6/13/2023 football Edit

Blake Nichelson's singular focus on linebacker could speed FSU development

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

As is quite often the case with talented football prospects, Blake Nichelson was one heck of a two-way player on his high school football team.

Over his final two seasons at Manteca (Calif.) High, Nichelson ran for 3,950 yards and 63 touchdowns as a running back while amassing 93 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and eight pass breakups as a linebacker on defense.

As the four-star linebacker recruit enrolls at Florida State, though, he’s focusing solely on the defensive side of the ball. And after racking up the yards and broken tackles as a physically intimidating high-school running back, Nichelson is excited to see what he can do with the Seminoles when committing all of his efforts to the linebacker position.

“I’m for sure going to miss playing running back. That’s something I played my whole life. It’s going to be a little change, but I feel like me finally being able to focus on one position is the best thing for me at this level…” Nichelson said Tuesday when addressing the FSU beat for the first time. “I feel like it’s great to finally stick to one position and throw all my talent into that one position, be the best player that I can be.”

With over 2,500 miles separating Nichelson’s former hometown in California and his new home in Tallahassee, he came from by far the most distance away of FSU’s 2023 freshmen enrollees.

While he had plenty of chances to stay closer to home with an offer list that included USC, Oregon, Utah, Washington and other West Coast programs, Nichelson felt drawn to move across the country to play for Mike Norvell and the Seminoles.

“Between all the coaches, coach Norvell, (defensive coordinator Adam) Fuller, (linebackers coach Randy) Shannon, everybody, it felt like home to me,” Nichelson said. “Especially when I came out here for a game, I got to see the Warchant for the first time in person, I knew right there and then it was different at Florida State.”

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Nichelson committed to FSU last September before even visiting Tallahassee on a game weekend to witness the Doak Campbell Stadium experience in person. Once he did that last season for the Clemson game, it showed him first-hand exactly how different college football is in the South from the rest of the country.

“I’m very excited to be a part of the environment,” Nichelson said. “I definitely noticed the difference when I came out here for my first actual game vs. Clemson. I really got to see how football is down here.”

Nichelson’s Rivals profile lists him at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. He’s listed on FSU’s online roster at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and says he wants to get up to 225 pounds as his playing weight. As for his playing style, he views his athleticism as his biggest strength, comparing himself to current San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.

“I think my main strength is my speed, to be honest. Being able to play sideline to sideline, I feel like that’s a big thing with linebackers now,” Nichelson said. “But also my ability to cover tight ends, running backs, wide receivers, I feel like that’s one of the main parts of the game now as a linebacker is being able to drop in coverage.”

Nichelson is one of nine blue-chip players in FSU’s 2023 high-school signing class. However, considering the Seminoles’ current depth at the linebacker position, he’s one of the more likely of those nine to have some sort of role on the field as a true freshman this fall.

He’s not focused on that or any other personal goals, however. For now, Nichelson is just focused on daily improvement, having fully bought into Norvell’s 1% and Climb mantras.

“I’ve never really had personal goals or anything like that. I just kind of (want to) be the best player that I can possibly be, go out there every day and give it my all,” Nichelson said. “I feel like if I do that, I’ll be a great player. As long as I have faith in myself, I’ll be good.”