an- not anticipating, but saying, "Hey, don't forget about Cam Davis." 20:07 And even he brought up Usman Chroma, who hasn't even gotten on campus yet. 20:12 He is confident that Usman Chroma, Chroma, excuse me, will end up participating at some point and, and contributing this season, which I thought was really interesting. 20:22 I mean, uh, considering the level of both s- young, exciting talent and veteran talent returning to, to that room. 20:30 So, uh, obviously one of those spots in the running back room is opened up by Makai Dansie's transition into a wide receiver, which I talked to him a little bit about that as well, and kind of just the amazing things that Dansie is doing on the track field as well because of, of kind of the two, the, the two sport athlete is something that has really, I don't want to say withered and died, but certainly not as common anymore, especially with how twenty-four seven, three hundred and sixty-five the, the, the football calendar can be. 20:59 Um, so yeah, I, I think, I think more a, a run-focused offense is obviously something that any running back room is going to relish the idea of. 21:10 I think that this room is motivated to bounce back after a year where the running game was just not good. Uh, and it's a unique opportunity for, for a veteran group of guys to really dictate what this offense can be. 21:23 Yeah, I think that's, that's how Mike Norvell and Gus Malzahn want to dictate is, is via the run and, and think that the rest of the offense will open up, whether it's taking those shots deep or, you know, having Tommy Castanos take those calculated, um, calculated shots in the passing game. 21:39 So we'll see how that develops. Um, I'm kind of intentionally saving receivers here toward the end because- [laughs]... 21:45 uh, I felt like receivers was the sore spot throughout practices and games last year, and, and the, the drops popped up, I think last spring. They popped up consistently last August. 21:56 It was there throughout, and it, it was sort of that unfortunate bummer, uh, throughout just not seeing a passing game that clicked regardless of who the quarterback was. 22:10 Um, you bring in Deuce Robinson, you bring in Squirrel White, maybe Hakeem Williams i- is a guy. Uh, maybe we'll kind of save the Hakeem Williams discussion a little bit for, for later after we do a break. 22:22 But I, I think, you know, listening to Coach Harris, there's a lot of feeling. 22:27 You know, Kurt, you were in on that interview, and I enjoyed listening to it because I thought Coach Harris did a really nice job of, of kind of going around the room and, and really not just leaning on, "Hey, we got Deuce and Squirrel." 22:40 It, it's a room that, that really could make that, that step forward and needs to take that step forward, you know, this spring. 22:49 Yeah, and I think he, he I think knows and understands the attention around kind of those transfers they brought in who've been productive elsewhere and are expected to have key roles. 22:56 But a lot of his talk, I mean, obviously Tim Harris wasn't here last year. He didn't, he didn't get to experience or see firsthand what was going wrong. 23:03 But, uh, he, he talked about, I mean, Lane McCoy, I know is a name he brought up unprompted as someone who's taken a big leap from what he's seen and heard this off-season. 23:12 I think, uh, Elijah Moore was someone obviously he said, uh, players have come up to him and said like, "I know you weren't here, Coach, but like Elijah looks like a different player than he did like at this time last year." 23:21 Like, he's a guy who's made the most of those, of those twelve months. And I think, uh, the wild card there obviously that we... 23:28 I guess in the room is we'll see how much PJ Gibson and Makai Dansie are around with their baseball and track responsibilities. I know, uh, Coach Norvell said he expects them around. 23:37 He expects them to be good to go understanding of everything come the fall. 23:41 They've been balancing it, but it sounds like, uh, their, their spring sports, uh, baseball and track are gonna take priority when kind of their obligations. I, I, I may, I... 23:49 That might mean it sounds like PJ might miss the first couple practices because baseball's in Miami this weekend, and they're kind of short on outfielders. They kinda need him. 23:56 So, uh, I'm thinking he, he will be there instead and miss probably the first three practices, so obviously some challenges that go with that. But you do feel a little better. I mean, it, it... 24:06 An encouraging thing about that room is it's not like last year where you're like, there is no sure thing who's gonna step up because somebody has to step up and, and honestly, no one really did. 24:16 I guess you could say Jakai Douglas, but if your slot's your top guy, that doesn't speak well about, about your room. It's just not a way to build a, a productive offense. 24:24 But this year you have two guys who've been productive elsewhere who I think you're expecting big thing of, who both could be NFL guys this time next year with, uh, the right type of season. 24:33 And I think the nice thing is you have behind them now a lot of guys who you're high on, and, and now it's not have to, "Well, can Elijah Moore contribute as a freshman? 24:41 Can Lane McCoy contribute as a freshman?"How much is Makai Dansby at receiver? Now they're all sophomores. They're all second-year players. I think that makes a big difference. 24:49 And I mean, obviously, Camden Fryer, too, if he's healthy, obviously, was not a non-factor last year because of injury, but that's another name to know. All right. Since Kelly brought it up, let's bring it up. 25:00 I think tight end was really bad until we saw the freshmen last year. It's true. 25:06 I think in the offseason, it was addition by subtraction with how you reshaped this room, not just bringing in Mark Easton Douglas and Randy Pittman, but telling the other guys, "Hey, we love you, but you might want to go elsewhere to find playing time and finish out your career." 25:22 Um, let, let's hit on that just a little bit broadly before we go on a break. I think we are focused on what those two tr- top transfers are going to bring back. 25:31 Let's see what Landon Thomas shows in year two as far as strength gain. Is he a better blocker? Um, this is a room that desperately needs to improve, that I think the coaching staff prioritizes the usage of a tight end. 25:47 Um, I don't know who wants this one, but I'll be honest, either of you guys, it feels like somebody has to be that guy who can be trusted. 25:55 It could be a Randy Pittman, who obviously has a connection to Gus, but it could be Mark Easton. It could be Landon Thomas. 26:02 Um, we will see what Amari Williams does in a mostly defensive end role, but maybe part-time tight end role. Um, how about Nick first, and then we'll go to Kurt on, just on thoughts on tight end. 26:16 Yeah, I, I think it's going to be really interesting to kind of... Well, [laughs] 26:20 it, it would have been really interesting to see, you know, what kind of packages that the tight ends were used in with spring practices, but we're not gonna, we're not gonna commiserate about it. 26:29 Uh, yeah, but, uh, that still doesn't really change my answer. I, I think, 26:32 I think the, the gut reaction is to say, well, Marquise Douglas is, uh, obviously he's your, he's your offensive lineman at the tight end position, and he would theoretically be really nice to use in, in some of those run-heavy packages, and he has shown the ability in the past. 26:48 Or I can't remember what game it was. Maybe it was, like, a Virginia Tech game a couple of years ago. But he, he has shown the ability to be able to, uh, play at least a little bit of a factor in the passing game. 27:01 I think the, the reliability and the, the familiarity with Randy Pittman is interesting with Gus Malzahn. 27:06 I, I have not seen enough of Randy, uh, on a football field to kind of justify and say, "Okay, I think that he's probably going to be the number one contributor." 27:17 Um, uh, the only person that I feel like we, we could consider to take a step back, not necessarily in ability, but is Landon Thomas. I, I don't... 27:25 W-with MarKeiston and, and Randy now bringing, being brought back into the fold, um, I- I- I'm, I'm interested to see how Mike and Gus use Landon moving forward, um, if they split him outside a little bit more, how much weight does he put on. 27:41 Um, and I, I... At this point, I think depending on whether or not Amari Williams makes the full-time switch to defensive end, if I'm betting on it, I feel like he probably does at this point. 27:53 That's been the plan for him for well over a year now. Um, it, it... We'll, we'll just have to see. 27:59 But I think, I think MarKeiston first in terms of what the, the, the preconceived notion of what they want this offense to be is probably going to be the number one guy in that room. 28:09 Uh, and we'll have, we'll see, we'll see what, a little bit more about what that looks like, uh, by the end of spring. Y- you talked weights, Nick. 28:16 They did, they did update the, the weights yesterday for the entire roster, and tight end was, I think, one of the rooms where that stood out. I mean, they said... 28:23 I mean, since, I think Randy Pittman enrolled at two twenty-five in January and is already up to two thirty-seven. That's like 12 pounds. And mind you, it's not a freshman. You see those body transformations. 28:31 I mean, they're pretty crazy- Right... body transformations. Like, on the defensive line, some guys added, like, 20-plus pounds, uh, o- over, uh, over tour of duty. 28:40 But, uh, a guy who's been in college two years already, you maybe don't see that. That speaks to maybe how they view him or where they thought he needed to grow to be a better blocker. 28:48 I know, uh, Landon put on four pounds. He's at two thirty-nine. Chase Loftin, the freshman, is up eight pounds. 28:53 Amari, again, we don't really know, and it makes sense he would add weight if he's gonna play on the defensive line. He's up to two thirty, up 11 pounds. And MarKeiston actually came down five. 29:01 He said he, uh, he wants to play lighter than he has been for his last year of eligibility, and he entering spring has done that, and you would imagine could, could lose more over spring. 29:10 I know guys talk about they lose weight sometimes over spring just because how much they're exerting themselves, and they're, they're, they're maybe not lifting as much as they were during kind of the lifting program before spring practice. 29:22 Yeah, so lots of good news there as far as just the weight gains that might translate to the strength gains, and we'll see how that plays out for them a- as blockers on the field, too. Uh, hey, we'll take a quick break. 29:32 Uh, then we'll kind of hit back, uh, on the other side. Want to discuss 29:36 younger guys, guys we want to see take that next step out of last fall and then make a big spring forward push, um, into this twenty twenty-five season. Stick around. We'll be right back after this, uh, this break here. 29:50 [upbeat music] Hey, Seminole fans. Alumni Hall is your ultimate FSU shopping experience and has moved to a new location off Timberlane Road in Tallahassee. Shop FSU gear from Nike, Champion, New Era, Yeti, and more. 30:02 Alumni Hall has Seminole gear for the entire family, plus accessories and gifts. Spend $150 and you'll earn $10 off your next purchase with their Hall Pass Rewards. 30:12 Stop by their new location on Timberlane Road near REI or shop anytime online at alumni hall.com. Alumni Hall, where Seminole fans shop. [upbeat music] Finding an experienced lawyer you can trust is crucial. 30:25 With over 50 years of combined litigation experience, the attorneys at Mowry Law Firm are dedicated to providing our clients with exceptional legal services, focusing on car and trucking accidents, premises liability, and wrongful death. 30:37 Call (904) 824-7799. MowryLaw.com. Welcome back to the Osceola Tuesday afternoon. If you're watching us on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, appreciate y'all. 30:49 If you're a subscriber to the Osceola, florissate.rivals.com, thank you. If not, uh-Osceola 30. Osceola 30 for, uh, 30 free days of The Osceola. 31:00 You get all of our coverage, all of our stories, all of our message board posts, recruiting intel. Man, Nick is right there with that subscribe to the YouTube channel. I'm always there, Bob. I'm always there for you. 31:10 Subscribe. Revealing all the secrets. Subscribe. We... I thought that was magic. You're telling me that someone's doing that? Uh, maybe I shouldn't spoil the fun for you. It is magic. 31:18 I pulled that, I pulled that out of, uh- [laughs] Talk about subscribing- I pulled that out of the hat... and the button appears. Yep. Yep. It's like a, it's like, um, a what? 31:27 It's like the, the hypnotist where like that's your trigger word to like break out into a- Ugh [laughs] into a, a subscription hypno- hypnotism. So there you go. Just say, just say the magic words, Bob. 31:40 Uh, it'll be there. And, and if you enjoy these, these shows, the, the magic shows or, or the sports discussion, subscribe, like, go to our site, floridastate.rivals.com. 31:52 Again, spring practice started for Florida State on Wednesday. We'll, we'll kind of wrap up our show today. 31:57 Just kind of, I, I think let's just each go around one player on offense or defense, or if you want to go one of each. 32:05 Uh, somebody we just want to see take that next step and, and Nick, I will give you, the magician, the first round draft choice. Oh, the f- then you know who I'm gonna pick, Bob. 32:17 The consensus number one overall pick in terms of need to see more from this person, uh, that's Hakeem Williams. Uh, Hakeem needs to, uh, uh... We were waiting for it all of last year. 32:30 We were waiting for it and, and to, in the, in the defense of Hakeem Williams, he did get hurt earlier on and that kind of stymied his, the early part of the season and who knows if he was ever really able to get fully going, uh, especially when things on the offense took a turn for the worse. 32:46 And, um, obviously the, the entire offense looked uncomfortable. I can't imagine the playbook was super deep, especially with, um, the Brock and, and Luke alternating drives towards the end of the season. 32:59 But, uh, it's year, what? Three officially for Hakeem. 33:04 This needs to be a year where he needs to be that de- uh, that dependable number two guy on the outside, 'cause I imagine that Deuce is going to take over, uh, that number one spot, uh, on the outside. 33:16 Hakeem needs to show us more this year. Uh, he needs to develop into a consistent, uh, pass catcher. 33:23 Um, he needs to continue to do things the right way, and I'm excited to see, um, potentially if, if, uh, Coach Tim Harris Jr. 33:32 is able to trigger that for him, um, in a way that Coach Dugans wasn't able to when he was here. So, um, really looking for Hakeem to take the next step. 33:41 It would be extremely useful, especially in the run blocking game, uh, if he were able to continue to develop as a blocker and really find his stride as a pass catcher. Oh, yeah, perimeter blocking. 33:53 I kind of forgot about that for a moment. That, that's important. 33:55 Well, that, well, that, well, that's interesting because, you know, if I did get the chance to talk to Gus, I was gonna ask him, "Have you ever in your entire coaching career had an offense that had this many big-bodied wide receivers and what, you know, what does that do for, for your offense?" 34:11 I don't know if he was asked that question. 34:12 I don't know in either of your interviews with him if he was asked that, but it's like theoretically you, you take a look at, about what last year's offense, one of the problems with it is that you had guys like Jakaai Douglas who were 5'9", 5'10" blocking, perimeter blocking, and it didn't necessarily always work out, especially when Florida State really tried to stretch the field and, and go sideline to sideline. 34:33 It just didn't work out. Um, obviously pretty famously, uh, somebody missed a block and somebody got hurt. I can't remember if that was the Cal game or, or the Memphis game, but- It was Memphis... 34:43 you know, it's, it, it was, it's r- it'd be really curious to see how having guys like Deuce, guys like Jordan Scott who I don't... How much, how much weight did Jordan Scott put on? Did he put on any weight, Kurt? 34:54 Do you remember? Let's see. Because- I can pull it up again real quick. Let's see. 6'7" and, and thinner than a pencil he is. Uh, he, uh, he could stand to put on a little bit of weight. But still, I mean, 35:05 if I, if I am a 6'0", 511 defensive back and I see 6'7" lining up in front of me, uh, you know, run, a block shedding, [laughs] block shedding might be a little bit of a, uh, a little bit of a nuisance. 35:18 So, you know, I'm actually really interested to, uh, to see. So it, it, that was a, that was a rabbit trail, an unintended rabbit trail, but a happy one. Happy one. 35:28 We are getting in the weeds if we are talking about perimeter blocking on March 18th. Yeah. These are, these are good weeds, folks. 35:34 [laughs] Spring, uh, the, the, the cleats haven't even hit the grass yet and, uh, perimeter blocking is on the mind of the Osceola staff. Um, yeah, I mean, I, I can't imagine that, I- 35:48 I'm trying to think about back to Gus's offenses. I don't think he had, uh, 'cause there's, what? There's Elijah, there's Deuce, there's Jordan, there, uh, Hakeem is 6'4" too. Um, 36:02 and then you have obviously some of your, your guys at tight end like Chase Loftin who's 6'0", 6'5", 6'6". I don't think he's gonna play all that much this year, but still, like you've got a lot of big bodies, so. 36:12 Tayshawn Gelsey too, I mean you have that- Yeah, Tayshawn Gelsey. So- I wonder who the best- And we saw in-... softball player is gonna be on this team, but go ahead. Sorry, Kurt. 36:20 [laughs] We saw Florida State, I mean, that 2023 team, so much of the passing game was built on Keon and, and Johnny winning jump balls. I mean, they were deep threats too- Yeah... 36:28 to a degree, but a lot of it was throw it up to your big guys and they go get it over like, 'cause a, a DB is just not gonna be that tall. 36:35 And, and, and, and like, and so you're gonna have an inherent height advantage, long arms, all that. So i- it, it will be interesting to, to monitor. I mean, I guess we're gonna get to watch a scrimmage. 36:45 It'll be interesting to see what the passing game looks like, and we have to maximize those like two hours that we do get, boys. 36:52 We, uh, we might have to record that one and just kind of have our thoughts, uh, sitting there on, on, on, on transcript a- as we kind of go back and review it i- in the months afterwards. Um-Okay. 37:04 I'm, I'm thinking about a couple guys on defense, Kurt, but, but hit me with, with a guy on offense or a guy on defense or both that you're, you're looking forward to, uh, maybe seeing take the- that step forward. 37:15 Uh, I feel like I'll, I'll, I'll stay on offense with another e- I guess even younger guy than Hakeem in Cam Davis. I think, uh, Cam obviously did play right away, like we've talked about. 37:24 He came in and I think he had 52 carries last year. He averaged about three yards a carry. Now, I don't put that on him very much because frankly, I mean, we saw what the offensive line was. 37:33 No one really had much success running the ball on a consistent basis for the, for that offense last year. 37:39 It just was, uh, the offensive line was pretty much just stopped any consistent momentum they were ever able to find from happening, especially in the run game. But, uh, I think Cam, uh, 37:51 you have to imagine that he, he didn't have some huge role, but even as much as he played last year, that, A, gives him a taste of like what it's gonna take to succeed at this level, and that can only help his, his, his work ethic, you would imagine, this off-season. 38:03 But also just I think, uh, I-I... it, it showed him, I mean, maybe some areas where he can improve. I know he's down seven pounds actually from his playing weight. 38:11 He's down to 217 entering spring, which I, which I thought was interesting. 38:14 I mean, he's at 217 still gonna be a big dude for a running back, still gonna have that compact frame, but maybe he thought, "You know, I need a bit, a bit more burst," 'cause, uh, we- occasionally it felt like in the moments when he had holes, he maybe didn't have quite enough burst to make the most of those tiny holes that, that he had. 38:31 And so maybe those seven pounds make a difference on that front. 38:34 But I think he's a guy who, a, he was incredibly, he's almost a top 100, like a borderline top 100 prospect just a year ago when, when he arrived at Florida State. 38:42 So you know the talent's there, like with Hakeem, and you wonder if the, uh, changes, uh, on the staff to the offense, all of that could, uh, could be what he needs to kinda show that, that high four-star potential he had. 38:55 Yeah. On defense, I'm thinking about, you know, not just the transfer of linebackers. We, we can kinda understand what to expect from an Elijah Herring. 39:03 You know, Steph, we already talked about as, as a leader and a teacher. Um, curious about Justin Cryer and, and what maybe he shows now that he's had a, a full year, uh, of experience. 39:16 You know, obviously missing that opener against Georgia Tech, we were curious why he didn't play, but once he did, it felt like he, he got... he seemed to get better and better. 39:26 It probably hit a little bit of a wall at some point later in the year, and then that's gonna happen with a, with a team that's just not going anywhere, right? But it, it felt like he has leadership skills. 39:35 You listen to him in interviews, I was really always impressed with Juice, what he said, how he acted, how he carried himself. I really liked hearing a lot of things from him. That's one guy. 39:46 Um, honestly, we heard, uh, from Coach Norvell three players will be out for the spring in, um, what Jason Jenkins, Conrad Hussey, and Shaheim Brown. Kinda curious at safety what develops there. 40:00 Uh, who are some of those? Is it a KJ Kirkland? Is it a... Who are those younger names that maybe get some playing time? 40:08 I'm not sure I have the answers offhand unless you guys have, have maybe names of candidates, but I'm curious. This is an opportunity. 40:15 Spring presents an opportunity for some of those safeties to, uh, to potentially break out. Well, there's an Earl Li- Isn't Earl Li- Ashley Mark. Yeah, I was- yep. Yep. 40:24 Uh, they, they are I was gonna say, isn't, isn't, isn't Earl Little moving to safety? I mean, uh, he's a guy that- He, he-... flashed at points, right? He mo- he flashed more after he moved there. 40:33 I talked to, uh, Patrick Tan about it a little yesterday. Obviously Pat coached him in high school. Pat's known him a long time. He said kinda like, think he's a guy who takes the physicality. 40:40 He's a guy who he mentioned will be in, in the mix of that rover role. He thinks he can kinda do the, the hybrid responsibility type thing. So yeah, I think, uh... And he said too, he's a, he's a finally healthy guy. 40:50 He battled injuries his first two years at Alabama. He was banged up a little last year. I think he thinks what can he do finally healthy? He was another, I mean, highly rated guy out of high school. 40:57 Can he maybe put it all together in his fourth year in college here? 41:02 And, and maybe a, a sneaky thing, like, to get us out the door here, um, for state's replacing two really good specialists, so, uh, might be really important to see what Jake Weinberg can do. Is he a consistent kicker? 41:15 Is he building off, you know, what we saw in that red shirt season? We saw him take a lot of kicks in practice. Usually it was, uh, it, it was Fitz first, and then it was Jake second. 41:25 They would take the same kick from the same spot, from the same angle. Um, that's great experience for- Yeah... for a guy like Jake. We'll see what the punter position looks like. 41:34 Um, Max Chimento, um, I guess he's not a walk-on anymore with, with, uh, everybody going to 105- Yeah... scholarships. But, but I think Mack takes on that role short-term until we see... 41:45 Is it, is it Reese arriving over the summer? Reid. I think that's... Yeah, Reid is- Yeah, I think- Reid is, right... I think he's arriving over the summer, yes. And, and he's- Yeah. 41:53 Um- It sounds like he'll be in the mix of both spots. Yeah. I think he's a kicker, punter hybrid. He, he, he five-star at both positions, if I remember correctly. Uh, so I mean- He's a 10 star, where I come from. 42:03 [laughs] A 10. Yeah. Uh, simple maths from, uh, Atlanta, Georgia. Uh, yeah, yeah, it's gonna be, it's gonna be really interesting to see. 42:12 I, I think, I don't wanna say there's gonna be a much of a drop off from Alex Mastromano, because Mastromano is, uh, I mean, he honestly, he could have won awards both seasons, the, uh, both this season and the last season. 42:25 Um, but yeah, no, sometimes, sometimes, you know, when we were watching practice last year, there was a ball that got absolutely crushed and booted. 42:34 And, and, and you just, y- your mind just trained into thinking, "Oh, you know, that, that's Mastromano, you know, doing what he does." And then you look down and you see 43, or I don't know if he changed numbers. Mm. 42:43 But 43, and you say, "Wow, that was Max Chimento." So, um, I think in from a special team standpoint, you've got another guy that's got a massive leg. 42:51 Um, it's gonna be more so about is the consistency gonna be there like it was with Mastro. Yeah. So I think that's a good s- place for us to stop Tuesday afternoon on the Osceola. 43:03 Uh, we've hit a lot on, uh, what the coaches said, Mike Norvell, the coordinators, the assistants, our thoughts on some potential spring breakout players. 43:12 I, I know Kurt Wyler's working on a story with a, a little bit more depth, talking about some specific guys that, uh, that he's looking forward to, uh, to seeing break out. 43:20 We'll have full coverage, uh, for, say, on the practice field Wednesday and Thursday. I'm, I'm gonna gloss past this. We're, we're 43 minutes in. Let's, let's not talk about practice access today. 43:31 Um, maybe we'll hit on it another week. You guys tell us in the comments section or on the osceola.com, what do you think about, about all this? 43:41 What do you, how do you feel about, uh, you may not see as many videos, you may not see as many photos. Um, we are pushing Florida State, honestly, to provide, um, in-house photos, videos from, from the practice field. 43:55 I think they'll be heavily sanitized, yes. Um, will you be looking forward to seeing those? Um, what might you miss from observations or, or not? 44:04 Are you good with, uh, with Coach Norvell closing things down, keeping it a little bit tighter, and, and maybe just seeing how things develop on the practice field? 44:12 So if you have thoughts there, let us know, Osceola Village or in the comment section. Again, appreciate y'all watching, appreciate y'all listening if you're on Apple or Spotify later. Thanks to Nick Carlisle. 44:23 Thanks to Kurt Wyler. Appreciate you liking, subscribing, watching, listening, however you do so. Thank you. Oh my God, it's there again. Wow, that's crazy. Oh my goodness. It's insane. 44:33 Let's, let's build this- Insane, and it's repeating too... let's build this madness. Let's go to 4,000 guys. Let's go to 4,000 in March, and we'll go big show if we hit 4,000. How about that? Yeah. There you go. 44:43 We'll do it. There you go. We'll do it. All right. Sound like a natural. Take care. We'll talk to you soon, later in the week. Take care.
