6/30/2023 football Edit

Brian Courtney now listed as linebacker/tight end on FSU football roster

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

The Florida State football team is turning to an interior fix to address its linebacker depth ahead of the 2023 season.

In a change to FSU's online roster, sophomore Brian Courtney is now listed as a linebacker/tight end for the Seminoles after spending his freshman season in 2022 as purely a tight end.

He's also changing numbers from 86 to 40.

The move would appear to be a mutually beneficial one for both FSU and Courtney. For Courtney, playing time at tight end has become a bit tougher to come by both now and in the future with the pieces FSU has added and will likely add in its 2024 signing class.

Spending this season working at both positions can prepare him for a future at either starting in 2024 when playing time at each spot will likely be available.

For FSU, it bolsters the team's depth at linebacker after losing a pair of players at the position after spring camp in Stephen Dix Jr. and Brendan Gant and proving unable to add any depth there this summer through the transfer portal.

The 6-foot-3, 228-pound Courtney is unlikely to play linebacker for FSU in 2023 and shouldn't be needed with a number of experienced players ahead of him. However, both Tatum Bethune and Kalen DeLoach could very well be gone after the 2023 season. And with a year under his belt at the position on the practice field after he was a high school quarterback, maybe Courtney will be ready for some kind of rotational role at linebacker in 2024.

Working at linebacker could also help Courtney's future on special teams, where he featured prominently as a true freshman last season.