Florida State coaches said before hitting the field for spring practices that the first part of camp would be about installation, familiarity and establishing healthy habits.

Thursday marked the eighth day of spring practice, meaning the Noles are on the back nine of camp — and with the second of three scrimmages looming this coming Saturday, head coach Mike Norvell “wants to see guys take another step.”

He didn’t see it on Thursday, however, saying after practice that he saw the team put together an up-and-down day with “lulls” throughout practice.

“I didn’t think today was a bad practice, I just think there are moments we have to be better...We had two drops that were big play opportunities, and we have to eliminate that.”

The head coach said Saturday’s scrimmage, the only open-media activity of the spring, will “be a little more game-like” with a continued emphasis on situational reps.

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Fresh off a series sweep of NC State, Florida State softball now heads into a Top 10 matchup against the Florida Gators.

But even during a major season so far for the Seminoles, some things stand out as bigger than sports.

In this episode of the Seminole Softball Wrap podcast, Gwyn Rhodes and Brian Pellerin discuss head coach Lonni Alameda’s recent breast cancer diagnosis, the outpouring of support for her, and her impact on the program.

Switching gears back to the diamond, the duo discuss a big win on the road over a ranked Duke Blue Devils and the continuing to roll against Stetson and NC State. Gwyn offers her insight into the home game against Florida and what the Gators bring to the table, wrapping up with thoughts on the ‘Noles upcoming trip back out West to face a pair of California teams.

Gwyn and Brian also talk about the ongoing Brady Vernon vs. Ellis Family Twitter battle, women’s basketball Sweet 16 and a trip to the ACC Tournament.

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Florida State football held its first practice of April, with Tuesday serving as the seventh day of spring camp.

The Seminoles scrimmaged on Saturday, offering the coaching staff’s first look into the team in situational action and the player’s first opportunity to measure their progress so far.

“We wanted to see a day of response...whether it’s drastic improvement or just a fundamental focus, situational awareness, the different elements that you get coming out of a scrimmage that will show up, especially for a lot of newcomers,” head coach Mike Norvell said. “It was a good test to see the mindset, response.”

Norvell said he liked the energy that the team came with, especially with the staff putting them in situations where a competitive edge was needed — “defined winner-loser” portions where the aim was to build off what was seen on Saturday.

“I thought guys handled it well, it was good physicality, good speed....guys that were given a great opportunity, we’re getting a great perspective of exactly where they are and I think some guys are taking advantage of it.”

Norvell highlighted the performance of several players from the scrimmage — running back Sam Singleton, wide receiver Elijah Moore, defensive back Earl Little and linebacker Omar Graham, who specifically was singled out for continued elevation over the past week, capping it off with a strong showing in the scrimmage.

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As Florida State football continues to increase its workload, the Seminoles took the field Saturday for their first spring scrimmage. Mike Norvell told reporters in Tallahassee on Thursday that today’s practice would be mostly situational, with a heavy emphasis on the red zone on third down.

Norvell opened his statement by giving specifics for the day’s proceedings. He said the team went “roughly 110-120 plays” with some special-teams work at the beginning of practice. After, he highlighted players who stepped up during the scrimmage.

“I thought Sam Singleton had a couple of big plays, and Roydell has gotten back in the swing, Jaylin Lucas had a TD run. Defensively, we were able to create a couple of takeaways. Earl had an INT, and Ethan Pritchard had a pick-six.”

Norvell also touched on the quarterback room and the moxie from Tommy Castellanos, Brock Glenn, and true freshman Kevin Sperry, who all receive substantial reps.

“QBs, I’ll have a chance to go back and watch. We mixed the three pretty good, Tommy, Brock, and Kevin. For the first scrimmage, I was really impressed with what I saw from Kevin.”

Norvell said he watched the scrimmage from the middle of the field, letting his coordinators run the sidelines and call all the plays. He seemed content with how the day went, and reading between the lines, the defense took the upper hand, although it is almost impossible to tell.

Gus Malzahn took the podium next and, in his head coaching style, provided an opening statement of the day and his side of the ball through six spring practices.

“60 runs, 40 passes, by design. All three QBs played, pretty much equal reps. I learned a lot about our guys individually. It was good to see them respond to success and adversity. Overall, I like our guys’ attitude.”

Malzahn stated that the first part of practice is heavy installation with some more specifics coming later in camp. He mentioned they rotate constantly at all positions, but Luke Petitbon “is off to a great start.” The former UCF head coach singled out QB Kevin Sperry for his work throughout March practice.

“Kevin has got a skill set. He can really run. He’s growing, the moment has never been too big for him, which is unusual for a true freshman. You have to have QBs that are desperate to be all they can be, and I think all three of them are.”

FSU’s first-year defensive coordinator, Tony White, rounded out the day and focused on the group’s mentality more than anything. He repeatedly reiterated that he only cares about what the product on the field looks like over physical measurables and that responding after giving up a play matters more to him than allowing the massive gain.

“We’re trying to create a mindset where you give up a play, ‘so what?’ Play football.”

“We gave up a big play, and Elijah (Herring) chases a guy down 30 or 40 yards, and gets him down at the ten. On the very next play, we get an interception. So, we’ve had a lot of teaching moments.”

Two returners continue to flash on the field, DB Earl Little Jr., and DT Darrell Jackson Jr., and White touched on two moments today where they rose to the occasion.

“D-Jax can literally be the top defensive lineman in the country. He had a great play today. In the red zone period last practice, he missed a call today. Today, I saw him make the corrections and create a tackle for -4 or -5. I said that’s it right there.”

“Earl has had some of the biggest hits and the best plays. Earl is him. He is truly him back there. It is fun to watch him play.”

All coaches mentioned that rewatching the film would be critical to creating a firm takeaway on the outing, but being around their players in the game setting taught them more about their characters than they knew before today.

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Florida State football held its fifth practice of the spring on Thursday, the Seminoles now three days into its acclimation back into physicality.

Today’s practice saw Florida State continue to push situational football, emphasizing the ability to continue to do the little things right no matter the circumstance — an elevated challenge given the new offensive and defensive schemes the squad is attempting to master.

“Letting guys see different areas of the field, understanding different thoughts, concepts, couple new schemes that we put in — I thought guys handled it well for the first day of introducing that,” head coach Mike Norvell said. “I thought there was some good plays that showed up — the quarterbacks had a good day — but a couple missed opportunities.”

“We’ve thrown a lot at these guys in the first five practices. Seeing them continue to grow in confidence and what hey’re being asked to do —play faster, line up quicker, make sure they’re understanding assignments and utilizing the techniques that are designed to put them in the best position.”

Norvell offered compliments to Omar Graham Jr. as well as Amaree Williams, who snagged an interception as he continues to get work in at defensive end.

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Behind closed doors, Florida State football beefed up as the Seminoles put on the pads for the first time in spring after being in helmets the last two days. Take this with a grain of salt, but multiple players put on weight and look more physical from seeing them walk in, including DL Darrell Jackson Jr., RB Kam Davis, and DB Earl Little Jr. Head coach Mike Norvell confirmed how vital seeing physicality is, calling it “one of the most important elements” and something the staff “wants to instill in all positions.”

“We had some explosive plays on both sides, defense was able to punch a couple of balls outs, which I like to see. Offensively, I thought we did a good job, some big runs, some vertical shots. I thought it was back-and-forth.”

Norvell also mentioned this weekend being Legacy Weekend at Florida State, a massive recruiting moment for the staff but a chance to honor those who left their mark in Tallahassee. Alex Mastromanno and Ryan Fitzgerald will receive their All-American bricks this afternoon, and Braden Fiske, Jared Verse, and Jordan Travis, among others, are in town.

“I was really pleased with this being our legacy weekend, we had 12 NFL guys back this weekend. It was great to see them, be present, and have them back...I’m just grateful for that example and how they represent Florida State.”

The quarterbacks also spoke to the press for the first time this spring, with Tommy Castellanos and Brock Glenn. The signal callers touched on how vital spring football is and the bonds created on and off the field. Castellanos and Glenn are taking the opportunity to lead a team devoid of them from a season ago but are pushing each other through the first few days of spring. Just by hearing their interviews, they understand the maturity needed for the quarterback position, saying all the right things.

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Fresh off a win at Alabama over the Crimson Tide, the Florida State softball team travels to Duke for an early big series in the race for the ACC championship.

In this episode of the Seminole Softball Wrap podcast, Gwyn Rhodes and Brian Pellerin look ahead to the contests with Duke as well as NC State while looking back at the last two weeks of softball, dating back to the games in Jacksonville. That includes the matchups with Jacksonville, North Florida, Oregon State, Oregon, Portland State, Pitt and Alabama.

Gwyn took the trip to Eugene and Portland, spending time with the team through their travels to Nike and beyond. We’ll recap the games and discuss her time around the team over that long weekend.

Plus, the Noles earned a much-needed big win over a ranked opponent on the road as they rallied to come from behind and knock off Alabama in Tuscaloosa — a win that can give FSU a confidence boost they can use.

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Florida State continued its spring camp journey on Thursday, hitting the field for the second of 15 practices aimed at laying the foundation for this year’s edition of FSU football.

It was another helmets-only day for the Seminoles as acclimation to on-field action continued, offering an opportunity for the squad to refine the finer details ahead of the first padded practice of the spring on Saturday.

“[It was a] great opportunity to clean up on some of the finer details of what we put in yesterday. You had a little bit of new installation, but really with a lot of new faces, also some new terminology, new alignments, different things that we’re looking at on both sides of the ball,” head coach Mike Norvell said Thursday evening.

“Day one, it’s about: ‘Can you get communication? Can you get aligned?’ You go back and watch the film, the communication was good, but we’re off on some of the alignments. You want to see guys be able to take the coaching, be able to apply it, and be better today, and I thought that was the case.”

Defensive linemen Darrell Jackson Jr. and James Williams, who also spoke with the media following practice, earned praise from Norvell for the way they’ve carried themselves through the early days of spring.

“You feel their ownership. ... Those are two guys that you challenge in the room because they both do have experience and high ceilings. [Jackson Jr.] made the choice to come back and I told him, ‘You better not even think about coming back unless you plan on being a top 10 pick,’ that’s the expectation now.”

Norvell also complimented receivers Jalen Brown and Hykeem Williams, saying they have risen to the occasion after being challenged this offseason.

“[They’re] two guys that made the choice that they want to fight for it. And I’m grateful for that and I’m trying to push them on a play-to-play basis for them to continue to elevate to what I believe that they can be. I’ve seen both of them in the first two days make plays that get me excited.”

Defensively, Norvell discussed what he’s seen early from Earl Little, Ashlynd Barker, Max Redmond and the unit as a whole, saying, “Obviously not a whole lot of contact ... but you felt the burst, you felt the guys taking better angles to the ball. Excited about Saturday being the first padded day to start to showcase some of the physicality that these guys have been working to develop.”

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Florida State football returned to the practice field for the first time in 2025 on Wednesday, kicking off spring camp and the process of acclimating the team — which includes 32 newcomers — to a new offensive and defensive scheme.

“I thought the guys really did a nice job of understanding the structure of what we want practice to look like,” head coach Mike Norvell said. “Great speed, energy, being able to move around from place to place.

“I thought the coaches did a good job preparing the players and what to expect. And obviously new installation. We’ve tried to maximize the walk-through time, the meeting time that we’ve had leading up to this. And I thought the guys did a good job for that to translate out to the field.”

With practice closed to the media, the program has opted to share clips from the day with the media:

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Two days out from the first Florida State football practice of the spring, head coach Mike Norvell took to the podium to offer some initial insight into this year’s team.

The biggest news came in the form of confirmation that the Seminoles would be without three defenders this spring — defensive lineman Jayson Jenkins as well as safeties Conrad Hussey and Shyheim Brown. Jenkins, who confirmed his unavailability earlier this month, is expected to miss the entirety of camp while Brown and Hussey have a “chance” to participate in the final practices of spring.

“[Outside of them] we have some guys that might be limited just probably that first week,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes. Guys coming off-season, maybe off-season injuries, or working themselves back in will have some of them limited, but I’m excited about where we are from a health standpoint and the work guys have put in preparing for what’s ahead for spring ball.”

The team has spent the early part of 2025 participating in Florida State’s offseason conditioning program, Tour of Duty, as it lays the building blocks for the season.

“Really, the on-the-field aspect of it with our Tour of Duty was something I was proud of. It was a challenging workload that we put in front of our guys. I thought they really took a lot of ownership in the work that was being done, but also just the accountability that was necessary to try to hit the standard of what we’re looking to see on a daily basis.

I think it’s a group that is filled with great personalities: guys that are outgoing, engaging, supportive, and challenging. I’ve seen players taking some ownership in that realm. It’s just something that is an absolute necessity, something that you need to see within a team.

It’s something that I’ve been encouraged with through these first two months. I mean, you can talk about a lot of things, but you actually have to go do it. As we get ready for spring practice, we’ve got 15 days to really continue to forge and develop the identity of what this team’s going to be.”

Norvell also spoke on what he’s seen from new quarterback Tommy Castellanos, how new coaches have fit into what FSU is looking to put together, approaches to recruiting and more.

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