The start of the 2025 college football season is just over two weeks away for the Florida State Seminoles and they are in a critical time of development. They just held their second scrimmage of fall camp on Sunday and defensive coordinator Tony White did not pull any punches on Monday when asked about how he feels about his unit.
“There are some guys who showed out, guys who are building the coach’s trust and the confidence of their teammates, and there are some guys who need to, quite frankly, step their ass up,” he said. “It’s unacceptable.”
He isn’t talking about production, he admitted that sometimes you will get beat, but instead, the effort and physicality that players are displaying.
“I mean, football, guys are going to not make plays here and there,” he said. “I mean, the ball is going to beat you. I never get upset when the ball beats you, but if you’re not doing what you’re being trained to do and you’re not playing your butt off, then that is unacceptable.
“That is not right, and there’s flashes of that from – there’s just too much of that, so we’ve got to limit that and move forward.”
He has over 50 players on the defense, and he wants all of them to end up on the bus traveling to games. They will need to earn his trust to do that, and he provided a lengthy answer on the players who are doing just that, going position by position. Here is all the players that he discussed.
Defensive line
White first brought up true freshmen Mandrell and Darryll Desir, who have both received plenty of praise during their first offseason in the program, even if they are not perfect.
“I think those guys play their butts off, and they’re very disruptive, and they play football the right way,” he said. “And, again, they’re freshmen, right? So, do they do things right all the time? No. But do they play their butt off, and are they physical as all hell? 100%.
“So, you know what? I’ll live with that. T-Knight [Terrance Knighton] will live with that. I’ll live with that.”
Up next was Darrell Jackson Jr., who is one of the most important pieces of the team and someone they will rely on to do a variety of things.
“D-Jack is getting comfortable with the role he’s playing up in there, and it’s fun to watch him take off and him start to get really good,” he said.
The final defensive linemen he mentioned by name are Jaden Jones and James Williams.
“Jaden [Jones] had a good week last week,” he said. “I thought this week was okay. I want to get mad at him because I expect even more building off the last scrimmage. But I forgot this is the longest he’s played. So I see him just getting back into shape, and he’s still doing the same things at a high level.”
“James [Williams] is always playing his butt off. I think James has really, really improved in the run game, using his length in his hands and all that stuff. I mean, he’s done a nice job,” he said.
Linebacker
For the first time in a few years, the Seminoles have solid depth at linebacker, and White praised several of their members, including veterans, transfers, and some newcomers.
“I really like what all those linebackers are doing,” he said. “I think JP [John Papuchis] has done a really, really nice job of bringing them and keeping them together and really teaching them and giving them confidence to go play.”
“I thought Steph [Thompson] played well,” he added. “I mean, OG [Omar Graham Jr.] and Juice [Justin Cryer] are playing at a high level. They’re really disruptive in what they’re doing, getting off of blocks and running, setting the tone, you know. Blake [Nichelson] is starting to catch on with all those things.”
“Ethan Pritchard, I mean, he’s showing out and doing some nice stuff,” he added. “You know, and now it’s up and down. But he’s showing his athletic ability and that he’s going to be a really good linebacker here in the future.”
“Another guy I haven’t mentioned is Gavin Holman,” he added. “You know, he’s making plays running around there. It’s fun to watch him do that.”
Defensive backs
The Seminoles are going to count on their defensive backs during the 2025 season, having five of them on the field most of the time, and multiple have impressed White during the fall.
“Earl [Little Jr.] shows up,” he said. “Earl’s starting to feel what he can and can’t do back there. It’s a great battle with AB [Ashylnd Barker] and K.J. [Kirkland], those guys moving around and learning what to do and trusting their stuff.”
One true freshman who has received plenty of praise lately is cornerback Shamar Arnoux, whom he called Dudie.
“His process is maturing. So he is starting to put himself in position to do good things, both on and off the grass,” he said. “He’s starting to get it, you know. So I thought Dudie did a really nice job.”
The final player he mentioned is cornerback Jerry Wilson, who is their top cornerback and made a great interception at the start of the scrimmage on Sunday.
“The guy is in a lot of spots,” he said. “Usually when Jerry gets beat, it’s just because the ball beats him. It ain’t because he don’t know what to do, and he doesn’t know how to do it. But he made a couple of really, really nice plays.”
While those players can form the core of a good defense, White knows that they need more to make it through the season.
“There’s a lot of guys who are putting themselves in position and starting to kind of take off and be the guys,” he said. “But you’re looking at the whole picture, we need everybody on that damn bus. We need everybody to do the things we want to do. It’s going to be a long season, you kind of get disappointed with the guys who you feel should be better and are not taking that extra step.”
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: These FSU players are earning Tony White’s trust
Reporting by JD McCarthy, FSU Wire / FSU Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
