FSU DC Tony White challenges Seminole defense after Alabama upset victory

2024 is long gone for Florida State, and to the surprise of many fans, 2025 has started off on a high note for the Seminoles following a 31-17 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Following an offseason filled with staff changes, players entering and exiting the program via the transfer portal, as well as a multitude of high school signees, nearly everyone thought this would be a "rebuild" year in Tallahassee, but by the sound of it, this team is only getting started.

Under new defensive coordinator Tony White, the Florida State defense held the Tide to just 17 points, essentially stopping what was supposed to be a dominant run game from Alabama, as the Crimson Tide had just 87 rushing yards on 29 attempts. The majority of those came on the opening drive.

Along with that, the Florida State defense allowed Alabama to convert just 6 of 17 first downs and 2 of 5 fourth downs, often putting the Florida State offense in good field position for the following drive.

Following Celebrations, Florida State Is All Business Going Into Week 2

FSU Beats Alabama — Aug 30, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Kam Davis (3) and associate head coach Odell Haggins react after a play Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Despite the dominant performance put on with White calling the shots, there is still more work to do on the defensive side of the ball, White said Sunday evening.

"That was a good first step, there's always things to improve on, but the thing that I saw was that on all the lecels, the defensie front, the linebackers, the secodary, they wanted to be aggressive and they wanted to be physical, so that was a really good first step, but there's a lot of stuff to clean up," White said.

While his praise was met with a call for continued growth, White made sure that his team celebrated the victory, as many Florida State fans learned last year, victories are never guaranteed.

"You only get so many opportunities, and when you win a football game, winning a football game is really tough, it don't matter who you're playing, it just so happened that it was a top ten team it was Bama, and coming off the season, and ABC Sports, and all that kind of stuff, sold out house, you know what, they should have celebrated their tails off last night. Great decisions, but you work too darn hard to not celebrate victories, especially that one," White said.

Adding to that, White said that after the team was able to celebrate the win, Sunday's practice and meetings were all business, as the team takes the field again later this week with the intent of making it 2-0 to start the 2025 football season.

"But we call this reflection day, this is a day where if we do it right and watch the film the correct way instead of patting ourselves on the back, we say 'I could've, should've, did this better, I will do this better' then we just got one percent better, we improved today. Coming out with that focus, you need to know how to watch this tape, because it can get real tricky. We did a lot of things right, but we did an equal number of things wrong, and that better get fixed immediately."

Tony White Discusses the Atmosphere In the Newly Renovated Doak Campbell Stadium

FSU Defensive Stop — Aug 30, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Richard Young (9) runs with the ball against Florida State Seminoles defensive back Earl Little Jr. (0) during the first half at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Following a nearly two-year construction process, Florida State unveiled the newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium to the world for Saturday's game, and for White's FSU debut, the sold-out environment couldn't have been more special.

"I was humbled, I was truly humbled. That was so electric, for number one, my family and I. I had 20 something tickets in there. Both my moms, my brother-in-laws, my wife's family, we had them all here, and from the moment I got off that bus to the walk, and seeing the quad like that, just straight packed and the energy there was and the recruits there were, and just Tally come out like that," White said.

"When I walked onto the sideline right before kickoff and team came out and everybody was doing the War Chant, I'm like 'This is why you're here man, this is something special,'" White added. "Everybody uses that word, but there's few moments in coaches' lives where you stop and you just look around and you say 'Okay, I'm here, I am truly here.' So I still am humbled by the electricity, the support, the feeling in the air; it was truly magical."

The Florida State Seminoles return to Doak Campbell Stadium Saturday September 6th as they take on the East Texas A&M Lions. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon ET.

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