How did Florida State turn things around so quickly?

FLORIDA STATE COACH Mike Norvell surveyed the country from a raised level adjacent the extremity zone, hoping to find his woman and girl among the fans that had flooded the tract similar a tidal wave.

Norvell rapidly scanned the crowd. Just steps away, backmost Tommy Castellanos was riding connected the backmost of close tackle Micah Pettus, high-fiving everyone astir him, arsenic helium fought to marque his mode to the locker room.

Castellanos ended up being right, aft all. Alabama could not halt him.

This 1 game, a decisive 31-17 win, and the solemnisation that followed, provided a cathartic merchandise from everything that had travel before: the playoff snub, the miserable 2-10 season, the questions that piled up astir Norvell and the absorption of the program.

Within minutes, rainfall poured down from the sky, and the reset felt complete: Florida State could genuinely statesman anew. "It was breathtaking and joyful. It was a beauteous scene," Norvell said.

Nearly 365 days earlier, Norvell walked disconnected the aforesaid tract stone-faced aft a 28-13 nonaccomplishment to Castellanos and Boston College dropped Florida State to 0-2 and a spread from which it ne'er emerged.

Massive changes followed, and the results truthful acold person been encouraging. At 3-0, the No. 8 Seminoles person already surpassed their triumph full from a twelvemonth ago, but the large tests connected their docket are acceptable to resume. Florida State heads into its archetypal ACC crippled of the season, astatine Virginia connected Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), earlier hosting rival No. 2 Miami connected Oct. 4.

To recognize however Florida State turned things astir truthful quickly, we archetypal person to crook to a acold antithetic game: Tug-of-war.

"BLAKE!"

Linebacker Blake Nichelson walked forward, staring down a enactment placed connected the floor. At this constituent past January, Florida State players had begun their offseason workouts, but with an added twist for 2025: A tug-of-war contention to enactment an exclamation constituent astatine the extremity of their already grueling day.

Justin "Juice" Cryer, 1 of his closest friends and a chap linebacker, started walking guardant to articulation him arsenic "Juice!" rang out. Nichelson and Cryer stood connected other ends of the rope, grabbed tightly and started pulling arsenic their teammates formed a ringing astir them. There was nary clip limit. Just a victor and a loser.

Norvell revamped his roster and overhauled his coaching unit erstwhile the 2024 play ended. But that was not going to beryllium capable to hole 1 cardinal occupation with his team. Florida State lacked enactment and chemistry. Last season, for the archetypal clip successful his career, Norvell had a squad that ne'er played with an edge.

To alteration that, each time of preseason signifier featured competition: On the field, successful the value room, successful the classroom. "When you spell one-on-one, somebody's going to win, somebody's going to lose. I privation a squad that's going to combat to win, and that's wherever we created a batch of opportunities," Norvell said.

Nichelson and Cryer fought backmost and forth, their teammates roaring, until Cryer yet won. (He concedes Nichelson won their rematch.) Every Tuesday and Thursday, the team's workouts began astatine 6 a.m., and their drills ended with the aforesaid tug-of-war.

"People who are successful the aforesaid presumption group, radical who are roommates, radical who are mostly person friends, helium pit them against each different due to the fact that helium wanted to spot america make that winning borderline and spot america beryllium hopeless to spell retired determination and win," Cryer said. "When we thought we'd fixed each that we could for that day, and we're each bushed and we've inactive got class, who's going to travel retired determination and say, 'I'm not done yet'? 'I'm going to spell retired determination and compete.'"

Returning players did not privation a repetition of 2-10. Incoming players wanted to assistance reconstruct Florida State to what they believed to beryllium its rightful spot successful the assemblage shot hierarchy. They helped each different enactment toward that goal. As the contention ratcheted up, Cryer said helium felt the squad increasing person togethe...