Tommy Castellanos claims Florida State's defense in practice will be the hardest he faces this season

The Florida State Seminoles went into the offseason looking to completely rebuild after falling to 2-10 last season. Much of the attention on that has been focused on the transfer quarterback, Tommy Castellanos, along with the Seminoles’ offense. However, head coach Mike Norvell also made massive changes on defense.

With changes on both sides of the ball, there can tend to be question marks. However, as Castellanos has found out in Fall Camp, there’s no reason not to be confident in the Florida State defense. In fact, he expects it to be the best he faces all season long.

“I think Coach [Tony] White and our defense is the hardest defense I’ll see all year,” Tommy Castellanos said. “Just schematically and stuff like that, what they do. It’s hard to be that good. A lot of moving parts on their end, but it’s helped me a lot and helped me be better and helped me progress as a quarterback and as a player. When to just take the checkdown or when to just eat it, or throw it away. Stuff like that. Know when the play is over.”

Florida State is coming off a season where the defense finished 86th nationally in total defense, giving up 385.9 yards per game. They also finished 87th in scoring defense, giving up 28 points per game. That prompted a change at defensive coordinator. Now, Tony White has taken over the role, coming from the Nebraska Cornhuskers, where that was the strength of the team.

In the Transfer Portal, Florida State has the 36th-ranked class in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. That included nine new players on the defensive side of the ball, making for a new look unit on that side of the ball.

“So, I think that they’re deep,” Castellanos said. “Seeing them every day for the past two weeks has helped me a lot and progress as a quarterback.”

Florida State is going to take on a difficult schedule this season. That opens on August 30th at home against the Alabama Crimson Tide, which is never an easy task. Later, they’ll have games against the Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers, both of whom are expected to produce top-tier defenses. That’s before wrapping up with an SEC school, the Florida Gators, in The Swamp. So, if Castellanos is right, then the Seminoles are going to be better than some excellent defenses.

Gus Malzahn praises Tommy Castellanos for response after interception in scrimmage

New Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has been happy with how Tommy Castellanos has performed so far in practice. Even after throwing an interception against that defense, he responded well, which Malzahn is happy to see.

“Those things are very, very important,” Gus Malzahn said. “Yeah, he threw an interception early in the scrimmage. Then, he came back and made a play, and I think threw a long touchdown. Then led us down to another touchdown. That’s the response that you’re looking for out of your quarterback, and so very impressed with that last night.”

For his career, Castellanos has completed 58.6 percent of passes for 3,689 yards and 33 touchdowns to 19 interceptions. He has also rushed for 1,427 yards and 15 touchdowns.