2025 Alabama Football Opponent Preview, Game 1: Florida State

A lot has changed since Alabama and Florida State met in one of the most anticipated games of the 2017 college football season. Eight years on, the schools will open the season against one another again, this time in Tallahassee at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Head coaches Kalen DeBoer and Mike Norvell have lots to prove in the fall. DeBoer's first Alabama team posted a 9-4 mark with a couple of bad losses in year one of the post-Nick Saban era. Norvell, once a potential name to succeed Saban, fared much worse. His 2024 squad went 2-10 and is 2-11 since being left out of the 2023-24 College Football Playoff.

Florida State started last season ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll, spiraling straight out of the rankings by mid-September. Alabama peaked at No. 1, eventually losing road games to Vanderbilt, Tennessee and an Oklahoma team that would've missed a bowl game if that result had gone the other way.

The Crimson Tide aims to make it back to the playoff this year. Its last appearance was when the program got selected over the then-unbeaten Seminoles in the 2023 season. To say that Florida State desperately needs to rebound come fall is an understatement, but there is the added dimension of bad memories on the home team's part.

Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on August 30. The game is set to be televised on ABC. The expanded playoff places a premium on conference titles with automatic bids in play, but the immediate trajectory for both teams and their coaches will still be impacted by the outcome of the contest.

Offense:

Florida State has a new offensive coordinator and a new quarterback. Former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, who claimed three Iron Bowl wins, left the same position at UCF to join Mike Norvell's staff. Thomas Castellanos transferred from Boston College after a disappointing 2024 season marred by injury problems. This tandem has come back together (Castellanos once played for UCF) to replenish a unit that finished 132nd in total offense last season and scored 20 points or more against an FBS team just once in 11 tries.

Defense:

Tony White was hired from Nebraska in December 2024 as the Seminoles' new defensive coordinator. In two seasons with the Cornhuskers, he helped engineer and orchestrate one of the country's best defensive groups (finishing in the top 20 in total defense in 2023 and 2024). The 2024 Cornhuskers gave up 30-plus only twice last fall, both against ranked teams. Florida State's defense includes former Alabama player Earl Little Jr. Little made a position change to safety last season; he is one of the unit's breakout candidates in White's first year.

Schedule:

The Seminoles' schedule lets up in terms of difficulty in the immediate future following the Alabama game. The toughest contest after that is an October 4 home tilt against Miami (Fla.), which nearly made the College Football Playoff last season, led by future top draft pick Cam Ward. Florida State travels to Virginia, Stanford, Clemson (which did make last season's 12-team playoff) and NC State in conference play. Its traditional rivalry game against the Florida Gators is also on the road.

Outlook:

It's an important year for Norvell, who was one of the leading candidates to replace Nick Saban at Alabama in early 2024. After missing the final four-team playoff in 2023 despite an unbeaten record, Norvell's team cratered, notching one FBS win between then and now. This year's team added roster pieces and made itself better with personnel changes surrounding the head coach. It would be very difficult for the Seminoles to go 2-10 once more, but expectations will be appreciably higher than that.

The Game:

Date: August 30, 2025
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
TV: ABC
Location: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla.
Series history: Alabama leads 3-1-1 (Florida State later vacated a 2007 win over the Crimson Tide)
Last meeting: September 2, 2017 (Alabama won 24-7)

The Team:

Head coach: Mike Norvell (Sixth season, 33-27 overall record)
Offensive coordinator: Gus Malzahn (First season)
Defensive coordinator: Tony White (First season)
2024-25 record: 2-10 (1-7 ACC)
2024 rankings: 132nd (total offense), 86th (total defense)
Players to watch: Thomas Castellanos, Squirrel White, Earl Little Jr.
Top newcomer: Quarterback Thomas Castellanos
Biggest question: Will the Malzahn-Castellanos tandem turn Florida State around?

The School:

Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Founded: January 24, 1851
Enrollment: 43,640 (spring 2025)
Nickname: Seminoles
School colors: Garnet and gold
Mascot: Osceola and Renegade

The Program:

Last win in series: September 29, 2007 (21-14, vacated in 2010)
Last conference title: 2023
National championships: Three (1993, 1999 and 2013)
Playoff appearances: One (2014-15 season)
Last season missing bowl game: 2024
Heisman winners: Three: Charlie Ward (1993), Chris Weinke (2000) and Jameis Winston (2013)

The Schedule:

August 30: Alabama
September 6: East Texas A&M
September 20: Kent State
September 26: at Virginia
October 4: Miami (Fla.)
October 11: Pitt
October 18: at Stanford
November 1: Wake Forest
November 8: at Clemson
November 15: Virginia Tech
November 21: at NC State
November 28: at Florida

This is the first story in BamaCentral's summer preview series of all 12 regular season opponents for Alabama football in 2025. Ensuing stories will be published throughout June and early July.