Tony White needed some sleep before getting a clear evaluation of Florida State football’s defense after the program’s first scrimmage of the preseason on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
White went home “pissed off” and had to be “talked off a cliff” by Tom Herman, the assistant to the head coach, when he first evaluated the Seminoles’ performance in the scrimmage. But after some rest, White came back to the program’s facility with a different perspective.
“Nothing is ever good enough. You always tend to look at the negative things first, so I went home, and I was pissed off,” White said. “Then I came here, watched the film and looked at it. They’re right where we need them to be. Sideline operation was really good, better than just about any time last year. Guys are locked in. I can hear the guys discussing plays, looking at calls.”
Explosive plays given up were the cause of White’s frustrations, but after Herman stepped in to calm things down and White’s own reflection, he was happy with how his unit limited the offense after big plays. He referenced “four-point plays,” which he credited his defense for forcing a field goal rather than getting into the end zone.
FSU defense ‘much cleaner’ than most first scrimmages
What stood out most to White was how clean his defense played. He said the first scrimmage of the season usually has a lot of missed tackles or assignments and penalties, but he was surprised by how little that showed up for the Seminoles.
“It was a much cleaner scrimmage than you would think for the first one. Usually, you get a ton of missed tackles… That wasn’t the case at all. We had our missed tackles and stuff like that. We had some things that we need to clean up, but it wasn’t like the typical deal. You can see the work that they have put in all year. It’s showing up.”
White felt that his unit was quick to the ball carrier, which is a key part of making his 3-3-5 defense work, and there were 10 TFLs from his unit, with linebackers AJ Cotrill and Kayron Maycock said to have multiple. He also mentioned an interception from safety K.J. Kirkland and disruptive play from defensive lineman Rylan Kennedy and Jalen Anderson.
FSU coach Mike Norvell impressed by defense, too
Head coach Mike Norvell echoed White’s sentiment and said immediately after the scrimmage that the defense’s “speed and physicality” stood out. White took it a step further when discussing the physical aggression some of his players play with.
“Chris Jones. … He wants to knock the soul out of you,” White said. “He’s trying to hurt you. And so that kind of has resonated with everybody.”
White went on to mention the Desir Twins, Darryll and Mandrell, and Ashlynd Barker as other players who play with that aggression. While he likes how that’s translated on the field, White is pleased with the defense’s understanding of the concepts used. Now he wants to continue to focus on situational work.
“There is not many installs left, so we got the majority of stuff in there,” White said.
“So now it’s just situational: what do you want to do on third down? What you want to do in the red zone, what do you want to do on the goal line? Just get a whole bunch of reps at it, and then let the guys continue to make plays together.”
Florida State football schedule 2026
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tony White finds some positives from FSU football’s aggressive defense
Reporting by Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Liam Rooney, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
