Transcript 0:00 [rock music] Hello and welcome back to theosceola.com's Seminole Sidelines. 0:43 My name is Nick Carlisle, staff writer and recruiting writer for theosceola.com. Joined today by head editor Bob Ferrante, discussing a Sunday night scrimmage for Florida State. 0:54 Florida State got their second scrimmage of fall camp in on Sunday night. Some good, some bad, as to be expected. 1:01 But a lot of talking points and things, and reading between the lines, and tea leaf reading, all of that stuff that we're doing here as we lead up to the, uh, the... 1:12 One, one of the more important games, I think, in Flori- recent Florida State history, with the Alabama Crimson Tide coming into town on August 30th. 1:20 Do wanna let you know about a special that we have going on with The Osceola right now. 1:23 You can get 30, 30% off an annual subscription to The Osceola, and with that 30% off, you can also get a $25 voucher that'll cover you for $25 worth of Alumni Hall purchases. 1:36 So thank you as always to Alumni Hall, a longtime sponsor of not only Seminole Sidelines, but theosceola.com. Bob, I haven't seen you in a while. 1:44 Uh, you di- you didn't get to go to Jacksonville, but, uh, did get to see you earlier today, catch up on a little bit of Florida State football. 1:52 Uh, a lot to take in from not only what would h- what we heard from Coach Norvell last night, but the coordinators today, specifically Tony White. 1:59 I thought Tony White had a really good opening two and a half minutes where he lit a fire under maybe some guys that needed to get a fire lit under them. 2:08 What, what were your com- what were your takeaways of Tony's comments to, to start his press conference today? And maybe we'll go back and rehash a, a little bit more specifically about what he said. 2:17 Coach White usually exudes, I think, positivity and, and optimism, and, and really kinda sees that glass half full. 2:25 And I think this was the first time, you know, since we talked to him December, spring, couple times now in August. 2:31 I, I mean, this was, this was wearing a, a bad Sunday night, you know, scrimmage o- on your sleeves the next day. I think maybe he was hoping for some positivity as he watched the film. 2:42 But, um, he did praise, I think, broadly some guys. Didn't throw anybody under the bus. I, I didn't hear one guy's name that was, you know, criticized specifically. 2:54 Loved Jeremiah Wilson, loved that pick, loved what he's shown out there in terms of competing every day. 3:00 But really, um, you know, his comment I think that, that maybe got us from number one is, there are some guys who need to, quite frankly, step their ass up. 3:10 When you hear a coach, especially a coordinator, say that, that's, um, that's quite the message that, uh, you're saying to the media, you're saying to the fans, and you have to hope that, um, I, I think a lot of the players hear that. 3:24 Um, he is delivering a message through the media when he says things like that. 3:27 So I think you hear that type of tone, um, it sounds one way when I'm saying it, but it sounds a really, really different way when you're hearing him and watching his face say that. 3:38 I think it, uh, I think it speaks some volumes about, um, you know, just some of the guys. Not all of them, not a blanket statement, but some of the guys and how they performed Sunday night. 3:47 And this is something that is, of course, carrying over from the first scrimmage, Bob, where Tony said, "There are some guys that I wanted to see make plays that didn't make plays. 3:56 There were guys that I didn't expect to make plays go out there and make plays." He's mentioned the Desire twins again for the second consecutive week. 4:03 Now, are they going to be starters on an offen- or a defensive line, rather, that has... Obviously, it, it's gonna be multiple, but only three guys. You're not expecting two freshmen to get in there at all. 4:13 But also Kevin Wynn, another guy that's showing up for the second straight week, per Tony White. A lot of those young defensive linemen that are starting to show up on game tape. 4:22 And of course, Tony has been very, very complimentary of Darryl Jackson. He's been very complimentary of James Williams. 4:29 James Williams was another guy that was mentioned today in terms of being able to provide pressure on the quarterback. 4:33 Also said that he has gotten better in recent times in terms of being a run stopper, using his length, using his long, uh, his wingspan. 4:41 Uh, I, I wanna ask you, Bob, 'cause I, I was thinking about this before I got on, uh, the, the show today. Do you find more, I guess, hmm, how would I just, how, how would I ask you this? 4:51 Do you find more discomfort in the fact that there are older guys that are not making plays, or do you find more optimism in the fact that there are younger guys making plays? Where do, where do you land on the pendulum? 5:03 Do you try and land in the middle, or are you more concerned that there are guys that Florida State is expecting production out of defensively that may not be presenting themselves in the best light right now? 5:15 The unfortunate answer, I think, is yes. I think you're happy with the optimism of the freshmen. A- and like, like he said with the Desire twins, it doesn't always look good. 5:23 They don't always know what they're supposed to do. But they're going fast, they're going physical, they're bringing it. So, 5:29 you know, a- am I buying that the Desire twins are gonna get tons of reps, and that they're maybe, um, gonna see all types of playing time? 5:37 Maybe in a rotational situation, but I'm not sold they're gonna unseat guys for starting jobs. 5:45 I think we kinda know, and maybe knew months and months ago, who the starters were gonna be on a lot of positions across offense and defense. 5:54 Like Gus even admitting we're gonna have 11, you know, new starters on, on offense, I think after that first scrimmage, was pretty much saying, "I, I know who my guys are."But when it comes to defense, you really need these main guys to show up. 6:10 Um, I like that he didn't call specific guys out. I think some people thought he was calling out Daryl Jackson. You know, a couple people were responding to me about that. 6:19 I didn't sense that he was calling out Daryl Jackson. I think he praised James Williams. I think he's really, really happy with the linebackers. He's very happy with Jeremiah Wilson. 6:29 So again, this is not a blanket statement, but when you get guys who are redshirt juniors, redshirt seniors, they know it's their last go-around. My main question is, is this a camp funk? 6:41 Is this the dog days of summer that have settled in and you got to, you got to snap out of it and you got to be better day to day, be, be more consistent? Or is, are guys just not able to do that? 6:56 And we are seeing some of those younger guys really push for playing time. I, I tend to lean under there is a camp funk theory. It happens to a lot of great teams, happens to a lot of bad teams. 7:10 I think you get into that middle of August and you just got to push yourself. So this goes back to our leadership and accountability questions. Mm-hmm. Does that team have it? 7:19 I think we like this team having, uh, leadership to hold players accountable. It's really just how do you, how do you respond? To steal that Mike Norvell favorite term, it's, it's how do you respond in subsequent days? 7:36 I don't get the, I don't get the vibe that he was talking about Daryl. Uh, we, we saw early even on the first day of practice, Daryl kind of exuding some energy that maybe we wouldn't have seen last year. 7:45 And I, I think if you're a, if you're a fan that hasn't seen any of these practice, you're not around these players all the time, obviously, as you wouldn't be. 7:52 Maybe you take a look at the product that was on the field for the first half of the field and, and automatically assume, "Hey, D-Jack's just not pulling his weight." And I just don't think that's the case this time. 8:01 I think maybe if we're looking and combing through the tea leaves of specific areas and maybe where Tony was talking about, maybe in the defensive backfield, you have a couple of older guys there that may not be pulling their weight. 8:12 And maybe you're having a couple of redshirt sophomore, redshirt juniors that are on that defensive line or in that linebacker room, maybe like a, a Blake Nicholson or a Daniel Lyons who you're expecting to kind of come along and be maybe not that number one guy, but that number two guy, that dependable depth piece, that rotational piece that if something happens, you can see them come in and there's no drop-off in production. 8:34 Maybe that's where Tony is feeling, 8:37 I gue- I guess the pull and the stress of maybe not seeing what he wants to see, but I, I, I don't think it was D-Jack, um, sa- at least this time specifically that Tony was referencing. 8:46 And I do think it's, it's a good thing that he didn't call out specific players, but I, I, I am also glad to see that he didn't pull any punches and he... 8:53 It was quite literally, I think the first question that he answered, I, I think it was Brendan that asked. I- it was, it was straight to it. Tony is no nonsense. 9:02 He's a, he's an, he's a good guy, very personable to talk to, but when it comes down to spotting the ball and playing football, he wants to see production out of his guys, and we've seen that repeatedly, and that's good to see. 9:13 It, it's such a, uh, I guess a personality shift from maybe some of the last guys that were a part of this coaching staff, um, for certain. 9:21 One guy that Tony did bring up positively again, uh, was Jerry Wilson, who did get an interception in the scrimmage, um, the other night. I want to pull this up real quick. 9:30 Uh, Florida State Football released this about an hour ago. Lots to, lots to look into. Obviously, uh, Jason Jenkins right here, an important piece. Jason Jenkins getting his first live reps of the fall on Sunday. 9:43 By all accounts, had a pretty decent outing. Obviously, they're going to build him back up a little bit more. But as we play this here, uh, and I can't wait for copyright [laughs] to automatically switch this, uh, off. 9:55 But, uh, Elijah Herring doing a really good job getting in the passing lane of Tommy Castillanos. And we're just gonna let it play. Looks like on a slant by Javon Boggs, but that's, uh... We'll take another look here. 10:12 That's, that's one of the, that's one of the plays that I think, and, and Jerry is definitely one of those players that consistently Tony has been raving about, and Earl Little came up, uh, again in the, in the press conference today. 10:23 Uh, we've talked about it before, the addition of Jerry Wilson, maybe not one that we conventionally thought was gonna be a super important addition coming into the spring or coming out of the spring. 10:35 You and I have, uh, you and I have seen him around. He seems to always have, always have a smile on his face. He seems to always be productive in what terms of what he's doing. Are we gonna look back, do you think, Bob? 10:45 Are we gonna look back on the spring window and see Jerry Wilson as probably the most important addition to this Florida State football team from that spring transfer portal window? Ooh. 10:53 Yeah, from the spring portal window, I would say yes. 10:56 I mean, I, I think, I think we can combine the winter and spring window and have a good debate over where we might rank them now and then where we, we're gonna rank them, say, mid-season. 11:06 I, I think, you know, when, when Norvell was asked about Jeremiah Wilson, he says, "Well, that's a guy who loves football, right? You can tell he loves football." 11:14 And we're all kind of nodding our heads like, "Yeah, that, that man lives and, and, and breathes football." 11:18 If he's gonna wake up at five fifteen to brush his teeth every morning and then to get to the, you know, Moore Athletic Center by five thirty to beat Deuce Robinson to go start to learn and, and, and get ready. 11:29 Um, I wasn't a hundred percent sure that this team needed that top flight corner in the spring portal window. But now looking back on it, um, you've got Ryan Williams from Alabama coming up. You've got... 11:43 Every team's gonna have a really stud receiver, and whether Jeremiah's on him or the number two guy or the slot or whatever, it-- you feel really good about throwing Jeremiah out there and saying, "Okay, cover him." 11:57 Whether it's man, whether it's zone, he's gonna know responsibilities. 12:01 He has experience in this Tony White defense, this three-three-five scheme going back to Syracuse.And I think leadership can take on what Jeremiah Wilson does. 12:12 It's a guy who loves football, wants to further grasp this defense, uh, wants to maximize his last year of college football, as a lot of these guys are trying to do, too. 12:23 I think that can rub off positively on some of the other names that we've heard this year, right? Like, like a Kai Bates. It can rub off on a Charles Lester. It can really be a tone-setter, I think, for the room. 12:35 So, um, I, I think if I were looking at a guy on offense, I might argue, hey, a Randy Pittman can be impactful as far as making a room and an offense different. 12:45 But I also think, you know, you can argue a Jeremiah Wilson, whereas he's not the James Williams, he's not the Elijah Herring, but that's a guy who I think can change a, a complexion of a defense for sure. 12:58 Question from Jason: Do we have anyone on this team that is that Jared Verse energy? I think you're gonna find out that the answer is, uh, also Jerry Wilson, but we'll see what Bob says. 13:07 Always positive, always hyping up others with that internal motivation that doesn't need to come from outside. I think it goes without saying that Jared Verse, there is nobody else that's quite like Jared Verse. 13:19 I consider Jared Verse to be a one of one type person in terms of what he did personally, the smile that was on his face, the energy, the effort, and more so what he did to his teammates. 13:30 We, we, we heard a lot about what the presence of Jared Verse did for somebody like Braden Fiske, who the both of them just continued to bash heads against one another, not in like a negative way, but in terms of like, "I am going to outwork you. 13:46 I am going to out-compete you." And I think that is a big part. And, and don't get me wrong, Braden Fiske is a talented football player. 13:52 That I think, and he may even say this, that is a big part of why Braden Fiske ended up being a high draft pick in the draft along with Jared Verse that year. 14:01 I, I, I see a lot of that in Jeremiah Wilson, and I don't know if you agree, Bob, if you can think of anybody else off the top of your head. 14:08 But I see, I see a bit of Jared Verse in Jerry Wilson, maybe not so much in the interpersonal day by day, because I do think it is worth mentioning we did get to watch a majority of those practices with Verse where you did get to see things like his little tradition with Jordan Travis before every practice. 14:25 You got to see him communicate with his teammates. You got to see him, uh, take in coaching for multiple years. Obviously, we're not allowed to go into practice. 14:34 We don't know what's going on in between, um, or, or in between the sticks, in the IPF, however you wanna say it. Obviously, we hear things, but it, it's always good to see things with your own two eyes. 14:47 I see a lot of Jerry Wilson in... Or, or a lot of Jared Verse in Jerry Wilson, the way that he als- always has a smile on his face. 14:54 The fact that him and Deuce Robinson are competing with one another to see who can show up early, the earliest to the facility 15:02 kind of echoes that similar sentiment of I'm going to outwork everybody on this team, and if anybody wants to try that, we can go at it and make each other better. 15:10 So I don't know if you could think of anybody else currently personality wise, Bob, that exudes that Jared Verse energy other than Jerry Wilson, but I think the easy answer has to be Jerry, right? 15:21 I think he is that kind of, uh, w- let's say he's the charismatic Tommy Castellanos type of- Although I will say, before you get there, I think Juice Cryer has a little bit of that in him as well. 15:32 We saw him last year do a couple of interviews, be kind of that catalyst, that spark plug. Maybe the play wasn't always there as he was learning on the fly, but I think Juice Cryer might be a good shout too. 15:45 Yeah, I think Juice, especially in interviews, you... 15:48 Not just when you transcribe the words if you're reading the stories, but if you're watching some of the videos, you can see the, the passion in his face and the, in the words. 15:57 It means a lot to him, not just football, but, you know, being out there representing Florida State and carrying himself and, and leading others. 16:06 I think it's okay short-term if we don't know who the, uh, who the Robin is to, to Jeremiah Wilson's Batman. 16:14 But it's al- it's also okay if Jeremiah and Deuce motivate each other in these one-on-ones, whether it's off the field, on the field. 16:23 And, and I think we can see some of these relationships build where there may be a guy. Again, could it be a Kai Bates? Could it be a Charles Lester? 16:31 Is there somebody who's just watching what Jeremiah Wilson does every day, and whether he's saying it to Jeremiah or not, it's understood, "Hey, I'm, I'm learning. I'm soaking up because of a guy like that." 16:46 I think that's, that's kind of the, the beauty of mentorship, of, of leadership is, is seeing those, those relationships built. And again, remember Jeremiah, what, did we interview him back in 16:59 May on campus when he was in front of the statue, the Bobby Bowden statue? [laughs] He, he's not been here that long, man. I mean, think about this is almost like a, a Keon Coleman type arrival, a very late arrival. 17:11 He's jumping in and trying to acclimate to everything. So you don't see this all that often. I think you have to say it, it's special when it does happen though, right? Yeah. And you could just tell... Eh, I mean, 17:24 whenever somebody comes off a visit as a commitment, which he did tell us at that time, I think right after his official visit in, in, uh, May or whatever it may be, late April, that, uh, he did commit to Florida State. 17:37 And you just saw the emotion and the happiness and the flicker in his eyes and how much that meant to him then. 17:44 And I feel like since then he has put absolutely everything into being a Florida State Seminole, which is something that you can readily appreciate from the perspective of a team last year where a lot of that team quit after the SMU game, and you just saw it. 17:59 You saw that maybe there were some guys that it mattered more than others, but everybody just... It, it looked like a lot of players were phoning it in. 18:07 And it's hard to say all of this and make conclusions and assumptions about a team that we haven't seen play football yet, and who knows? Maybe things go poorly and we see a little bit of something similar. I don't know. 18:16 I'm n- not a fortune teller. I'm a, I'm a sports journalist, a sports reporter as it were. Um-But, but they're, they're... it's, it's insightful to see, it's exciting to see. 18:26 Um, and I, I think, I think it is something that a lot of Florida State fans will be able to latch onto. 18:32 On the offensive side of things, we'll use this as a segue to talk about Tommy Castellanos that seemed to have another good night, uh, despite an early interception, which we just obviously watched by [laughs] by Jerry. 18:42 Um, Castellanos threw that interception, by accounts, had a couple of drives, either two or three, where he came back and led the offense down the field, scored a couple of touchdowns, and Norvell was really complimentary about the way that Castellanos is coming along, the way that he's building up the confidence that he's exuding, the way that he's installing himself in the offense. 19:03 We hear it more and more over the last two weeks. 19:05 Unfortunately, we have not been able to talk to Castellanos yet, which I think would be the final piece of the puzzle to really get a grasp on how he's digesting everything. 19:15 It seems like Castellanos has the right energy around him, Bob. It seems like he's doing all the right things through these first two scrimmages. 19:23 How encouraged are you by what you've heard from the coaching staff in terms of his ownership o- of the situation that he's in, his ability to fight through adverse situations? 19:34 How encouraged are you by the coach speak and some of the things that we've been hearing about Castellanos from this coaching staff after the first two scrimmages? 19:42 I think that's the book on Tommy is not accurate, not as accurate as he can be, and makes mistakes, whether it's the interception in 2023 or the, the fumble in 2024. 19:54 So how do you get the best version of Tommy Castellanos? And I think 20:00 you have to think that Gus Malzahn knows his skill set well enough to bring it out of him with what the play call is, with what routes Tommy can throw very well versus those that he candidly may not be able to throw as well. 20:14 I mean, honestly, that throw to Deuce Robinson that, that kind of, you, you know, was out on video, what, last week, it was an underthrown deep ball. 20:22 I think we're all kind of marveling over Deuce's catch, but it was very, very underthrown. Are there things that Deuce just... I'm sorry, that, uh, that Tommy just can't do as well? 20:32 I think we have to acknowledge that, you know, he is gonna be somewhat limited, but he is very much a connector with people, with these receivers, and we're not just hearing one name of a receiver. 20:44 It's not just a Deuce Robinson. I think Squirrel White has been praised these last couple practices. Um, Makai Dansby in both of these scrimmages has been a standout. Um, you know, is he that type of gamer? 20:55 Is he that guy when the lights come on, um, he's going to make that kind of electric type of play i- in Makai Dansby? 21:03 We don't know candidly where he's gonna line up or how much he's gonna play, but that's a special difference maker at that position. What can Jalen Lucas do in offense with Tommy also? 21:17 So I think again, you look at Tommy's skill set, it's versatile, it's multiple. He's a plus one in the run game. Then you add in Jalen Lucas, you add in... 21:26 I think Gus also tipped off today yet again confirming that the, the top three receivers are Deuce, Squirrel, and Javen Boggs. 21:34 So we're starting to see I think a couple little nuggets here about certain players, um, in particular, but also certain guys who have really connected well with Tommy Castellanos as the quarterback, and I, I think that, that trust, that confidence, that rhythm to an offense, to a passing game is, is taking shape. 21:54 And, and you talk about the inaccuracy of Castellanos and the way that he responded to, uh, the, the way that inter- the way that interception went. 22:02 I think it's something worth also noting that Tony White said there were more chances for interceptions that the defense weren't able to capitalize on. So I don't want this to come off as, 22:12 "Hey, the, the, the turnovers are now not gonna be a problem for Castellanos." And obviously this is a, this is a fall camp setting where they're gonna be presenting different looks. You're installing both your defenses. 22:22 They're gonna be doing things a little bit differently. They're gonna be showing you different things and preparing you ultimately for when you're gonna be getting those reps on Saturdays. I... 22:30 that it's gonna be interesting to see how that continues to develop, because on the one hand, it's great to fight through that adversity and lead your team down a couple of, uh, touchdown drives, but obviously you don't want to turn the ball over. 22:40 And as you pointed out with what you said to kind of open that commentary, that is where Castellanos has struggled. 22:47 It's not been with his legs, it's not been with his explosiveness, it's not been with, um, his ability to become a playmaker. The problem has always been turnovers. 22:57 Uh, and that's something that has kind of been a behind-the-scenes thing that, um, has come up once or twice. 23:02 Uh, not only the ability to, uh, that the defense has had to be able to generate a couple of sacks, maybe some that they wish they would've had last week, but you see a couple of turnovers happen this week, or at least one interception. 23:14 I think he mentioned that there was a forced fumble that, um... or, or Norvell mentioned that there was a forced fumble by Shemar Arnoux later on as well. 23:22 Turnovers, uh, that's gonna be something that are definitely monitored, um, uh, through, through, through, I guess. Uh, do they have another scrimmage this Sunday, Bob? So do they have another scrimmage? Is... 23:32 and, or is that the last one before, before Alabama? You know, I think it's a good question for Mike Norvell 'cause the answer is no. 23:38 Like, on the day-by-day schedule, they only list two scrimmages, and they're done with both of those. 23:43 But the question to Mike Norvell the next time we talk to him, I think, is you can't formally scrimmage, but how often now do you wanna get your best 11 out there inside Doak and go one v. one and see how it looks? 23:56 Because clearly you've got a defensive coordinator who's really not happy right now. And I think if- [laughs]... 24:01 if you ask Tony White, he's like, "Let's go out inside Doak Tuesday night or Wednesday night and let's do it again." I know they practice in the morning. Get what I'm saying, right? 24:10 I think you need to set up game-like settings. Um, I'm not saying I understand the NCAA rules and I know you can only do this or that. There's so many padded practices. 24:21 But I think you wanna get those guys back inside Doak and, and try it again, whether you call it a scrimmage or not is, is the semantics that I'll leave up.For the coaches to decide [laughs] It's a non-not scrimmage. 24:33 It's a player walkthrough with full pads on and full contact, you know? There's gotta be a way to bend the rules, right? 24:43 If everybody stays nice and quiet and secret, uh [laughs] And the, the media's not watching it, so, uh, it's all fair game. Yeah. I mean, I guess. Who's, who's gonna telltale, right? 24:54 Unless you, unless you do it yourself. Are we, are we advocating for breaking NCAA rules right now? I think we are. Um, [laughs] is that... I, I think we're advocating. 25:04 Um, well, if you know what happens to theosseola.com, the NC- some boogeyman from the NCAA has come [laughs] and shut the show down. [laughs] Oh, of some kind. Um, 25:15 a- another thing that has stood out, and this, it, it's been an increasing storyline over the first three weeks, and that's Usman Chroma in terms of, okay, this freshman. We're really high on this freshman. 25:25 What can he do? You see him the first day of practice and you say, "Oh, expletive, this kid is for real. He looks real. He moves real. He looks like a guy that can contribute." But you think, "He's a freshman. 25:40 Okay, how much can he really contribute?" Even with the knowledge that Gus has played freshman running backs before. How, how much can he really contribute? First scrimmage, gets praised for his pass blocking. 25:52 You know, he scored a couple of touchdowns in the first scrimmage, and he scored a couple more last night, but what he was praised for was his pass blocking. 25:59 And then you go and you think, "Wow, okay, a freshman running back that looks the part, walks the part, and can violently pass block. There may actually be something to him playing early." 26:11 You get to today, and you hear him again being impactful to where not only are you thinking that he might see the field this season, but he may be in your top three in terms of rotational running backs. 26:25 Are you buying into this hype like I am, Bob, that Usman Chroma can be that much of a valuable contributor to this offense in just, what, two or three months of being on campus? 26:38 Which is insane to think about, but he truly [laughs] does look the part, doesn't he? And I think this is going back to our discussion of if he were an early enrollee, you'd be willing to buy. 26:49 You'd be all in on the thought that Chroma is going to be, um, no matter how they, they split reps, he's going to play. 26:58 I think because of the injury history of these running backs, I think we're going to see a lot of guys. 27:03 I'm not expecting to see a workhorse back out of Florida State, even though Gus's history would suggest he's had some workhorse guys, uh, say, at UCF, maybe at Auburn, et cetera, right? 27:14 Um, I think you've got different skillsets there. I think if Chroma can, can pass protect and can be a guy who can run, who can catch passes, that's definitely a positive. 27:27 I'm, I, I was not super sold on Roydell being that number one guy in camp, only because of the injury. We don't know where that all stands. 27:37 Um, it sounds like he's been praised, but where is he as far as taking a significant number of carries game in, game out? We just don't know, really. I think Roydell is a leader in this room. 27:50 I think you need a Roydell Williams in this running back room. I think you need a Jaylen Lucas out there, too, and I think we haven't really talked a lot about Gavin Sawchuk. 27:59 So it's, there are so many different options for Florida State to, to kind of play around with and be creative. Um, I wanna see Chroma. 28:09 And, and I'm not saying he's gonna be out there, he's gonna get X number of plays against Alabama. Again, I think because of the opportunities out there over a 12-game season, you could see him more in October. 28:20 It may take a little bit more time, because he was an early enrollee. 28:24 But I think because of injuries especially, depth at running back over a longer season is really, really important, especially Gus Malzahn wants to run. 28:34 What's that run-pass balance going to be over the course of a season? Can it be 60% run? Is it gonna be more than that? 28:42 Um, I, I just think there's a lot of reasons to have a deep, deep group of running backs, and, and it's good to have a guy like Chroma there for, for this first year with Gus. 28:52 And seemingly things that may take a little bit more time to get together is this offensive line, which we've, we've heard kind of consistently from Gus now that... And maybe he's underplaying this. 29:02 Maybe this is just one of those tactical underplays, don't wanna give away too much, and say you're behind when maybe you're a little bit further along. But the, the, this... 29:12 Reading between the lines is that he feels like that offensive line, because of the time that they've lost in the spring, needs a little bit more time to gel. 29:19 We heard him talk about today how practice by practice, piece by piece, the offensive line is starting to come together and get it. Um, I kinda asked you this last show. 29:27 I'm not gonna ask you exactly the same way again, but I guess how important it is, is it that this offensive line is continuing to improve at the rate that they are improving? 29:36 'Cause it seems like the improvement has been gradual, but this is gonna be an Alabama defensive line that is experienced and really, really lethal if you allow them to get penetration in your backfield. 29:46 Am- among other things, right? Are, are, if you're trying to read between the tea leaves here, read between the lines, or however merging of the sayings you [laughs] wanna make it, are you... 29:58 I don't wanna ask you if you're worried about the offensive line. Just where's your head space in terms of the progression that they seem to be making? Do they need to get there a little bit quicker? 30:06 Are they exactly where they should be at this point, given what they've gone through and how much time they've been able to get together? Where, where is your head space at? 30:16 I think I could argue that they are behind because of the spring injuries, and we talked a lot about that last week. 30:21 But when Gus says, "I can tell a difference, I can see more continuity from scrimmage number one," which again is Tuesday night, "to scrimmage number two on Sunday night," that's a pretty rapid-A- hit the expedite button on continuity and development, because you've just got five guys on the field together. 30:40 Now let's go back to what we were talking about earlier. There's not another scrimmage. 30:44 You have to create the best 11 on 11 situations, whether it's in the IPF or under the lights at Doak, and I'd prefer to throw them out there at Doak somehow, get them out there, game- Ah, we're, we're back to advocating for Doak... 30:57 game situation. Here we go. Let's wrap it up. [laughs] No, I mean, you have to get the 11 on 11 battles to truly figure out, are these five guys up front as prepared as possible? 31:10 And the honest answer is, you're not gonna see guys in practice like you do when you're facing Alabama. 31:16 I mean, we can talk about Darrell Jackson and James Williams, and those guys are, are very special, but just the volume, the quantity and quality that Alabama sends at you is a different conversation. 31:30 But your job as a coach to prepare your, your linemen a- as best as possible, and 31:35 this is arguably the, the best what discussion, I think, if you're looking at a Florida State position group versus an Alabama position group, it's that offensive line against what Alabama's bringing. So are they ready? 31:51 I think they're getting closer. I mean, I feel better about it based on what we're hearing now compared to what we heard, say, Wednesday. 31:59 But it, it's definitely a situation where you gotta, you gotta mash the gas on, on continuity and, and getting those guys, you know, as, as close to being ready as possible. 32:09 One final thing before we end the show today, something that was kind of interesting that came out of this morning's press conference is, um, Kevin Sperry running with the twos in the second scrimmage, and Brock Glenn didn't practice during the first scrimmage on Tuesday. 32:22 Doesn't appear like he got, uh, any run la- I don't know if we-- he got zero run or if he got, um, a limited amount of work, but Kevin Sperry running with the twos. 32:33 I'm not sure if this is a indication of Brock being banged up a little bit. 32:39 I don't know if this is an indication of Brock falling down the depth chart, if this is a matter of, "Hey, let's just get our true freshman quarterback some extra reps and get him a little bit more ready." 32:49 Then w- that, what's Jalen King doing there? Why bring in Jalen King, right? What do you, what do you make of Brock not going in the first two scrimmages? 32:58 Is, is this something that we should just purely speculate is injury related, or is there something else going on, do you think? It's definitely a storyline to watch. I, I don't, I don't feel definitively I can answer 33:11 that type of question right now. I think we have more questions on it than, than answers. Uh, how banged up is Brock? Is it, um, is it preventing him from throwing? 33:20 Is it a, is it a knee ankle type thing that, that slowed him down? It's clearly something that Mike Norvell is saying, "I don't want to take the chance on you." 33:29 Meanwhile, it's a storyline when Kevin Sperry has been on campus eight months, and he seems to be running the offense pretty, pretty darn well. 33:38 I think we should state it's probably two versus two when we talk about offense versus defense, just to put it in some context here. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Could it be two versus one, uh, defense? 33:50 Possible, but I think it's more than likely it is two versus two. I think getting a true freshman quarterback experience in August is a great thing. You absolutely should. 34:02 And if you've been following us all off-season, I'm the guy who sits here and says, "You've got two guaranteed games in September. You better play a backup quarterback in those games. 34:11 You are paying money to win ball games. You better get ahead early and get, whether that's Brock Glenn, whether it's Kevin Sperry, you better get them playing time, you know, in a game situation." 34:24 You'd like to see Brock out there. You'd like it to be a true competition head-to-head. 34:29 But until we have some more data here, and we can really sort out what's going on, reading the tea leaves, what the sources are saying, I think you take the Kevin Sperry for a positive, that he's getting these reps, and he's really, again, for a freshman, putting it under context, for a freshman, he's showing a pretty good grasp of what he's, of what he's supposed to do. 34:51 Yeah, and he's been praised by the coaching staff as well. 34:53 I think, I think it was Gus who said it last Wednesday, this previous Wednesday, that once Kevin makes a mistake, he doesn't seem to make that same mistake twice. 35:02 So this, the, the kid, not only in spring, but here in fall again, has impressed his coaching staff in terms of hi- his ability to soak up a new install of an offense, be able to soak up those reps, be able to kind of understand and perceive things and try and slow the game down a bit for him as much as possible, as much as you can as a true freshman. 35:24 But it is an interesting storyline, uh, and you don't know exactly what's going on with Brock, 35:29 if you should be concerned about potentially if, if Cassianos goes down, you get into that scary situation, and we've kind of, we've kind of proposed the question before on the show, "Who's next? Who really is next?" 35:44 And if that happens to be your true freshman quarterback, how scared are you? [laughs] Because me, if I'm Norvell, I'm really scared. I don't want to run out another true freshman on the field before he's ready. 35:55 So that's definitely something that i- i- is kind of emerging that we'll have to monitor, ask a couple of more questions, check with some more sources in terms of what's really going on with Brock, and, um, if it's something notable, if it's something completely 36:09 making a bigger deal of it than it actually is. We won't know until we know. Uh, but with that being said, that is the end of today's show, uh, of the Osceola Seminole Sidelines. 36:19 Thank you so much for your, uh, your attendance, your support. 36:21 As always, remember, if you are trying to join the Osceola, you can get thirty percent off an annual membership, and in addition to that thirty percent off, you can get a twenty-five dollar voucher to spend at Alumni Hall. 36:32 Get your Florida State merchandise in preparation for the Alabama game on August thirtieth and all the subsequent games in the newly renovated Doak, uh, through the rest of this, for the, through the rest of this fall season. 36:46 Uh, um, the, the response, by the way, to the YouTube video, to the stadium renovations, absolutely fantastic. So if you're coming from that, thank you so much for watching, and thank you so much for your support. 36:57 We're glad that that video caught some numbers. There's definitely a mix of opinion in terms of how she looks. Uh, but, but, but Doak Campbell Stadium, um, it's almost getting there. 37:07 I mean, they're, they're starting to move away some of the dirt and the dust and the gravel and all the things that they're doing in the parking lot as well. 37:13 It's kind of becoming real that this construction project is finally going to be done. Um, but yeah, that is the end of today's show. Thank you so much for listening and watching wherever you may be. 37:22 We'll be back sooner rather than later. Not sure if it's gonna be Thursday, Friday, when we'll be back, but we will be back discussing some more Florida State football as always. 37:32 Uh, my name is Nick Carlisle, staff writer and recruiting writer for theosceola.com, and that's Bob Ferrante, the head editor. Thank you so much for watching. 37:38 Have a great rest of your Monday, and we'll see you all another time.
