After the Florida State football team upset the Alabama Crimson Tide last Saturday, there has been no doubt been a buzz around the program after only winning two games in the season prior. As Florida State football quarterback Tommy Castellanos led the way for the upset, the one person on the team who should also be credited is new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.
The former UCF Knights head coach has made the transition as the Seminoles' offensive coordinator, which is one that has been a weird adjustment at first for Malzahn, since he hasn't been in a role like that since 2011 with Arkansas. He would even say that he “forgot” what it felt like to be an offensive coordinator since he was head coach for a long time, according to CBS Sports.
“When you're just calling plays, it's a completely different deal than calling plays and trying to manage a game. I kind of forgot what it felt like,” Malzahn said. “You have a whole lot more time in between series, and now that you can look at the video and sit down with your quarterback, you have a lot more time to think about the next series and what they are doing and what you need to do.”
In his first game for the Seminoles, he called an offense that scored 31 points and recorded 382 yards of total offense against the Crimson Tide.
Florida State football's Guz Malzahn on Tommy Castellanos
Looking at the upset against Alabama, the excitement for the Florida State football team started right from Casettlanos' first touchdown, which was part of his electric performance. Through the air, Castellanos threw for 152 yards while rushing for 78 yards with a touchdown as Malzahn said that the senior “plays with a chip on his shoulder.”
“He plays with a chip on his shoulder, and the rest of the offensive guys feed off that,” Malzahn said. “He made plays on his own outside the system. When you're playing a really good team, a really good defense, like they are, you've got to have a guy that can do that.”
Malzahn would go as far as to say that he had “questions” about the team due to the new starters and even the injuries during the spring, making the win that much more satisfying.
“I really had a lot of questions. We have 11 new starters, and in the spring, we were so beat up, we weren't able to get any continuity,” Malzahn said. “It's really all been about fall camp.”
The Seminoles look to be 2-0 on the season as they face East Texas A&M next Saturday.
