With two weeks to go until Florida State Seminoles football takes on the LSU Tigers in a season-opening top-ten clash, the already-established need for elevated execution and consistency is hitting another level.

After the Seminoles’ second scrimmage of preseason camp, head coach Mike Norvell, offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and special teams coordinator/defensive ends coach John Papuchis all took to the mic, speaking on individual and positional performances but emphasizing the challenge placed before the team ahead of an expectations-filled season.

“Florida State is not for everybody — it’s just for the real ones,” Norvell said. “It’s for the ones that when they say they want to go and accomplish great things, then you know we’re going to help them work towards it.”

Video via Warchant

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The college softball offseason is in full swing with transfers finding new homes, teams starting to take shape and new rules coming down from the NCAA. The picture of 2024 for the Florida State Seminoles and everyone else is starting to come into focus.

As we wait on Team 41 to open their season, the Seminole Softball Wrap podcast crew — Gwyn Rhodes and Brian Pellerin — sought out national college softball writer Brady Vernon of D1Softball.com to discuss the stories of the offseason so far.

Covered in this episode:

The biggest moves of the new year so far are centered around the Oklahoma Sooners. One of the best pitchers in the sport out, another in... and then some.

Gwyn and Brian get Brady’s perspective on Jordy Bahl’s move to Nebraska, Kelly Maxwell’s jump across the state of Oklahoma to try and fill Bahl’s shoes, Alana Vawter’s move to the SEC and more.

Does he see this as a weakening of college softball’s dominant force? Who are the teams that currently could push OU for the Women’s College World Series this year?

The Noles are of course among that crew. They’ve built a powerhouse program perpetually in the top ten with the goal of OKC every year.

But how does that translate to their national reputation?

Brady sure thinks so, saying he believes OU fans look at FSU as their biggest competition each season and the program consistently pushing to compete.

2024 won’t be much different. The lineup is largely back so the bats should continue to find ways. In the circle, losing Kat Sandercock will hurt, but Brady has confidence in the growth of Makenna Reid into that role. Plus there’s another pitcher that he thinks is ready to find that stride in Tallahassee this season. 

The Big Ten and the Big 12 have raided the Pac-12 leaving no conference left with a west coast base. It’s a move driven by football that will almost certainly have impacts on softball as well.

The west coast used to run the sport and recruiting it well remains crucial to a strong program. Could the loss of a regional conference on the west coast open the door to more teams recruiting out there? And does the SEC gain an advantage as the only truly regional conference.

The NCAA released some new rules for the upcoming season including limits on assistant coaches interacting with umpires, the addition of the PitchCom system to relay pitches/plays like MLB has added, changes to the pitching mechanic rules around airborne feet and some replay review changes.

Brady shares his thoughts on what catches his eye as the changes most likely to impact the sport people going forward.

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The Florida State Seminoles are less than three weeks from the opener against the LSU Tigers in Orlando.

With the season drawing near, the Seminole Wrap crew — Brian Pellerin, Jon Marchant and Ben Meyerson — flip to the defensive side of the ball and preview the crew looking to shut down opposing offenses.

Last year, the defense was 20th in scoring defense (allowing 20.6 points per game), 15th in total defense (allowing 321 yards per game), 75th in rushing defense (allowing 156.38 yards per game) and 4th in passing defense (allowing 165.4 yards per game).

PFF had the Seminoles graded out as the No. 29 overall defense in the country (87.1), No. 30 rush defense (84.9), No. 39 tackle grade (71.5), No. 36 pass rush grade (81.4), and No. 54 coverage grade (78).

The defense was a solid unit for 2023 that produced in nearly every game, but they do have some areas to grow next season.

One spot the pod crew is looking for is the turnovers. While there’s a good deal of luck intertwined with getting turnovers, aggressive style and heads-up play can make a difference in gaining that extra edge. The defense has plenty of room to grow in the area after 2022 — can they turn that luck around for this season?

The passing offense was one of the best in the country, but teams were certainly able to run the ball on them. Those games were largely when Fabian Lovett was off the field with injuries. Lovett is back and they’ve added to the DT group through the portal.

Is that enough to fix the rushing issue?

The trio dive in deeper on the latest episode of the Seminole Wrap — listen below, as well as on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your shows.

The crew will go front to back looking at depth, talent and more for each unit.

Follow along with our team’s position preview articles as well.

Sunday, September 3: LSU Tigers (Orlando)

Saturday, September 9: Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Saturday, September 16: at Boston College Eagles

Saturday, September 23: at Clemson Tigers

Saturday, September 30: BYE

Saturday, October 7: Virginia Tech Hokies

Saturday, October 14: Syracuse Orange

Saturday, October 21: Duke Blue Devils

Saturday, October 28: at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Saturday, November 4: at Pittsburgh Panthers

Saturday, November 11: Miami Hurricanes

Saturday, November 18: North Alabama Lions

Saturday, November 25: at Florida Gators

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After spending the early part of the practice week in Jacksonville, the Florida State Seminoles made their way back to Tallahassee to take part in the team’s first fall scrimmage.

With the start of the season now less than three weeks away, FSU is starting to up the intensity with an elevated sense of urgency ahead of their Week 1 matchup against the LSU Tigers.

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Florida State is now five days into its fall camp prep, knocking out its penultimate practice before a trip to Jacksonville for a series of practices on the University of North Florida campus.

“Tomorrow will be a little bit lesser, since we have a big stretch this week going to Jacksonville,” head coach Mike Norvell said on Tuesday. “It’s kind of our getaway during camp — [that still features] two pretty intense practices.”

FSU has taken the trip down to Jacksonville for the last two years, a tradition that’s emerged under Norvell in an effort to break up the grind of camp as well as get a little bit of road prep ahead of the season, allowing the team to get their first feel of the year for hitting the road but maintaining mentalities.

The Seminoles are still in the early days of camp, having just thrown on full pads on Saturday, but the pressure is already on for FSU to continue its upward trajectory as it looks to achieve some of the lofty expectations being placed on the squad ahead of the season.

Norvell has been impressed with the effort from his team so far — while he noted there were a few mishaps on special teams and a couple of areas that still need refining, the intensity and energy is exactly in line with what he’s looking for.

“The depth, the quality of newcomers is something I’m really excited about — seeing those guys maximize opportunities that they’re getting. We’ve got a lot of competition, this is going to be good for us in the long run.”

Norvell also shared that the NCAA has denied an eligibility waiver for Florida State Seminoles defensive lineman Darrell Jackson Jr.

In March, the organization updated its waiver parameters to try and curb the trend of players undergoing multiple transfers during their collegiate careers:

Jackson, who began his career with the Maryland Terrapins, transferred to Florida State this offseason in an effort to be closer to his mother who is dealing with health issues.

“She thinks it’s her fault, but it’s not,” Jackson said on Tuesday. “I’m going to continue to be there for my mom and see how things play out.”

He also claimed that the NCAA did not provide an explanation for the denial of his waiver, saying “I don’t know if they’re trying to prove a point or what?”

“I thought that [his reason for transferring] was shown and presented, but ultimately the NCAA, they have a choice of what they’re going to do and the decision that they made,” Norvell said.

“It’s sad that he’s gonna miss games....obviously, he’s hurt.”

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Florida State took to the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility on Friday for the second day of its preseason fall camp, logging another day of work as it preps for its September 3rd season opener vs. the LSU Tigers.

While things haven’t fully kicked into high gear, with FSU still easing its way into full-padded practices, the energy the squad is displaying as it sets the foundation for the season has been encouraging to head coach Mike Norvell.

“You’re in just helmets, it’s hard to get a real sense of what [everything’s] looking like,” he said on Friday, “but watching the first step, I really like the way the defense is flying to the ball. You see the depth, you see the competitiveness, DBs being active at the catch point.”

Norvell also spoke further on the day’s production, which was a special teams-heavy day as the Seminoles look to solidify their specialists.

“Specialists are doing a nice job early in camp...I like what I’m seeing from them,” adding that “[we’re] trying to get a lot of work with the returners,” amongst whom have been Keon Coleman, Destyn Hill, Winston Wright, Deuce Spann, Trey Benson, Caziah Holmes, Lawrance Toafili and Ja’Khi Douglas.

Overall, Norvell thinks his team is ahead of where it’s been in the past, saying that “guys understand expectations. They worked hard and are doing what we’re asking them to do, and they went above and beyond on their own and that’s where you’ve seen a lot of growth from players. They’re confident in what they’re being asked to do.”

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Will they stay or will they go?

The Florida State Board of Trustees drew their line in the sand with the ACC this week with former FSU QB Drew Weatherford saying it’s not if but when for the Noles departure from the conference.

The question remains though, how and when. And to a lesser extent, where to. The Noles are making no secrets about their desire to make a jump happen sooner than later, but it sure seems like it won’t be that easy.

On this episode, the Seminole Wrap crew — Brian Pellerin, Jon Marchant and Ben Meyerson — take a dive into the latest happenings in the conference realignment tectonic shifts and discuss how soon Florida State needs to get out of the ACC to remain competitive at the highest level.

They also dive into Mike Norvell’s comments at his camp opening press conference and ACC Kickoff about embracing the expectations his team is facing this season and ramping up practice to be ready for their opening schedule.

Plus, the ACC media’s preseason poll laid out some clear tiers among the conference’s top teams.

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Mike Norvell’s Florida State Seminoles football program is wrapping up its best month ever with commitments from five-star cornerback prospect Charles Lester III and four-star offensive lineman Manasse Itete, who recently decommitted from Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans.

Those two commits have placed Florida State in the top ten of the cumulative rankings from the two top recruiting services, with On3 Industry Rankings considering the Seminoles’ current 2024 commitments the No. 5 class with an average rating of 91.46, while the 247Sports Composite Rankings have FSU at No. 7 with a 90.97 average.

It’s been too long, but the Three Stars reconvened to discuss all that’s going on in the world of Florida State recruiting — and there is plenty, including:

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After a nearly two-month hiatus, the Seminole Softball Wrap podcast makes a return to open up its run of offseason episodes.

Over the next few months, hosts Gwyn Rhodes and Brian Pellerin will discuss the latest news around the team and talk to interesting people around the program today, tomorrow and from the past.

In their first episode back, they recap everything that’s happened since the last episode around the college softball world in the transfer portal, who Florida State is trying to bring in, who else they’ve recruited this offseason so far and where they may still need to add.

Plus, with some distance away from the end of the season, Gwyn and Brian give a way-too-early look at what Florida State returns for 2024 both in the circle and in the lineup.

If they weren’t able to make any additions to the team, how would this team fare?

That’s all on this episode of the Seminole Softball Wrap.

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Winning football games has a lot to do with talent, but you also need some luck as well. Whether that’s a bounce of the ball on a crucial play or the way your schedule lays out for you, it can be the difference between reaching your goals and falling short.

For Florida State, the goals this season including another year with double digit wins, a trip to Charlotte for the ACC title game and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

To get there, they need the talent they’ve acquired to play to their potential and several returning players to take that next step — and there’s been plenty of indication to think they will.

But they’ll also need to make the most of the schedule in front of them.

On this episode of the Seminole Wrap podcast — Brian Pellerin and Ben Meyerson — break down the biggest games, the timing of the bye week and look at where the toughest surprise tests may come for Florida State.

And, the Tiger-centeric question that will define this season, which team poses the toughest test on FSU’s September schedule — LSU or Clemson? Who might be stronger than we think come season’s end? And which opponent could be easier than we think to beat based on their own schedule?

That’s all on this week’s episode of the Seminole Wrap podcast.

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