The Seminoles and Crimson Tide go head-to-head for their 2025 college football season opener and one star has already gone above and beyond to get under the skin of his opponents
Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos says Alabama has no chance of stopping him without Nick Saban “to save them” when the two sides go head-to-head in two months’ time.
The Seminoles open their 2025 college football account with a visit from the Crimson Tide on Saturday, August 30 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, FL, where they will be hoping to get off to a better start than they did last season when they lost to Georgia Tech in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, before ending the season 2–10 (1–7 ACC).
Things worked out relatively better for Alabama, however, with the Crimson Tide ending at 9–4 (5–3 SEC) in its first season without the legendary Saban. Last month, various reports stated that Donald Trump had put him in charge of co-chairing his commission following crunch name, image and likeness (NIL) reform meetings ahead of a commencement address at the University of Texas.
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Trump’s commission into college athletics then appeared to hit a roadblock after the Saban-led initiative was put on hold, in which he was due to serve alongside Texas businessman Cody Campbell, founder of Texas Tech’s Matador Club NIL collective and chairman of the Texas Tech board of regents.
Regardless of what his next steps are, Saban is bound to have one eye on proceedings at Alabama as they continue life without him, although his focus could now be fully on the season opener against Florida State after one of their players opted to name drop him during some old fashioned trash talk.
Despite Florida State’s horrendous season in 2024, former Boston College star Castellanos now believes they’re back, and has sent Alabama a damning verdict ahead of their season opener in just a few months’ time.
“I’m excited, man. 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 declared to On3. “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.”
It was quite the statement from Castellanos, who also previously played for the UCF Knights prior to entering the transfer portal and signing for Boston College.
He wasn’t done there, however, further divulging how he believes he’s been a step above the rest in the ACC for the last two years. “And then 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,” he 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.”
Under ex-NFL coach Bill O’Brien, Castellanos was impressive for the Eagles in 2024, recording an 18:5 touchdown to interception ratio and 4-1 start before three straight losses to Virginia, Virginia Tech and Louisville.
After O’Brien announced that FIU transfer Grayson James would get the start over Castellanos at SMU in November last year, the 21-year-old announced his intention to enter the transfer portal the next day.
Within a month, Castellanos announced that he would transfer to Florida State, and he is now preparing to lead the Seminoles as starting quarterback in 2025 in what is also his final year of college eligibility.