Newly hired Florida State coordinators Gus Malzahn (offense) and Tony White (defense) have a big challenge ahead of them.
Coming off a 2-10 season full of disappointment, full-scale evaluations of the current roster are currently underway. The two coordinators are pressing to find out as much as they can about their current roster. Who fits the scheme, who is bought in, and where do they need to bring in talent via the transfer portal.
For offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, he's already gotten a bit of a head start as he arrived on Dec. 1.
"We hit the ground running. I got here on a Sunday, I think, after I told my team (at UCF) at 4 o'clock (Saturday), and so the first thing I did is evaluate what we have," Malzahn said. "We've got some extremely talented young people I really enjoyed. I've met with them all. I got a chance to try to get know them the best I could, try to evaluate and then trying to figure out what we need to play championship-level football on the offensive side. So it's been fast, but it's been fun."
Malzahn's swift arrival to Tallahassee helped Florida State land a key piece of its 2025 recruiting class in Rivals100 wide receiver Jayvan Boggs, who had been committed to UCF. Undoubtedly, the hire also helped Florida State close on some remaining offensive targets, such as RB Ousmane Kromah and TE/WR Tae'Shaun Gelsey.
But it's an offense that needs more than just incoming talent at the high school level. The Seminoles have already received a commitment from Boston College QB transfer Thomas Castellanos on Tuesday evening. Malzahn addressed the media before Castellanos had committed, but the new FSU assistant sees a number of available options via the portal.
"Ideally, you're able to recruit young guys and hold on to them and retain them," Malzahn explained. "That's a challenge for everybody. That's ideal, and at least as many so you have a foundation, and then each year you can go in the portal and just plug in your needs. Obviously this a unique situation, coming off the year that they had last year, and losing some older guys and having young guys. So this year is a little bit different, but there's been great response to interest in what we're doing here. And so right now, this is a very critical time the next two weeks, putting our roster together, so that's what we're doing. But you can tell there's a whole lot of great interest in the top players in the portal right now."
For White, he's had less time to get up to speed with his defensive personnel. White was hired on Dec. 5, touching down in Tallahassee a few days later. In that short time, White has been able to identify some talent on the returning roster and how he wants to implement it.
"Coming over here and looking at the roster, there's some really, really talented individuals here," White said. "Some really, really good football players, some really good young men as I get to know them. We're going to be multiple, we're going to put the guys in the best positions possible to go out there and let them play really fast and not confused. Be really physical, be really aggressive, the things that Coach Norvell wants. And really just kind of tailor what we do to the players we have and the players coming in."
Whereas Malzahn has the benefit of running a similar scheme with similar ideologies to coach Mike Norvell, White will be implementing a new 3-3-5 defensive scheme. Along with new position coaches Terrance Knighton (defensive line) and Evan Cooper (safeties), White will be trying to use the athleticism on the roster while bring in physicality in the portal.
Florida State is expecting a trio of Nebraska transfer prospects for official visits on Monday, including defensive ends James Williams and Princewill Umanmielen. Linebackers Jimari Gbayor and Stefon Thompson are also expected. The Seminoles have also expressed interest from Texas A&M transfer linebacker Matrell Harris Jr., among others.
But White does see some of the athleticism he wants already in Tallahassee.
"(They are) very athletic," White said of the current roster. "Especially you look at the back end and those guys can fly around. Those guys can cover. It's kind of cool because in my meetings, I have fresh eyes, I don't know what they can do. So I don't know who they are, I don't know any of their profiles. I see a lot of talent. I see a lot of talent in the back end, whether they're experienced or not, that comes with it ... Up front, I think we're gonna be young but extremely athletic. And at backer, you're gonna have a chance to see some young guys really blossom into good college football players. I see a lot of potential back there. I see a lot of athleticism. I see a lot of guys who maybe played, but not played a lot. It's going to be our job to make sure we provide them everything they need to go out there and play fast and physical."
As both Malzahn and White settle into Tallahassee and the portal continues to ramp up, they will begin to better shape how they want their respective sides of the ball to look. While both see talent on the roster at present, there are some challenges that they hope to shore up with the coming weeks.
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