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Yesterday’s Poll Results
Today’s Poll
How many points does FSU score Saturday?
🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹
Good morning, Seminole!
Somebody in garnet and gold finally won a close one. Volleyball saved a match point and rallied past Miami in five sets last night, and football week got a lot more fun, too: Mike Norvell opened up about his college sweetheart's Thursday night dinners, Kevin Wynn explained why seasoning has no calories, and Ousmane Kromah's tape got the full breakdown. Plus the report cards came home, a couple of commits are window shopping, and Jameis Winston has a start on Sunday.
Grab your coffee. Here's your Thursday.
📋 In Today's Chief Brief:
🏠 Norvell's Homecoming, the Full Story 🏠 - Two degrees, one wife, and a teammate who never missed dinner.
🧂 Kevin Wynn: Lighter, Louder, and Seasoned 🧂 - The one D-lineman Alabama couldn't push around.
🎯 Can the Passing Game Do It Again? 🎯 - What changed in Tuscaloosa, and what got left on the table.
🏃 Inside Ousmane Kromah's Breakout 🏃 - Where he's winning, and the one thing that stops him.
📋 Saturday's Watch List 📋 - Who's back, who should play, and a 44.5-point spread.
📝 The Report Card Came Home 📝 - One F, one A+, and a lot of red ink.
🎓 Recruiting: Commits Window Shopping 🎓 - Za'Kari Johnson, Chayse Brown, and a possible reclass.
🏐 Around the Noles: Volleyball Won't Quit 🏐 - A five-set comeback, Jameis gets the start, and more.
Let's dive in. 🍢.
Better Than Glass, Where Glass Isn't Allowed.
Beach, boat, pool deck, campsite. The places you most want a nice drink are usually the places real glass is a bad idea. Rowdy Crowd solves that. It looks and feels like glass, but it is unbreakable Tritan, so it goes where glass can't.
There is a sustainability angle too. One reusable set replaces a season of disposable cups, and Rowdy Crowd puts real work into their footprint, down to restoring farmland. Better for your sand and your conscience.
From the tailgate to the sandbar, one set does it all.
We told you Tuesday that Saturday is a reunion. On Wednesday, Norvell told the rest of it, and it's a lot sweeter than a Hall of Fame plaque.
❤️ Conway, Ark., Where It All Started
Norvell holds two degrees from Central Arkansas, spent his first year as a graduate assistant there, and met his wife, Maria, on campus. “I love the place,” he told Warchant's Ira Schoffel. “It was definitely an impactful time that I got to spend there as a player.”
The best detail: UCA head coach Nathan Brown was a young QB when Norvell was a senior star. “Maria and I were married there my senior year, and she would cook dinner on Thursday nights, and he had no choice. He had to come to our house,” Norvell said. Brown then led the Bears to a championship as a redshirt freshman.
The Norvells never really left. In 2016, while he was at Memphis, they funded the Michael and Maria Norvell Nutrition Center at UCA.
🏈 But Come Saturday...
“Nathan and I have a 20-plus-year relationship being teammates. But come Saturday, it's about what I see from the Florida State Seminoles,” Norvell said. He set the bar high to Tomahawk Nation: “I expect us to play our best game. All three phases.”
FSU announced a sellout for Parents Weekend, and FanDuel opened the Noles as a 44.5-point favorite, with Central Arkansas at +8000 on the moneyline.
Why It Matters: It's a nice reminder that the guy on the hottest seat in the ACC is also a guy who still donates to his alma mater and remembers who came to dinner. Saturday afternoon, though, sentiment takes a back seat to 44.5 points. 🍢
On a day when almost every FSU defender got pushed around, one sophomore did the pushing. Now the staff wants a lot more of him.
💪 The Lone Bright Spot
The 6-foot-2, 317-pound Kevin Wynn played a career-high 16 snaps at Alabama and was the only FSU defender with a PFF grade above 70 (79.1), per 247's John Evans. “He played some big-time ball,” DC Tony White said.
Norvell wants to see him at 20 to 25 productive snaps a game. That matters for a front that allows 2.79 yards before contact, 133rd in the country, with its main interior players all under 300 pounds.
Wynn was FSU's highest-rated signee in the 2025 class, ahead of Ousmane Kromah, but an injury limited him to four games as a freshman. He says he models his game after Aaron Donald.
🍳 The Quote of the Week
Listed at 340 pounds as a recruit, Wynn cut weight with help from FSU nutrition director Jaden Hamil by eating smaller, more frequent meals. “I feel real light. I'll tell you, I'm moving,” he said. The home cook wasn't about to eat bland food, either: “Seasoning don't have no calories. It's got to have straight flavor.”
Why It Matters: FSU's run defense has been the soft spot all season, and the only player who has consistently moved the line of scrimmage has been a part-timer. Saturday is the perfect low-risk chance to find out whether Wynn can carry a bigger load. 🍢
Ashton Daniels' 377 yards in Tuscaloosa came out of nowhere. The staff says it didn't, and now they have to prove it can happen every week.
📐 It Was the Plan All Along
Warchant's Corey Clark noted Daniels threw for just 125 yards against SMU, then posted the most passing yards by an opposing QB at Alabama since Joe Burrow in 2019. QB coach Austin Tucker said the staff saw an opening: “We didn't feel Alabama had been threatened vertically down the field in their first two games.”
The receivers finally showed up. Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy and Jayvan Boggs combined for 15 catches and 193 yards in the first two games, then 11 catches and 293 yards in Tuscaloosa alone.
🔁 Now Do It Again
Robinson isn't satisfied: “There was still so much we left on the table. So many missed opportunities, so many home run chances that we just didn't connect on.” ChopChat points out he's on pace for about 43 catches after putting up 1,081 yards last season.
Norvell insists the three picks didn't rattle his QB. “I feel good about Ashton. He's continuing to make progress. Those three interceptions didn't make him lose confidence.” Tucker put it simply: “We know what we can do. We have to be more consistent.”
Why It Matters: One big day against an elite defense is a data point. Two or three in a row is an offense. Central Arkansas won't prove much, but UVA and Louisville will. 🍢
Bringing Parents to the Game This Weekend? Pour Them Something That Looks the Part.
Central Arkansas is the breather before the real slate starts, and Parents Weekend is the excuse to actually enjoy the tailgate instead of just surviving it. That means real cups, not a stack of red Solo ones getting knocked over every time someone reaches for the cooler.
Rowdy Crowd's wine tumblers, champagne flutes, beer schooners, and gin balloons look and feel like real glass but are made from unbreakable US Tritan. Mimosas before kickoff, a red at the tailgate, whatever the day calls for, they hold up when both grandparents and grandkids are reaching for one.
Make this Parents Weekend look as good as it tastes.
Through three games, the sophomore has been FSU's best and most consistent player, and 247's John Evans went to the tape to show why.
🎥 What the Film Shows
311 yards and three scores, 16th in the country, and the first Nole with back-to-back 100-yard games since Trey Benson in 2022. He's doing plenty of it himself, averaging 3.98 yards after contact behind a line that ranks 79th in yards before contact.
His sweet spots: 7.2 yards per carry through the right-side A-gap, 7.5 through the left B-gap, and 8.2 when he gets to the edge. Norvell's new favorite call, a Power Read Toss, has gone to Kromah three times for 32 yards.
🚧 The Catch
Defenses are daring Daniels to beat them. Stacked boxes jumped from 3 percent against New Mexico State to nearly 20 percent against Alabama. Kromah averages 8.5 yards against six-man boxes, 5.4 against seven, and just 1.7 against eight.
With Samuel Singleton Jr. out, freshman Amari Thomas is the next man up behind him, and 247's Chris Nee wants to see Thomas get real carries Saturday.
Why It Matters: Kromah can turn a stuffed run into a first down, but no back can beat eight in the box forever. The passing game's follow-through is what keeps his lanes open. 🍢
With a 44.5-point spread, the real intrigue Saturday is who plays in the second half. Here's what to watch for.
🏥 Coming Back
Norvell said freshman DB Jordan Crutchfield will be available and should see special teams work and hopefully some snaps in the secondary. That's a welcome sight for a pass defense giving up 340.7 yards a game. Pass rusher Rylan Kennedy is a full go, and WR Tae'Shaun Gelsey is “getting close” after missing the first three games.
👀 Names We Want to See
Noles247's Chris Nee listed 10 players he wants to see more of. On offense: QB Malachi Marshall (still waiting on his debut), freshman WR Jasen Lopez (20 offensive snaps, no catches yet), TE Chase Loftin (FSU's tight ends have five catches total), and OT Jonathan Daniels, which would let Nate Pabst slide back to guard.
On defense: edge Jaemin Pinckney for a team with four sacks, freshman LB Karon Maycock with Blake Nichelson out, CB Charles Lester III (two snaps all year) and S Max Redmon. Norvell said players who've shown it in practice will get their shot.
Why It Matters: FSU has already lost Singleton, Nichelson and two freshman linebackers for extended stretches. Saturday is the last low-stakes chance to find out who can help before the gauntlet starts. 🍢
📝 The Report Card Came Home 📝
It was not a great week to be FSU's refrigerator.
🔴 The F
247's Cody Nagel graded the 26 Power Four programs that added 50-plus new players, and FSU got the only F. Louisville earned an A-, Boston College a C, and even Arkansas squeaked by with a D-. “Florida State is just waiting on the inevitable with Mike Norvell remaining on the hot seat,” Nagel wrote.
🟢 The A+
There is one gold star on the fridge. Per NoleGameday, FSU is 13-for-13 in the red zone, tied for first nationally. The rest is a split personality: the offense sits right around the national middle at 31.3 points a game (72nd), while the pass defense ranks 137th and third-down defense is tied for 129th.
Why It Matters: When the offense gets close, it scores every time. The problem is everything the defense allows before that. 🍢
Forget Elon's gadget. Every breakthrough device runs on parts from public companies most investors overlook. Our analyst named 3 to buy before July 22. Get the free report.
A 1-2 start and a hot seat do what you'd expect on the recruiting trail. A few FSU commits are keeping their options open, though nobody has left yet.
👀 Still Committed, Still Looking
Four-star 2027 ATH Za'Kari Johnson (Miami Carol City) has now visited Texas A&M, Miami and Auburn. 247's Zach Blostein thinks the Aggies and Tigers aren't pushing for a flip yet and Miami is in wait-and-see mode. The key line: in an ideal world Johnson stays, but that assumes FSU's current staff is still in place.
2028 three-star athlete Chayse Brown (Ruskin Lennard), a June 11 commit, visited Louisville for the SMU game and came away impressed. “Louisville definitely continued to separate itself as one of the schools I'm really interested in,” he told 247's Tom Loy.
Three-star EDGE Meshi Dobson, who reclassified to 2027 and committed this summer, may move back to 2028 because he still has coursework to finish before he could enroll early.
ChopChat's visitor list is a small, young group: 2028 QB Chase Curren from California (19 offers), 2028 EDGE DeMarcus Dale-Brown, Georgia linemen Eli Williams and TJ Brandon (making his second of three planned trips, thanks to his bond with Herb Hand), and 2029 EDGE Jamarion Dunwood.
Recruiting Reality: Right now, commits are hedging rather than leaving. What FSU does on the field in October will decide whether they come back or keep looking. 🍢
The best comeback of FSU's week came from Tully Gym, and a couple of familiar faces have big Sundays coming.
🔥 Down 2-1, Facing Match Point, and Still Won
FSU (6-5, 1-0 ACC) trailed Miami two sets to one and faced match point at 24-23 in the fourth before taking it 26-24, then closed out the fifth 15-11. It's the Noles' sixth straight win in an ACC opener.
Kyleene Filimaua led the way with 18 kills, 15 digs and 21.5 points, freshman Sofia Moss added a career-high 16 kills, and Bailey Higgins and Delaney Ewing had seven blocks each. FSU piled up a season-high 14 blocks and held Miami under a .090 hitting percentage. The rematch is Sunday at 1 p.m. in Coral Gables on ACCNX.
It's official: Jameis Winston will start for the Giants on Sunday with Jaxson Dart out. It's an all-Nole matchup, too, as Tennessee brings DE Jermaine Johnson II to town (1 p.m., CBS). Elsewhere, Jared Verse and the Browns host Carolina and FSU kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, and Derwin James Jr. and the Chargers visit Keon Coleman and the Bills.
Women's soccer transfer Shaneil Buckley, a two-time NJCAA champion at Daytona State and a Jamaican international, scored her first goal and assist as a Nole in the 2-2 tie with NC State. “My speed is like natural,” she said. No. 22 FSU (4-1-2) heads to Louisville next. Women's hoops, meanwhile, will play Dayton and VCU at the 4Tha Culture Holiday Hoops Classic in Richmond over Thanksgiving weekend.
Why It Matters: A team that saved a match point and won in five on a Wednesday night is exactly the kind of fight the football program is trying to show. And Sunday at 1, you'll know which Nole to root for, because both of them are ours. 🍢
And that’s a wrap!
Thanks for riding with us today, Seminole!
Doak is sold out for Parents Weekend and Norvell's homecoming Saturday at 3 p.m. on ACC Network. Volleyball gets Miami again Sunday at 1, and Jameis takes on Jermaine Johnson at the same time. Here's hoping Kevin Wynn gets his 25 snaps. See you tomorrow.
Go Noles,
– The Chief Briefers
