Fall camp is here, and if there’s one location where the heat seems all too real this August, it’s Tallahassee. With a 2-10 embarrassment in 2024, Florida State loyalists no longer expect improvement; they want answers. Year six of Mike Norvell’s regime has arrived, and the atmosphere surrounding the program is somber. No room remains for excuses, and stress is emanating from everywhere, but primarily from the locker room.
Last season’s collapse wasn’t just a paper record; it was a total system breakdown. Blowout defeats, wobbly QB play, and locker room turmoil plagued what had the potential to be a turning point for Norvell’s reign. And now, it’s driven him to what appears to be an all-or-nothing mindset going into fall camp. And for those who’re paying attention, this new attitude appears remarkably familiar.
Norvell’s not reinventing the wheel. He’s taking a leaf out of Kenny Dillingham’s playbook. The head coach at Arizona State made national headlines last year when he proceeded to ventilate his roster at a silent, no-music fall camp practice. Just him, his players, and 68 seconds of raw anger. The payoff? A seismic change in culture, guiding the Sun Devils to the Big 12 championship. It succeeded because it shocked the system. And now Norvell, facing the gun of yet another poor season, seems to be studying.
“There’s a couple of stretches that we’re implementing, and it’s all us. You’ve just gotta go out and do it. You’ve got to be it. No music, nothing to create any other emotion other than what you’re going to put on each snap,” Norvell said after a recent practice. “I thought it was just average for the middle part of practice. Disappointed in what that was, but I thought the guys did a tremendous job in their response as we came back and finished with the group there at the end,” he concluded.
Norvell’s now following the same footsteps. The Seminoles are working quietly to snap out of a 2-10 nightmare. And Mike Norvell’s flat-out stating he’s not happy with average effort, even in August. It’s no longer about physical reps; it’s about showing you’re mentally committed before the season even begins. And with a new cast of characters driving the bus, led by Boston College transfer QB Thomas Castellanos and some new faces in the receiving corps, the room for error is minimal.
Is Castellanos the salvation that FSU needs?
Thomas Castellanos is a dual-threat firecracker that brings an entirely new element to Norvell’s offense. Castellanos passed for 2,248 yards with 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 2023, adding on a staggering 1,113 yards and 13 TDs on the ground, one of the few FBS QBs to reach 2,000 pass and 1,000 run in the same season. He was also decent in the 2024 season as well, racking up over 1,300 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions. That set of legs? That makes us believe Norvell’s poised to do something great this season.
That dichotomy between Mike Norvell’s old-school style and Castellanos’s run-first capability was on full display on the CubeShow with Cole Cubelic and Roddy Jones. “There’s been a lot of talk in ACC country about how Gus Malzahn is a mentor of Mike Norvell’s and how this synergy is going to be perfect. [But] the run schemes just don’t fit as well as people think they do,” Jones said. “My guess is if you’re going to get Thomas Castellanos, then you are going to turn the reins over to Gus Malzahn and say go for it. You’re going inside the zone. You’re going outside the zone. Uh, you’re going quarterback run.” It’s a brash call, but after seeing Castellanos make highlight plays for BC? You gotta believe it.
So, the atmosphere surrounding FSU is changing. If they’re going to deploy a QB with that level of athleticism, they’d best be prepared to shape the offense, particularly now that Week 1 is Alabama. If Norvell tailors the offense to fit Castellanos’ strengths, buckle up: this might be the change Seminole faithful have been anticipating.
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