CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Florida State coach Mike Norvell, quarterback Jordan Travis, defensive end Jared Verse and linebacker Kalen DeLoach took the spotlight on Wednesday to meet with reporters at ACC Kickoff. We've compiled some of our favorite quotes from their interview sessions.

On the 2023 roster: "We’ve got tremendous playmakers. That I’m certain of. And it’s at every level within our team. Now the competition, the mindset, that’s going to determine what shows up on Sunday night in that first weekend in September."

On FSU's players and their progress: "With a veteran team with great leaders, the responsibility is almost higher because they’ve got to be the example. That’s one of the things I was proud of in the spring. I thought Jordan and Jared and Johnny, those were some of our most improved players coming out of spring practice. When you see that, when you see that sense of urgency and growth, that’s going to affect everybody else. And to be able to take that into the summer, I think it’s been really good. It’s still a daily challenge."

On the program's climb: "I said this when I came to Florida State, year 1, I expected to win every single game. And you know what? That didn’t work out. Go look at the record. There weren’t a whole lot of those at the beginning. But in those moments, when it didn’t necessarily go how you wanted, it’s still the response. You have to be looking for those moments daily. ‘This is hard, this is challenging and I don’t necessarily want to do this. But am I willing to (do that) to achieve what I can?’ We were talking about it last night with Jordan, Jared and Kalen. Two of those guys have been here since I walked in the story. That’s the story. But it’s also the legacy we get to leave and what they get to leave for the future. That’s one of the things we really talked a lot about. That’s probably something I’m most proud of. That’s helped establish our toughness, which I’m proud of. When you watch how we finish, I’m proud of that. What we do academically. But it all still comes back to the work."

On receiver Johnny Wilson: "He is 6'7" and can jump pretty good. It's kind of like a cheat code. It's like a created player on Madden. I'm so glad he's on my team. It makes my job a lot easier. Outside of football Johnny is a tremendous person. Just the way he carries himself every single day is one of a kind. He always has a smile on his face."

On Norvell's belief in him, how he has inspired Travis: "It means a lot. Just having someone that believes in you. Sometimes that’s all it takes is just one person to believe in you. Especially someone with that magnitude in the program. That’s your head coach. He believes in you. That’s all I needed and it pushes me every single day to work for him and get him wins because he took a chance on me. I had an opportunity and I just tried to run with it. Still going. Try to get better every day."

On why he returned to FSU in 2023: "One of the biggest factors in coming back was probably seeing all these other guys come back. Like these two guys right here came back. Coaching staff was back. Fabien Lovett came back. Jarrian Jones came back. All these guys came back. Key players. They just kept telling me, what are you going to do? I had a feeling I was going to come back. I'm not done here yet. I accomplished what I wanted to. I put myself in conversations where I was able to go high up in the draft, but it wasn't what I wanted. We still had a lot more as a team to do."

On what's the next step for Verse in his development: "I definitely am still trying to prove myself, not in the aspect that people don't know what I can do, but in the aspect that I still have so much that I have left to do. During my exit meeting with Coach Norvell that's something we spoke about. I made a lot of gains since I've come to Florida State, but there's so much more room. I can get faster and stronger and get better with my hands, better with my moves. My decision-making, there's still so much ground I have to cover. I fell like I have to prove that, but not to anybody, just to myself."

On what FSU's defensive line can do in 2023: "With the guys we brought in, I don’t think anyone can compete with our D-line. We’re too deep, we got too much talent. Adding in (Braden) Fiske, bringing back Fabo (Fabien Lovett), me, Josh Farmer, Pat Payton, some of the guys that haven’t even played yet that are going to play this season, I don’t think anybody can mess with our D-line."

On how DeLoach's job is easier with depth and experience on DL: "We got some dogs up front. You know, we got Verse. We got Fabien. We got Braden Fiske. We got Darrell Jackson. We got Pat Payton. I feel like there's a lot to worry about up front to where it's going to help the back end from the linebackers back to make plays just to be free and run and tackle. That's what we do best."

On if he is the best athlete in his family, with a sister who runs track at Ohio State and a brother who plays basketball at Georgia: "You know I'm going to say me because I feel lying like I can play all three. I feel like I can play basketball and run track. I'm definitely going with me."

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