Moving into the 2025 season, Mike Norvell and FSU seem to have found their weapon. That’s none other than their starting quarterback, Thomas Castellanos. And the Seminoles are lucky enough to have found their new offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn. The Castellanos-Malzahn combination is likely to ward away all of Norvell’s worries.

On the Florida State Football-Warchant TV podcast, as the host Aslan Hajivandi shared, “You’re talking about somebody who’s not exactly 6 ‘5” or was a five-star coming out of high school. Gus can make it work.” But instead of working on ways to sync himself in Norvell’s team, the Boston College transfer Castellanos thought of stirring the pot with some explosive comments on Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama Crimson Tide. This move, in turn, raised reactions from the Alabama players.

Castellanos had a down year in 2024 and was affected by a midseason concussion. He dived into the transfer portal after being benched for Grayson James. Norvell must be keeping high hopes from his quarterback, to rebound into his old form and, in turn, reset the trajectory of the team (which went 2-10 last year) in a positive direction. Well, Castellanos too seems to be confident about meeting the expectations. However, instead of polishing his own skills, the quarterback did send some remarks about what he thinks of the team, Alabama, against whom their season opener is scheduled on August 30. “I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.” That’s indeed one of the best ways to be viral. And the warning did reach the current Alabama players. 

As we all must be aware, Castellanos’ new head coach, Norvell, was one of the main candidates to be Alabama’s coach in the immediate aftermath of Saban’s January 2024 retirement. But from the reactions from the Crimson Tide players, it turns out that they are really hopeful about DeBoer’s second stint at Tuscaloosa. The post was liked by DeBoer’s quarterbacks – Austin Mack and Ty Simpson, which comes off as a gesture that they have accepted the open challenge to come at the top, even though Saban, their biggest shadow, got removed. Following the quarterbacks came defensive lineman Kelby Collins, who had a good laugh at Castellanos’ comment, as he dropped a “😂” reaction in the comment section.  

DeBoer’s defensive end, LT Overton, dropped a cryptic upside-down emoji, “🙃.” Now from where is Castellanos’ confidence coming from to predict such big things? Maybe he is counting himself enough to bring up Norvell’s Seminoles, who have hit rock bottom. Combining his one year at UCF and two years at Boston College, the quarterback has racked up 3,689 yards and 33 touchdowns. On3 analyst J.D. PicKell appreciated Castellanos’ swagger but provided words of advice.

Analysts warn that Thomas Castellanos may have painted a target on his back

Castellanos, through his words, ordered a case of permanent markers and proceeded to draw giant targets on their backs. The analyst raised an alarm for the quarterback. “This is a wild thing to say, especially when Florida State had the year they did last year. Especially when Tommy Castellanos got benched at Boston College. As a coach for Florida State, I’d be like, ‘Come on, dude. Seriously? Not even playing the game for a few months, and you want to give them bulletin board material?’” 

Keeping the tone and angle of Castellanos’ remark intact, PicKell added, “Tommy, let’s put the Twitter fingers away. Yes, Saban is not there; it doesn’t matter, it’s still Bama.” Already, DeBoer and Crimson Tide have been mocked for carrying GOAT Nick Saban‘s legacy and yet then losing to underdogs Vanderbilt Commodores. So, it’s obvious that Alabama has to place its feet with utmost care. PFSN writer Bjorn Bergstrom counts on Tide’s top ten returning players. Of those, six will give Castellanos a tough time on August 30 on defense at the Doak Campbell Stadium.

With this, we must remember one thing. Overall, Thomas Castellanos has been known as a dominant force on the gridiron. But mind you, he is no Cam Newton. Rather, Castellanos runs thin when it comes to possessing the passing acumen to back up his flash. For the ones still counting on the quarterback’s salty comment, don’t forget that Nick Saban’s predecessor, Kalen DeBoer, won 89.3% of his games at Washington, including an appearance in the College Football Playoff National Championship game. ESPN’s FPI gave DeBoer a 10.4% chance of winning his first national championship in 2025. Need some comparative angle? Even after going 13-0, Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks’ chance of winning a national title stands at just 4.8%. Is Castellanos about to find out the hard way why Alabama isn’t a team you take lightly?