Greg McElroy on Florida State bouncing back in 2025: 'I like it'

Fresh off a 13-0 season and a snub from the 2023 College Football Playoff, Florida State had an extremely disappointing 2024 campaign that saw the Seminoles finish with a 2-10 record. It was the Seminoles’ worst season since 1974, when they went 1-10.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy, however, sees this one getting back on track. He believes that Mike Norvell and the Seminoles will bounce back this upcoming season.

“I like it,” McElroy responded when asked about the notion. “I really like the first five words of the question. Florida State will bounce back. I absolutely believe they’ll bounce back. But it’s the next part of the question that I struggle with just a little bit. Right now, I still think there’s a gap that exists between what Clemson has coming back and the known commodities and what Florida State has coming back.”

On June 16, ESPN predicted the win-loss record for every ACC Football team in 2025. They have Florida State at six wins, good for 12th-best in the conference.

“Now I think they’ve done a really good job addressing some of the concerns, particularly at quarterback,” said McElroy. “I love that they went out and hired Gus Malzahn and I love that he went out and identified Thomas Castellanos as their quarterback. He’s got great mobility and he’s extremely athletic. If you look at Gus Malzahn‘s offense in the past, when he’s got a dynamic runner at quarterback, his offense is extremely difficult to defend. If you couple that with the play calling ability and game planning ability of Mike Novell, that marriage and that combination between head coach, OC and quarterback should be a very, very solid starting point.”

McElroy loves the additions of Squirrel White and Duce Robinson

As a junior at Boston College last season, Castellanos passed for 1,366 yards and 18 touchdowns and five interceptions before leaving the program after losing the starting role to Grayson James. He’ll now reunite with Malzahn, who coached Castellanos at UCF in 2022.

“I can’t imagine that the offensive line is worse as well,” McElroy said. “I expect that group to bounce back in a big way. They’ve done a good job at addressing some question marks in the portal. You go out and get Squirrel White from Tennessee. You’ve got Duce Robinson, who’s got versatility out on the perimeter at wide receiver from USC. I think they’re better at wide receiver than a year ago, and it’s not even close. Looking at the defense, too, Tony White coming over from Nebraska is a really solid addition. He did a great job the last few seasons in Lincoln and I would anticipate him doing a great job again this year.”

It’s hard to imagine the Seminoles will come anywhere close to the disaster that last season was, especially with upgrades across the board. FSU fans will get their first look at a re-worked roster on August 30 when it opens the season on the road at Alabama.

“If you look at Florida State, were they as good as the 13-0 record would indicate in 2023? Probably not. There were a few games in which they were on the right side of the ball bouncing their way. If you look at last year, they were 2-10. Were they as bad as that 2-10 record would indicate. No, they were on the wrong side of a few bad bounces and as a result, momentum gets away from you. I look at Florida State and I would be surprised if this team wasn’t bowl eligible again.”