Florida State Expects Sophomore Leap From Rising Star Ousmane Kromah

The Florida State Seminoles made a major investment on Early Signing Day a few years ago, flipping elite running back Ousmane Kromah from Georgia. A top-100 prospect, the Seminoles were confident in the player they were getting, as head coach Mike Norvell scouted Kromah more than any other recruit.

Despite a stacked running back room that included Gavin Sawchuk, Samuel Singleton Jr., Roydell Williams, Jaylin Lucas, Kam Davis, and Caziah Holmes, Kromah delivered as a true freshman.

Kromah finished third on the team in rushing, racking up 72 carries for 408 yards. He added 9 receptions for 147 yards and 1 touchdown. Kromah averaged a whopping 5.7 yards per carry.

The rotation last season didn't do Kromah many favors. The Seminoles rotated backs far too often, playing as many as six players at the spot in a single quarter. Being so inexperienced, Kromah needed consistent playing time to get into a rhythm, which wasn't something he could count on often.

With Kam Martin stepping in as running backs coach, Florida State believes its adjustments will result in Kromah surging forward as a sophomore.

Kam Martin, FSU Expect Ousmane Kromah To Take Next Step

Martin is as hard on his position group as any coach on staff.

That was evident during Florida State's open practice last week. Martin challenged his group from the beginning to end of the viewing session, coaching up players, making guys repeat reps, and setting a standard.

At one point, Martin even got in Kromah's face after he lost a rep in pass protection drills against the linebackers.

The tough love is all for one reason; Martin knows how good Kromah can be, and he wants to get the best out of him so the rising star can explode in year two.

"Ous man, I'm very hard on Ous, man. I know Ous he has all the tools to be very special, man," Martin said on Monday. "He takes hard coaching, that's what I love about him. He's a guy that's in the building all day, trying to get on the VR boards, trying to study protection, trying to watch film. He's in my office all day."

"Ous is a guy that's going to take that next step this year," Martin added. "I'm hard on him just like I'm hard on all the other guys. I feel like Ous, he's ready to go."

Kromah takes it all in stride. Though the coaching might be hard in the moment, Kromah understands it's all in his best interest.

"He inspires us, he pushes us, we grind every day. Like there's no not grinding with Kam Martin, I'm going to be real. He makes it fun but it's also very serious at the same time," Kromah said. "We know what we got to do. We know we've got a job to do this year. When you've got somebody like that, it really pushes you to be behind him."

After bulking up to 225 pounds during spring camp, Kromah trimmed down to 216 pounds going into the preseason. Conditioning was a big focus for him in his first full college offseason.

Kromah also spent a ton of time in the VR room improving his pass protection.

"Conditioning. This year, I want to be in there all the time," Kromah said. "It's more or less, you just want to be in great condition so you never want to come out the game. You can always have better conditioning, in my opinion."

There has been plenty of fire and emotion on display early in fall camp. That's something Kromah relishes.

"Oh yes, it's competition. We love that at Florida State. It wouldn't be fun if that wasn't happening. That's what we need," Kromah said. "I'm going to be real, that's how it's going to be on the field. When we're in between those lines, that's how we're going to treat it. But right outside of that, we're going to go back to loving each other."

Florida State scrimmages for the first time this preseason on Tuesday evening.

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