RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Ashton Daniels is Florida State football's starting quarterback entering the 2026 season, and head coach Mike Norvell has repeatedly gushed about his performance in fall camp.
That continued on Wednesday, with Norvell saying it was probably one of his best days of practice and that you could "feel his confidence." Daniels was asked if he thinks he is playing well and an area that he has improved since he started his career, with him giving a very direct response.
"I believe so, yes, sir," he answered. "Yeah, I think, just taking care of the football, just being smart, knowing the situation. I think that's a huge thing.
"We do a lot of situational work in practice. And knowing when it's okay to go down and take a sack, when it's okay to throw the ball away and not put the ball in jeopardy. I think I've done a fantastic job of that, and just not turning the ball over and just being stupid, being careless with the ball."
Daniels also talked about what has clicked for him since spring practice, backup quarterback Malachi Marshall, and the defensive line, which he thinks will be the best in the ACC.
On the key to an offense executing in end-of-game situations
Yeah, I think it really comes down to, you know, handling it one play at a time. It's college football. It's football. That's how it is. Bad plays are going to happen. They're going to happen in, you know, moments when you really don't need them to happen.
And, you know, they could happen when you're up by however many points. Bad plays are going to happen. But I think it's really, you know, all about flushing that play and moving on to the next one.
And I think, you know, that's the mentality of our offense, you know, being able to flush these bad plays and turn around and go make a, you know, game-winning drive and just continue to push each other. I mean, we're so close as an offense. You know, the brotherhood that we have, you know, just kind of uplifting each other, you know, after plays in between snaps and, you know, just kind of keeping that mindset to just keep pushing, you know, one play at a time, play that next play and just, you know, whether it's a good play or bad play, flush it and move on.
On how the fall has been different than the spring from him understanding the offense
Yeah, I think it's been phenomenal. It's something that's, you know, helped me build my confidence. It's just being confident in the guys, being confident in, you know, the schemes that we have and being confident in our coaching staff and the play calling.
That helps me build confidence. That allows me to play fast, play freely and not go out there and, you know, have to worry about things that I don't need to worry about. And, you know, I think the coaching staff, I think, you know, the training staff, the strength staff, everybody in the program has done such a phenomenal job.
Just, you know, also pushing us, you know, to the hardest that we can go, but also making it, you know, easy on us for the time, you know, when season comes around that, you know, that's just second nature to us. But, you know, I think we've done a phenomenal job just building chemistry through the off-season. And that's not even, you know, just things on the field, just off the field as well.
You know, obviously our Jacksonville trip, I think, was huge just for, you know, team bonding and bringing the team closer together. I think that was phenomenal for us, something that, you know, I've never done in, you know, my college experience elsewhere. And, you know, just seeing that and being able to have that experience with the guys, you know, someplace other than Tallahassee, I think, was so huge for us.
On how the offense fits with his skillset
Yeah, I think, you know, Coach Norvell and Coach Harris and all the coaches have just done a phenomenal job, you know, finding out the strengths and the weaknesses of our offense and, you know, really studying those things.
And I think the players have done that, too. You know, diving into, you know, the film room and figuring out what their strengths and weaknesses are on the field. And I think, you know, that just relates to the whole offense.
Once you have 11 guys that are out there and, you know, they know the things that they need to go in and watch and they need to go in and practice and get better on, you know, we just move as a unit, as an offense. And, you know, I think that we have so many strengths as an offense. We have so many weapons. And we continue to just build on that every single day.
On backup quarterback Malachi Marshall
Yeah, I mean, he's a phenomenal young man. I mean, phenomenal.
He's made of the right stuff. He's had a hard journey. And, you know, you can see how much the hardships that he's had pushes him, you know, to be his best every single day.
And, you know, when he's showing up and he's his best every single day, that pushes every single person in the quarterback room to be better. And that pushes everyone on the offense, everyone on the team.
He's a very vocal guy. He's a leader. You know, it's amazing to see, you know, for a guy like me that has experience, and someone that's, you know, coming in that's a little bit younger, that, you know, has the traits that I wish I would have had when I was younger. And I think that, you know, could have helped me out when I was younger.
But, you know, just continuing to see him grow every single day is amazing. You know, he's a phenomenal football player. And I'm really excited to see him, you know, continue to just get better.
On what has helped him since the spring to make the right play
I would say confidence. I mean, I'm going to, you know, continue to say that. You guys are going to hear me say that a lot. But that's been somet...
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