I knew leadership would be a major hurdle going into the 2024 season. I wrote about it in January 2024, wondering who would replace players like Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kalen DeLoach, Jordan Travis, and others.
FSU had plenty of talent and returned most of its starting lineup, a quarterback with lots of experience, and the coaching staff had players from the transfer portal to take leadership positions in past years.
It looked like the program that had gone 23-4 over the past two seasons would continue to roll. However, by October 1, 2024, I was questioning where the team leadership was.
I knew there was a major problem, and FSU was already 1-4. The dumb penalties returned, players celebrating tackles after guys had run 10 yards for a first down.
The effort wasn’t near what we had seen in the past two years. It wasn’t a player-led team because the upperclassmen who had gone through the process of helping get FSU football out of the mud didn’t uphold the standard.
The lack of effort from some guys was appalling, but nearly all of those players are no longer on the team. FSU added 31 new players this spring and returned some talented young players who got their feet wet last during the disappointing season.
The fact that nearly all of those young players returned is promising, and FSU has some guys who could emerge as leaders. Let’s look at my top five candidates.
Edwin Joseph-DB
The redshirt sophomore defensive back appearing on this list might surprise some folks. However, Edwin Joseph has been one of the better defensive backs on the roster when healthy.
Joseph appeared in all 12 games last year, totaling 13 tackles, one interception, 3.5 tackles for a loss, two pass breakups, one field goal blocked.
He plays with a fire and passion that stood out to me last year depsite the season going down the drain early. Also, he wasn’t afraid to be vocal on social media among his teammates early in the season as as redshirt freshman:
That’s a young guy trying to lead with upperclassmen teammates who were not playing with great effort all the time.
A team’s best leaders are guys who are not afraid to hold teammates to a standard. A motivated guy with talent a new defensive coaching staff? I wouldn’t be suprised to see Edwin Joseph leading by example and verbally in 2025.
James Wlliams-DL
If you haven’t seen the interview from Nebraska defensive end transfer James Williams, I encourage you to watch it below.
When he came on his recruiting visit before committing, I said he seemed to have a mindset similar to Jermaine Johnson.
I’m not saying he’ll be Johnson on the field, but he carries himself like a leader. He talks like a leader and his actions are that of a leader
He wants to be a leader and recognizes that FSU has a lot of young and talented guys on the roster who don’t have a ton of experience.
Williams has played a limited role but has been highly productive in the two years he has played in Tony White’s defense. His experience in the defense should naturally allow him to lead guys on the defensive line and help everyone acclimate to the defense quickly.
From what I’ve heard, he’s a guy with an incredible work ethic, always working out and looking for ways to get better. That’ll play on any team.
Deante McCray-DL
Deante McCray is another guy on the defensive line whose attitude and mindset seem different. He’s a guy who will likely play with a chip on his shoulder because he had to go to a smaller college out of high school.
McCray knows FSU had an awful year last year, but came because he wants to be a part of the solution. When you hear a player talk about playing physically, getting after it, and setting the tone?
That’s a guy who’s likely willing to lay it on the line for his teammates. McCray had a lot of production at Western Kentucky and can play inside or outside. He had 59 tackles in 2024 and 42 tackles in 2023.
He might be one of the biggest sleepers in this transfer class, and guys who produce on the field usually carry more weight when it comes to holding teammates accountable.
Luke Petitbon-OL
I have a couple of defensive linemen on the list, but Luke Petitbon stood out to me in his first interview as a Nole. Petitbon is a veteran with All-ACC accolades while at Wake Forest.
He’s a guy that will bring some cache’ into the locker room because he’s been there and done that. Leadership is something he spoke about quite a bit in his interview, he doesn’t want to force it, but will step into the role if the opportunity presents itself.
Petitbon will likely play the center position on the offensive line, and I can’t think of many more positions more important based on what FSU’s offensive line looked like last year.
One of the things Petitbon said was most important to him was getting to Tallahassee, making friends on the team, and immersing himself in the locker room culture.
Petitbon seems to have a good understanding of what having good team chemistry means, and I expect him to emerge as a guy who’ll hold others accountable.
Tommy Castellano-QB
I have a lot of respect for DJ Uiagalelei, but he didn’t seem to have that “X-factor” when it came to naturally leading a team. Teams usually follow their quarterback, and Uiagalelei didn’t play well, and the guys never seemed to gravitate toward him.
That hasn’t been the case with Tommy Castellanos. He understood he needed to commit to FSU and get there ASAP to help with recruiting. He played a big part in getting Duce Robinson and Squirrel White to commit and was already holding workouts with players before the spring classes started.
He may not be the greatest passer, but his teammates know he’s a playmaker and respect him. Castellanos has made it a point to try to connect with each and every teammate.
We heard Petitbon say Castellanos helped him move in and checked up on him to see if he was settling in well.
Castellanos plays with a chip on his shoulder and isn’t afraid to show his emotions on the field. I don’t think he’ll be as good as Jordan Travis, but I think he can get the guys to follow him similarly because of how he plays the game.
Bonus-Darrell Jackson Jr.
I want to mention Darrell Jackson Jr. here. Darrell Jackson made the decision to return to FSU for one more year when he probably could have gotten himself drafted in a few months.
Jackson is someone Coach Mike Norvell said showed major leadership at Winter workouts.
Jackson is supremely talented but lacks the consistency to be the dominant player he has the potential to be. Can he tap into that consistency in his money year?
It’s something Patrick Payton failed to do last year, and it cost him declaring for the NFL Draft and transferring to another school.
I’ll give Jackson credit. He could have mailed it in last year when the season went down the drain, but he played hard every game and seemed to get better as the season progressed, even though he and Joshua Farmer had no help from the defensive ends and linebackers.
Jackson has real potential to be a leader if he can find that consistency.
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