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🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹
🏆 This Week in Garnet & Gold 🏆
🏈 Camp Countdown: Practice opened July 30; Norvell preached “desperation” while senior QB Tommy Castellanos landed on the Maxwell Award watch list.
🔁 Portal & Commit Pops: USC outfielder Brayden Dowd joins Link Jarrett’s lineup, and 6-11, 300-lb center Marcis Ponder gives Luke Loucks a cornerstone hoops pledge.
🎓 Academic Flex: Golfers Tyler Weaver & Gray Albright snag All-America Scholar honors as FSU sports rack up 40-plus conference academic picks in one week.
⚽ & 🥎 Pre-season Buzz: Soccer opens at No. 3 in the USC poll, and Softball departs for a London-Paris tour ahead of its title defense. thechiefbrief.comthechiefbrief.com
🏟️ Doak 2.0: Renovation complete—capacity now 67,277 with new chair-backs and 8K-sq-ft end-zone videoboards; ACC Network’s “Football Road Trip” airs live from Tallahassee on Aug 12.
🏈 Camp Opens — Maxwell Hype & Mind-set Reset
Key Date | Bullet |
|---|---|
July 30 | First practice (helmets only); Norvell: “We’re desperate to be better.” |
Aug 1 | First padded session; coach unhappy with physicality level. |
Aug 5 & 10 | Two closed scrimmages announced. |
Early depth-chart whispers
DL rotation: Darrell Jackson Jr. (Pre-season All-ACC) plus portal DT James Williams; Jayson Jenkins ahead of rehab timeline.
Rover: Earl Little Jr.’s leadership drew praise at ACC Kickoff.
Special Teams: RS-frosh K Jake Weinberg vs grad transfer Chris Ferentz — 60-yd clip went viral Thursday.
Watch-list season: Castellanos → Maxwell; OL Richie Leonard IV → Wuerffel; DL Jackson → Pre-season All-ACC.
🔁 Roster & Recruiting — Trenches, Edges, and a Giant Hoopster
Date | Move | Blurb |
|---|---|---|
Aug 1 | Brayden Dowd → Baseball | USC CF (.324/10 HR) transfers; OBP machine for 2026 lineup. |
Jul 30 | Marcis Ponder → Hoops | 6-11, 300 C commits; first true Loucks era building block. |
Jul 31 | Official offers flood 2026 targets as Aug 1 window opens. | |
Aug 3 | Miami-committed 4⭐ EDGE Asharri Charles schedules Bama-weekend OV; flip watch engaged. |
Class of ’26 snapshot: 22 commits | 14 four-stars | 1 five-star (CB Chauncey Kennon) → No. 7 nationally; EDGE & LB remain top needs heading into August 20 decision cluster.
⛳ Brains & Birdies — Weaver, Albright Earn Scholar Honors
Tyler Weaver: 3.8 GPA, 70.3 stroke avg; summer wins at St. Andrews Links Trophy & Euro Team Championship.
Gray Albright: First pro top-10 (-20) on PGA Tour Americas.
FSU golf now boasts six academic or playing awards in the last six weeks — pipeline humming.
⚽ / 🥎 Pre-Season Pulse
Program | Headline | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
Soccer | Pre-season No. 3 in USC poll | Title defense begins Aug 14 vs Florida. |
Softball | Aug 4–11 London/Paris tour | Seven scrimmages + team-bonding abroad. |
Women’s Hoops | Home-and-home with UConn announced (2025-26) | Blue-blood measuring stick for Brooke Wyckoff. |
🏟️ Doak 2.0 & Media Spotlight
Capacity trimmed to 67,277; every seat a chair-back.
8K-sq-ft north-end-zone board debuts vs Alabama.
ACC N Road-Trip Special: Aug 12, 7 p.m. inside camp.
Season-ticket books already shipped; secondary market north of $475 for Bama opener.
⚡ Quick Hits
Women’s hoops vs UConn series locked (’25 at Storrs, ’26 at Doak South).
FSU Soccer senior Peyton McGovern named MAC Hermann watch list.
Darrell Jackson Jr. cracks Walter Camp pre-season list.
EDGE board: Re-class 2026 DE Andrew Rogers books Sept 14 OV.
🌟 Player of the Week — Tommy Castellanos (Football) 🌟
Metric | Value |
|---|---|
Watch List | Maxwell Award (most outstanding player) |
’24 Totals | 3,142 pass yd • 22 TD • 1,073 rush yd • 6 TD |
Camp Quote | “We’re treating every practice like Bama’s already here.” |
QB1 talk meets national hype — now the grind begins.
📅 On-Deck (Aug 5 – 12, ET)
Date | Event | Why Watch | Stream |
|---|---|---|---|
Mon, Aug 5 | Scrimmage #1 | First depth-chart shuffling | Closed / Norvell presser |
Thu, Aug 8 | UNF off-site practice | Young depth reps; fan access | ACCN clips |
Sat, Aug 10 | Scrimmage #2 | Mid-camp benchmark | Closed |
Mon, Aug 12 | ACC N Road-Trip (7 p.m.) | Inside look at revamped Doak & camp | ACC Network |
Tue, Aug 13 | MLS Next-Pro match at Legacy Field | Former Nole Cal Raleigh first-pitch | ESPN+ |
🗳️ Fan Poll — Who Owned the Week?
✍️ Sign-Off
That’s the wrap, Chief: pads popping, watch-lists stacking, Doak gleaming, and recruiting doors still spinning. Scrimmage No. 1 looms, Softball’s London bus is packed, and the ACC cameras roll into town in eight days. Keep the cooler iced — August is only getting hotter.
Stay locked, stay loud, and — as always — Go Noles!
— The Chief
