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🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹

🏆 This Week in Garnet & Gold 🏆

🏈 Camp → Game Week: After the second scrimmage, staff shifted fully into Bama install; position coaches (Herb Hand, Evan Cooper) set the tone on OL and the secondary.

📋 Depth chart picture (offense): Warchant’s projection puts Tommy Castellanos at QB, Roydell/Kromah/Sawchuk rotating at RB, Duce + Squirrel + Boggs at WR, and Luke Petitbon anchoring a transfer-heavy OL.

🎓 284 ACC Honor Roll Noles: Record academic haul across sports, headlined by Mirabel Ting and Alex Lodise.

🏀/🏈 Recruiting heat: 2026 LB Duyon Forkpa locks a Bama-weekend visit; 2026 WR Jonah Winston sets an Aug. 30 decision; 2026 DL Damaad Lewis offered; 2026 wing Abdou Toure trims to 7 with FSU; 2025 hoops target Alex Egbuonu schedules Oct. 3–5 visit.

⚾ Pro Noles: Cal Raleigh belts his 48th & 49th to become the first catcher ever with 49 HR in a season; Mariners legend talk commences.

⛳ Walker Cup call-up: Tyler Weaver named to GB&I’s Walker Cup side; schedules set for FSU men’s and women’s golf.

🏐 Volleyball: Garnet & Gold Scrimmage + South Alabama exhibition at Tully; regular season opens next weekend in Jax (UIC, UNF).

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🏈 Camp Notebook — Final Answers (for now)

Install mode: Post-Scrimmage 2, the staff leaned into situational football (RZ/2-minute) and special teams while health trended up. Norvell’s message: urgency without panic; details decide Bama. OL coach Herb Hand praised a veteran interior and emphasized a “top eight” rotation; safeties coach Evan Cooper hammered consistency over flashes across Shyheim Brown, KJ Kirkland, Earl Little Jr., and Edwin Joseph.

Projected offense vs Alabama (per Warchant):

• QB: Tommy Castellanos (QB1), Brock Glenn/Kevin Sperry behind.

• RB: Roydell Williams likely first snap; Ousmane Kromah the juice; Gavin Sawchuk the glue.

• WR: Duce Robinson, Squirrel White, Jayvan Boggs with Blackwell/McCoy/Danzy/Moore in the rotation.

• TE: Randy Pittman + Landen Thomas; Amaree Williams as the flex threat.

• OL: Gunnar Hansen, Micah Pettus at tackle; Richie Leonard/Adrian Medley/Jacob Rizy at guard; Luke Petitbon at center.
  Big picture: run game multiplicity + QB creativity, but the first stress test is the trenches.

Freshmen & late risers: True-frosh Kromah keeps stacking days; Jayson Jenkins (DL) and Ashlynd Barker (S) surged late; Boggs is a real candidate to start Week 1.

🔁 Recruiting — Visitor Lists, Trim Lists, and New Lists

• LB Duyon Forkpa (’26): Uncommitted 4⭐ will be in Doak for Bama; explosive LB with off-ball range and IMG metrics. Massive opportunity with the lights on.

• WR Jonah Winston (’26): Sets Aug. 30 commitment; legacy storyline with FSU squarely involved.

• DL Damaad Lewis (’26): Offer out; 6’4” disruptor with national traffic. Objective one: secure a fall visit.

• Wing Abdou Toure (’26): Cuts to seven; FSU stays alive for a top-30 two-way athlete.

• F Alex Egbuonu (’25 hoops): Books Oct. 3–5 Tallahassee official — nice fit for Loucks’ length/versatility thesis.

Why it matters: Game-one atmosphere + new facilities = conversion window. Stack impressions now, sign later.

🎓 Academics — 284 ACC Honor Roll Noles

FSU put 284 student-athletes on the ACC Academic Honor Roll — a league-wide statement. Headliners include Mirabel Ting (women’s golf) and Alex Lodise (baseball), with major totals from Swimming & Diving (60), T&F/XC (49), Baseball/Football (31 each), Soccer (21) and Softball (20). Balance sheet: elite in class and on the field.

🏐 Volleyball — The roster is deep (and young)

Garnet & Gold Scrimmage plus a South Alabama exhibition gave first looks at a group with 14 newcomers (9 true freshmen) and impact transfers at libero and setter. Regular season opens in Jacksonville next weekend vs UIC and UNF. Early questions: middle-blocker rotation and which freshmen crack the travel eight.

⛳ Golf — Walker Cup + Schedules

Tyler Weaver earned a spot on GB&I’s Walker Cup squad — another line on an already busy summer résumé. Meanwhile, both programs locked in their 2025–26 slates: the women host the Florida State Match Up (Mar 20–22) and the NCAA Tallahassee Regional (May 11–13); the men chart a TV-heavy, national itinerary built for postseason seeding.

FSU Ticket Sweepstakes — You’re in!

• Season Pass = 20× per game (12 games)
• Upgrade any game to 50× or 100×
• Next drawing: Aug 27 @ 3:00 PM ET (Alabama)

🧭 Film Room — Tony White’s “organized chaos”

Deep-dive breakdowns from Warchant and Noles247 walk fans through the 3-3-5’s disguises, spacing, and pressure rules — and how it aims to muddy reads for Alabama’s new QB behind an elite OL. Expect creepers/sim pressures, multiplicity at Rover, and a premium on finishing the ball (not just PBUs).

🏈 Inside the Building — Culture notes

Inside Seminole Football (Norvell’s weekly show) returns Monday, Aug. 25, 7 pm from Bowden’s in CollegeTown (stream across FSU platforms). Also: Castellanos broke the Rock, the program’s internal nod for daily leadership — a tone-setting moment as the captain group is finalized.

⚾ Pro Noles — Cal keeps climbing

• Cal Raleigh (Mariners): Homers 48 & 49 on Sunday; first catcher in MLB history to reach 49 HR in a season; now chasing Mickey Mantle’s 54 (switch-hitter mark).

• Parker Messick: MLB debut with the Guardians this week — another arm from Tally to The Show.

⚡ Quick Hits

• Senior Bowl 300: Roydell Williams, Darrell Jackson, Shyheim Brown, Squirrel White, Micah Pettus recognized among the nation’s top draft-track seniors.

• Linebacker room: Coach John Papuchis likes the depth and the fit in Tony White’s system; rotation tightening for Week 1.

• Safety snapshot: Brown/Kirkland/Little Jr./Joseph trending; freshmen Max Redmon/AJ Cromartie drawing strong reviews.

🌟 Player of the Week — Cal Raleigh 🌟

Why: Home run No. 49 made MLB history for catchers and put Raleigh in a statistical neighborhood with Mantle and Griffey. When a Nole rewrites the record book, the spotlight finds him.

📅 On-Deck (Aug 26 – Sep 2, ET)

✍️ Sign-Off

That’s the week, Chief: camp closed, install humming, recruiting boards heating, and a former Nole swinging his way into history. Seven days from now we’ll be arguing about third-down packages and yards after contact — and whether the War Chant rattled a blue blood.

Stay locked, stay loud, and — as always — Go Noles!
— The Chief