9/8/2022 football Edit

Osceola 1-on-1: Q&A with new FSU radio voice Jeff Culhane

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

Florida State football’s new radio voice, Jeff Culhane, didn’t have to wait too long for his first signature call with the Seminoles.

After making his debut in FSU’s 47-7 win over Duquesne Aug. 27, he was on hand at the Caesar’s Superdome Sunday as Shyheim Brown clinched a 24-23 FSU win over LSU with a blocked extra point.

“Snap, spot, it’s blocked. It’s blocked. It’s no good. It’s blocked,” Culhane said on the Learfield radio broadcast, quickly raising the emotion in his voice to meet the emotion of the moment. “Shyheim Brown got his mitt on it. Fire up the Warchant and plant the spear. ‘Noles win. ‘Noles win. Mike Norvell, you have your signature win early on in non-conference play.”

Two games into his tenure, Culhane, who will also be the radio voice of the FSU men’s basketball team, joined the Osceola for an exclusive 1-on-1 interview.

Jeff, I appreciate you taking the time to talk a few games into your tenure. How’s it going?

Culhane: Curt, it’s going well. 2-0, feel good. I'm definitely not taking credit for any W's, but I'm very happy that Mike Norvell and company in year three are off to a tremendous start. What a weekend in New Orleans. What a night in the Superdome Sunday night. That was a blast.

We should start with the LSU win. Walk me through that moment with the blocked extra point. What is it like to already have an iconic call as FSU’s radio voice?

Culhane: I appreciate all the positive feedback from fans. I understand, as we've talked about before, there's no way anyone can replace the great Gene Deckerhoff or fill his shoes. We're just gonna put our own pair on it and see where it takes us and it took us to a weird place Sunday night, that's for sure. There's a lot going on. I think if you're listening to the game, and I know a lot of people have asked about the highlights or going back and listening. A lot of it was, ‘Man, it's a little bit surprising that we're here.’ Right? I mean, it felt like this game was in hand. I thought Florida State was the better football team throughout the entire night. LSU kept fighting, trying to get back into it after the first half. After the second muffed punt by Malik Nabers, the 600 level right below us at the Superdome was LSU fans, they were gone. It was like rats jumping off a sinking ship, man. They were out the gate. And you felt like it was over. That's why I think, if you're asking me my perspective, what's my thought process going on in the moment, it was not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Obviously, I felt pretty good. You're knocking on the door. You're ready to land a knockout blow and I thought we had a lot of different opportunities to do that – I say we and I say Florida State – and then the fumble happens. And then you're thinking, 'OK, 99 yards.' This Florida State defense has done really well tonight against LSU. That's why college football is the best, man. We get down, we've got the ruling at the one, is he in, is he out, should the clock start, should it stop? What's going on? I still don't know the real ruling. I need clarity on that ruling. I guess for me, getting ready for the final call, as I'm kind of setting the scene, when I said, ‘Redshirt freshman Damian Ramos might be the most nervous person in the Superdome right now,’ in my mind, I was like, ‘OK, just be ready for anything crazy. Who knows? It's been a wild game, just be ready.’ Shyheim Brown flew through, an amazing effort play – they coach this stuff, they work on it every single day in practice – and got his hand on it and the Block on the Bayou was born. We were pretty darn excited to say the least.

With such a long stoppage like we had with one second left right before that final LSU touchdown, what do you do to fill the time? It seemed like 10 minutes where nothing happened.

Culhane: It probably was around five (minutes). I'm sure it felt like 30. You're trying to go through every single scenario. Obviously, this crew wants to get everything right because I think there was, at least from my perspective talking about it, there was a thought process that maybe LSU would not be able to snap the ball again perhaps. You walk through all the scenarios, there's a lot of energy, there's a lot of excitement so you're trying to stay composed and under control with everything. I'll be honest, I've called a couple of different people on this matter and I'm still trying to get absolute 100% certainty on what the right call is. I'm no official, obviously. I need to challenge myself to do a better job of knowing all the scenarios and the rules in that setting with what was on the line. But they gave LSU essentially an untimed down at the end of the game. I thought potentially with the review, that even though it was a first down if he is indeed in bounds, when you set the ball for play and blow the whistle, the clock should start immediately. Obviously it didn't and obviously there were some stoppages in there that I think created the untime down scenario. It was nuts. It was nuts. It led to just the elite level of anticipation and nervousness that built for those final few moments.

I know you have called some big games on big stages at some of your previous stops. Any nerves before your FSU debut? If so, did the rain delay help or hurt those at all?

Culhane: I thought leading up to the game versus Duquesne that the possibility of the weather delay happening was high. To answer your first question, I'm being honest, no, I was not nervous. I was ready. I was excited. I get a lot of questions, ‘Hey, how are you going to feel? How's it gonna go?’ Somebody even asked me if I was scared. ‘Are you scared to call the first game?’ No, I was fired up, man. This is my dream. I'm living my dream right now. Why would I be scared of this opportunity? This is what I've worked for my entire life, why I rode a bus on Thanksgiving morning for 15 hours to call a game back when I was 24 or 22 years old, whatever it was. I wasn't scared. Certainly anxious, eager, ready. The most comfortable I've been during this entire process with the announcement, moving my family – moving, as obviously everybody knows, is not fun for anyone – the most comfortable I have been is when one, my family has gotten to town, finally, from North Dakota and then when I put the headset on and have done coaches shows with (FSU football coach Mike) Norvell and the players and coordinators and the great staff for Florida State and when I put the headset on in Gene’s booth for Duquesne. No, not nervous. I will tell you that on Sunday night, there was a moment early in the fourth quarter after Florida State went up 24-10 where I thought, ‘Alright, this is a place where moments have been made, memories have been created. You’ve got Super Bowls in this building, Final Fours, national championships. Back to ‘99 with Florida State and Peter Warrick and Corey Simon and Chris Weinke and Ron Dugans.’ At that point, you're like, ‘Alright, we're in the middle of another one of these memories being made.’ I wasn't going to believe it would happen like that, but it felt like we were on our way back to a point where we're celebrating a big-time victory in New Orleans once again.

I know when we talked immediately after your hire was announced, you hadn’t yet had the chance to meet Gene Deckerhoff. Even though he’s still the radio voice for the Buccaneers, he’s made quite a few trips to FSU practices so far this fall. What has his friendship meant as you have gotten to know him since arriving?

Culhane: It means everything. Gene has been unbelievable to me and to my family and that's no surprise to anyone that knows Gene Deckerhoff. The legend that he is as the guy laying down the soundtrack for all the iconic moments of Florida State Athletics for over four decades, he's an even better person. I'll tell you a story I've told a few people. A couple of weeks ago, we still didn't have our stuff. We were at her house, it was empty. We didn't have anything and Gene and his lovely wife, Ann, came over to our house and brought a card table, some folding chairs and a rocking chair for my wife to rock our nine-week old son, Everett, when he's fussy or crying as every parent knows with a newborn. The Deckerhoffs have been so great to us. His sons have been absolutely amazing. They've come to our coaches’ shows. I talked with his family at our tailgate before Duquesne on Langford Green. It means the world. Gene sent me texts before my first coaches’ show, my first game. We were texting back and forth Sunday night during LSU and I gave him a shout out on the air and he shot me a text right back. He was locked in. He's the best, man. He’s the best. I can't wait to listen to him call Bucs football. He’ll be in Dallas on Sunday night this upcoming weekend. He's been so supportive of me and I'll probably shoot him a few texts, listening on Sunday night.

I know both William Floyd and Tom Block remain on the broadcast team from Gene’s time, but I know that the rest of his team, the spotters and everyone else, are still with the broadcast team as well. How much of a difference has that made as you have gotten acclimated, having a whole team of people around you who were here before?

Culhane: It's been invaluable. It's so amazing. I can't put a number on it. It has been able to allow me to relax. It's been able to allow me just to be myself. They've welcomed me in like I'm a family member that's been around for 10, 15 years, like maybe I was gone and I just got back from a trip and now we're all hanging out together and doing our thing. It’s my goal, at least it has been the first two games that's how it sounded. Like we've been doing games together for 10 years instead of just two weeks and it's because of them. It's because they've welcomed me into their family. Andy Surratt has been through all of the great moments with Gene. Bar None (Floyd) has created those memories as a player and now has captured so many of those as an analyst. Tom Block is a pro. He's just so good. He's so smooth. He sounds tremendous. Because of them, I've been able to settle in and relax. They have allowed me to be me while being themselves as well. It truly is a family type of atmosphere. That's the best way I can explain it.

Obviously, it’s a very tough task replacing someone like Gene, who has been so associated with the history of FSU athletics. But I know on our boards and on social media, the feedback from your first few games has been overwhelmingly positive. How much does that mean?

Culhane: It's meant the world. I can't thank everyone enough. ‘Noles fans everywhere, here, across the world. I got a tweet from somebody listening in Rome who was talking about the highlights. Just so amazing. We've done some things here as well with the new podcast, Behind the Mic. Also with some of our post practice recap videos where media relations, Derek Satterfield, Steven McCartney, Christa Salerno, Rob Wilson, they have been amazing. They've been so good, the entire sports info staff, with latching on to some of the new stuff we've asked to do and wanted to do to provide that extra access. That's helped me, I think, get to learn the team, helped me and my preparation. To see the reaction, the goal is always to try and get ingrained into this community and this family as quickly as you possibly can. Sunday night sped up that process in a big way. It feels like we were able to do the moment its due justice with what it was. I think when preparation meets opportunity mixed in with a little bit of luck, you're able to get where you're hoping to go as a play-by-play guy and as a broadcast team. I hope it came across that way. I feel like it came across that way. Everybody on social media has been just so amazing and I can't thank people enough.

I know you joked earlier that you aren’t taking any credit for FSU’s 2-0 start. But it’s undeniable that you arrived here at an interesting time entering Mike Norvell’s third season. What have you observed jumping into this portion of his climb?

Culhane: It's Mike Norvell. I'd say Mike Norvell, as I've gotten to know him, he is such an impressive individual. A high, high-IQ football mind, a high, high-IQ football person and he is developing this culture. I know that's cliche, that word is thrown around a lot when you talk about athletics, but it's really important. It really is. You have to have everybody on board. You cannot have one or two or 10 people in the building that are all all-in. You’ve got to be moving and climbing in the same direction together all at the same time and that is what he is instilling here. I guess from my perspective, being able to watch this early in the season and being able to be at fall camp and be around the staff, the players, everybody involved with Florida State footballl, you get a sense that it's moving where Coach wants it to go. Is it there yet? Not all the way. But I think there are certainly some high levels of positivity you can take away from winning a game like LSU in New Orleans, which is a “neutral-site” game. But you win and there are still plenty of teachable moments from coaches to players. To beat an LSU team that's got high levels of talent and you didn’t play a perfect football game by any means. I think from an individual standpoint, just one individual game, that's a high level of positivity. It feels like in year three, Coach is getting through and guys are returning that, buying in, playing their tails off. That culture is building within Doak Campbell and within the Moore Center, that locker room.

I know football season is just underway, but it also feels like basketball season will be here before we know it. How are you preparing for your first season with the men’s basketball team while football season goes on?

Culhane: Early on with this Florida State men's basketball team, back before the group went to Canada, I was able to get over to a practice or two, met a lot of the players. Obviously, I met Leonard Hamilton. Talk about impressive, holy smokes. Hall of Famer, the guy is just unbelievable. He knows more basketball than all of us have ever forgotten combined. Stan Jones, Steve Smith, RJ Barsh, their entire staff is just phenomenal. Coming off of a year where they were injury ravaged, this is a team, I'm telling you, that has put the pieces back together. They are going to have another impressive season in a long line of impressive seasons under Leonard Hamilton. I’ve been able to connect with that group. It's a tremendous group of great talent and high-character people. I’m really looking forward to hoops. As much as I love college football, college basketball holds a place in my heart with that family atmosphere. Hoops, you're on the road a lot more. You're together a lot more in those types of settings. When things are going right, it's a special time and a special moment. And so I can't wait to get with Coach Ham and with this program here as we get into October, November and obviously into ACC play. Because the elite conference in college basketball that it is, with one of the great conference tournaments out there if not the greatest into March Madness, it's as good as it gets in sports.