The Clemson Insider

CLEMSON — Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos not only poked one bear with his recent comments to On3’s Pete Nakos, but he poked a second one or maybe an entire conference, as well.

Castellanos, who transferred from Boston College to FSU in the off-season, took shots at his old school, Alabama and, indirectly, Clemson and the rest of the ACC.

“I feel like I tore the ACC up by my damn self for the last two years, and now I’m with a squad,” Castellanos said. “I hope people don’t think that Florida State is going to be the same team it was last year because we have weapons. People can’t just sit back in zone coverage and watch me.”

The Seminoles finished last year 2-10 in what was one of the worst letdown seasons by a team many considered to be a national championship contender prior to 2024. After the program’s worst year since 1976, head coach Mike Norvell went and brought in Castellanos and 23 other transfers in hopes of a quick fix.

Though they have barely played together, Castellanos feels he will get the Seminoles back to the top of the ACC and he is not worried about opening the season against Alabama. The Crimson Tide finished last year with a 9-4 record, its first non-10 win season since 2007.

However, many expect Alabama to be much better and a serious College Football Playoff contender in Kalen DeBoer’s second season in Tuscaloosa. Castellanos does not think so.

“People, I don’t know if they know, but you go back and watch every first game that I played in, we always start fast,” he told Nakos. “I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”

Those are confident words coming from a quarterback who got benched at Boston College last year. After a promising 2023 season with the Eagles, Castellanos failed to find the same success in 2024 under new coach Bill O’Brien.

He completed 99-of-161 passes for 1,366 yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions, as well as running for 194 yards and one touchdown.

Castellanos left Boston College after being benched in favor of Grayson James during the 11th week of the 2024 season. Castellanos was benched after a poor performance in the first half, and James led the team to victory in the second half.

“I really wish I would have left when [Jeff] Hafley left, but I tried to give it another take,” Castellanos said. “BC wasn’t the school for me. I wasn’t able to be myself, and I had to try to make myself be something I wasn’t. I just didn’t like it. Bill O’Brien and I butted heads early in the season. I got banged up a few games. We had a meeting, and it kind of blew up in my face. I did so much for that program, and I did everything that I could, and I just wasn’t repaid the right way.”

That is not going to be the case for Castellanos at Florida State. He will reunite with Gus Malzahn, his head coach at UCF, where he spent one season before transferring to Boston College.

“He’s just giving me the keys and allowing me to just be me,” Castellanos said. “Just go out there and play football within the offense. That’s what I need. I don’t need a dog collar or a leash on me. I just need coach to say, ‘Just go be you. Go play.’ That’s what I was missing.”

Though Castellanos and the Seminoles do not play Boston College this year, they do play ACC favorites Clemson and Miami, who might have something to say about his comments on how he tore up the ACC the last two years and how people just can’t sit back in a zone and watch him this time.

Time will tell of course. Miami comes to Tallahassee on Oct. 4, while FSU visits Death Valley in Clemson on Nov. 8.

–photo by Melina Myers / Imagn Images

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