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Yesterday’s Poll Results
Today’s Poll
Who ends camp as FSU's RB1?
🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹
Good morning, Seminole! Week 2 of fall camp brings a wave of coach-speak: Terrance Knighton on his D-line, Evan Cooper on his safeties, and questions still to answer at running back. We're also closing out the greatest-games countdown and digging into what the Protect College Sports Act's money provisions mean for FSU specifically. Let's get into it.
📋 In Today's Chief Brief:
🛡️ Knighton's D-Line Room: Depth, Leadership, and a Reestablished Standard 🛡️ - The Desir twins, McCray, and new Jack pieces.
🗣️ Evan Cooper on His Safety Room: 'I Like Where We Are' 🗣️ - A player-by-player breakdown.
❓ Three Questions for FSU's Running Back Room ❓ - The camp preview series continues.
🎯 Desirrio Riles: From Two-Sport Recruit to FSU's Move Tight End 🎯 - His winding path to Tallahassee.
🏆 FSU's Best-Ever Games: The Top 10 🏆 - The countdown concludes.
💰 What the PCSA's Revenue Cap Would Mean for FSU's Budget 💰 - The money side of the bill we covered yesterday.
🎰 Where FSU Stands in ACC Championship Odds 🎰 - The market's read on the conference race.
📝 Recruiting Notebook 📝 - A locked-in commit and a new visit on the books.
Let's dive in. 🍢
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Defensive line coach Terrance Knighton met with media Sunday and spent much of his time praising the depth and leadership across a room he believes can reestablish FSU's standard up front in Year 2 of Tony White's defense.
🏆 The Leaders
Knighton said Daniel Lyons has fully embraced a vocal leadership role: "Dan can run the meetings" without any coaches in the room. He reserved his highest praise for Deante McCray, calling him the example in every setting: "If I could have 12 of him, that's what I would want."
McCray also called out freshman Franklin Whitley in front of the group Sunday, telling him "I want to see how tough you are," a moment Knighton pointed to as proof the room's standards are trickling down to the newcomers.
📈 The Desir Twins' Next Step
Knighton didn't hold back on what he wants from Mandrell and Darryll Desir after their freshman seasons: "Last year still wasn't good enough." He said Mandrell was often playing on pure talent without fully understanding the scheme, and now that both twins grasp the playbook, "good luck to whoever has to line up in front of them."
🔄 New Pieces at Jack
Texas A&M transfer Rylan Kennedy and JUCO product Jalen Anderson give White real versatility at the Jack linebacker spot, something the defense lacked in its first season. Knighton also praised Texas State transfer Jordan Sanders' offseason conditioning and redshirt freshman Kevin Wynn's development in the interior.
Why It Matters: FSU's defensive front is undersized on paper, but Knighton's comments paint a picture of a room that finally understands White's scheme well enough to play fast rather than think. That's the difference between a good defensive line and a disruptive one. 🍢
Safeties coach Evan Cooper spent nearly ten minutes Sunday breaking down individual players in a room he believes has taken real steps forward through a full offseason together.
🌟 Individual Notes
Cooper called rover Ashlynd Barker "everything you want as a coach," crediting him with setting a standard that the rest of the room feeds off of. He praised Ma'Khi Jones as a quick learner who fixes mistakes within a day, and said CJ Richard Jr. "plays like the guys you watch on Sundays" despite a modest 6-foot-1 frame.
K.J. Kirkland, Cooper said, is a player whose "light is about to stay on" after a slow build through his career, while redshirt freshman Max Redmon has made a leap Cooper called one of the room's most pleasing developments.
🔁 A Deeper Rotation
Cooper admitted he leaned too heavily on his top players last season because he didn't trust the depth behind them, leading to a group that wore down late in games. He said that won't be the case in 2026: "I don't think it'll be much of a drop-off."
Why It Matters: A safety room that can rotate without a drop-off solves one of the specific problems that hurt FSU's defense down the stretch last season. If Cooper's confidence in his depth is warranted, it's a real structural upgrade. 🍢
The fall camp question series turns to running back, a position that produced zero 500-yard rushers last season as Tommy Castellanos led the team in carries, yards, and touchdowns out of the backfield.
🏃 Does Kromah Take the RB1 Job?
Ousmane Kromah outpaced Texas transfer Quintrevion Wisner on a per-carry basis last season (5.7 yards to 4.5) and has bulked up to 225 pounds. Despite Wisner's 1,000-yard pedigree at Texas, Kromah looks like the more physically gifted back entering camp.
📦 How Much 21-Personnel Do the Seminoles Play?
Norvell's offenses have historically used 21-personnel among the most in the Power Four, and with both Wisner and Kromah capable pass-catchers, expect FSU to lean into two-back sets to keep defenses guessing.
🔢 Who Steps Up as RB3?
Samuel Singleton Jr. enters camp as the favorite after averaging a team-best 7.1 yards per carry last season, adding strength to a frame that once checked in at just 178 pounds.
Why It Matters: FSU has real depth at running back for the first time in years. The question isn't whether the room has talent, it's whether the coaching staff can find a workable rotation instead of repeating last year's split that never let anyone get going. 🍢
FSU's coaches first noticed Desirrio Riles' athleticism years ago when he was a two-way quarterback and defensive end at Jacksonville's University Christian. They just didn't know where he'd fit. Now he's TE1 for an offense built to feature him.
🏈 The Winding Path
Riles once committed to Indiana as a linebacker before switching to tight end his senior year and signing with East Carolina, where he broke out with 28 catches for 362 yards as a junior. Tight ends coach Chris Thomsen said his tape against ACC opponents NC State and Pitt was what convinced FSU to pursue him in the portal.
📊 What the Film Shows
Riles' calling card is field-stretching speed on seams and benders, plus a natural feel for finding soft spots against zone coverage. His blocking in space is the clear weakness, with several open-field whiffs on tape from his time at ECU, an area that matters given how much FSU plans to lean on two-tight-end sets.
Why It Matters: If Riles' blocking has genuinely improved, as Thomsen insists, he becomes the exact kind of matchup problem Norvell's offense is built to create. If not, defenses will simply treat him like an oversized slot receiver and take away his biggest advantage. 🍢
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The fan-voted countdown of Florida State's 50 greatest games concludes with its final installment, capped by three national championship performances and some of the most iconic plays in program history.
🎬 The Top 3
No. 3, the 1999 Sugar Bowl win over No. 2 Virginia Tech, saw FSU overcome a 21-7 deficit against Michael Vick to cement the "Team of the '90s" legacy.
No. 2, the 2013 BCS National Championship comeback over Auburn, featured Kermit Whitfield's 100-yard kickoff return and Kelvin Benjamin's game-winning touchdown catch with 13 seconds left.
No. 1, the 1993 Orange Bowl win over No. 2 Nebraska, delivered FSU's first-ever national championship on the strength of Scott Bentley's go-ahead field goal and a Nebraska kick that sailed wide left as time expired.
Why It Matters: From the Puntrooskie to Charlie Ward's heroics to the greatest comeback in BCS Championship history, this list is a reminder of just how deep FSU's championship history runs, and the standard this current roster is still chasing. 🍢
📝 Recruiting Notebook 📝
Three-star quarterback Brayden Tillman, offered by QB coach Austin Tucker in June, plans to be in Tallahassee for the FSU-Florida regular season finale. He holds double-digit offers including Michigan State and Wisconsin.
Athlete Chayse Brown, committed to FSU since June, will attend five game day visits this fall, including the Week 0 opener, but says he's "100 percent locked in" regardless: "Every time I went there, they made me feel welcome."
Why It Matters: Between a commit staying firm through a full slate of other visits and a new target already circling back to Tallahassee, the coaching staff's recruiting relationships continue to hold up even amid the pressure of the season ahead. 🍢
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Beyond the conference realignment provisions we covered yesterday, the Protect College Sports Act includes a new revenue-share cap that carries its own major implications for how FSU funds its athletic department.
📊 The New Cap
The bill would raise the current $21.3 million revenue-share cap to roughly $48.8 million for SEC and Big Ten programs, funded through a $22.5 million retention pool and a $5 million carve-out for women's and Olympic sports.
🏛️ FSU's Funding Reality
FSU currently relies on more than $20 million in Seminole Booster contributions just to balance its athletic budget, on top of the $22.5 million in auxiliary state funds it's been allowed to direct to athletics under a three-year Board of Governors trial, now in its second year. If that trial isn't renewed and the new cap becomes law, FSU would need to find tens of millions in new revenue with no clear source.
Why It Matters: Even setting aside the conference realignment stakes, this bill would widen the financial gap between the SEC/Big Ten and everyone else, including FSU, at a moment when the Seminoles are already leaning heavily on booster generosity just to keep pace. 🍢
Polymarket also released conference-specific championship odds this week, and FSU's outlook mirrors its long-shot national title odds from yesterday.
📊 The Numbers
Miami is a heavy favorite to win the ACC at 57%, with SMU (13%) and Louisville (10%) next closest. FSU sits tied for ninth at 4%, alongside Cal and Georgia Tech.
Why It Matters: A 4% shot at the ACC title is a modest improvement in framing compared to the 1% national championship number, but it still places FSU firmly outside the conference's contender tier heading into the season. 🍢
And that's a wrap!
Thanks for reading today's edition, Seminole! Between coach-speak from Knighton and Cooper, a nostalgic trip through FSU's greatest games, and a look at the money stakes in Washington, there's plenty to chew on before we're back on the practice field tomorrow.
Go Noles,
– The Chief
