A lot can change over the course of the year. Entering the 2024 college football season, there were reasons to believe the Florida State Seminoles could compete for a College Football Playoff berth. They missed out, thanks in large part to star quarterback Jordan Travis getting injured just prior to the ACC Championship Game. But heading into 2025, the idea was D.J Uiagalelei would pick up right where Travis left off and the rest of a loaded roster would take it from there.
Instead, Uiagalelei looked totally washed and the Seminoles looked woefully unprepared. It led to Norvell having to fire pretty much his entire coaching staff. Replacing Alex Atkins at offensive coordinator was former UCF and Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. His connection with former UCF quarterback Thomas Castellanos made it an easy decision for him to transfer from Boston College.
Castellanos did not want to transfer after 2023, but he did tell On3's Pete Nakos that he should have.
“I really wish I would have left when Hafley left, but I tried to give it another take. BC wasn’t the school for me. I wasn’t able to be myself, and I had to try to make myself be something I wasn’t. I just didn’t like it. Bill O’Brien and I butted heads early in the season. I got banged up a few games. We had a meeting, and it kind of blew up in my face. I did so much for that program, and I did everything that I could, and I just wasn’t repaid the right way.”
The Waycross, Georgia, native grew up near Tallahassee and said Florida State was his dream school.
“First off, Florida State’s been the school I’ve always wanted to go to. It’s my dream school. I just feel like it’s right. I remember the last time I went to a 2-10 team and had a successful season. I wanted that challenge to come over here and turn this thing around and get it back to where it needed to be. And plus, I feel like I had a pretty good season or two seasons there at BC. I feel like if I did what I did over there, over here, then I’ll be way bigger. It will mean a lot more at Florida State.”
As far as desperation is concerned, Castellanos knows what is at stake and will ride with Malzahn.
“Just how desperate they were, and the same way for me. If this doesn’t go right, then who knows? But I just liked how desperate they were. They could have gone out and gotten any quarterback in the country with NIL, and they chose me. Just excited to be where I wanted to be from the get-go. He [Norvell] believed in me to be his quarterback and to be back with Gus."
Most importantly, Castellanos is well-aware of what is at stake in Tallahassee: Jobs are on the line.
“This could be it, right here. All they need is one season and one year. I feel like I have the skill set to be one of the best. Now I just have to turn this thing around for these guys, for this community, this fan base and the staff. I’m not just playing for Florida State. I’m playing for coaches who are fathers and who have homes and families here. I’m trying to save jobs and win.”
Will Castellanos be able to deliver on his notion he is "trying to save jobs and win" at Florida State?
Thomas Castellanos knows he is playing for Florida State's livelihood
The combination of Castellanos' familiarity with the ACC, his previous working relationship with Malzahn and Norvell needing to have a far better season to make sure he gets to stick around is all working in Florida State's favor. If you want to say Castellanos playing for the team he always wanted to is a plus, you sure can, but that is not what this is all about. Norvell is counting on him to win games.
From a talent perspective, Florida State should be able to hang with some of the best teams in the ACC this season. It still feels like rival Clemson's conference to lose, but there is an outside chance that the Noles has a tremendous bounce-back year and somehow end up in Charlotte. I like about half a dozen or more so teams more than I do Florida State, but I am not crossing them off.
What I am a tad concerned about is whether Florida State is no longer a program capable of shining in adverse situations. Frankly, have the Seminoles ever really been that before? When things are going well in Tallahassee, there are few college football programs as good as what Florida State can be. I know that they can win big under Norvell because I have seen them do it before. But last year was so hard to watch.
The other thing that I am concerned about is how quickly Castellanos was willing to throw Bill O'Brien and his Boston College experience under the bus. He may have signed up to play for Jeff Hafley, but O'Brien knows what he is doing with his quarterbacks. Malzahn knows how to win games, but his hurry-up-and-run offense is the epitome of gimmicky. It is a quick fix for a team that may need more.
Overall, you would be hard-pressed to find somebody who is not optimistic about the insertion of Castellanos and Malzahn into all things FSU for this season. This team is not going 2-10 again, but they are also not going 13-0 like they did two years ago. The answer lies somewhere in the in-between. Look for Florida State to win around seven or eight games and get back to a bowl game.
If the Seminoles are able to win nine or more games, then Castellanos is a Heisman Trophy candidate.