Summer Plans: What's Next For Florida State's Defense?
Florida State laid its groundroots on the defensive side of the ball this spring.
With just eight players who started multiple games in 2025 back with the Seminoles, defensive coordinator Tony White has a lot to figure out heading into his second season in Tallahassee.
READ MORE: FSU DC Tony White Highlights True Freshman Who Could Impact Early
The unit showcased its potential and ability over the last 15 practices. However, there have been some consistency issues, and White made it clear he wasn't pleased with how his defense performed in the third and final scrimmage last weekend.
Moving into the summer, the next few months will shape Florida State on the defensive side of the ball.
Tony White Explains Important Summer For Florida State's Defense
From the players to the coaching staff, the Seminoles will need to take action at all levels before fall camp begins.
For White, he'll start with reviewing film and evaluating the defense as a whole. The goal is to figure out where the unit thrives and what needs to be shored up.
"A ton, a ton. You talk about OTAs, you talk about football 101," White said. "Just going back and really looking at the situations you have. You have your studies on what else do you need to install to be good, so you go through and see what else we need to install to be good, come up with that schedule."
"Then you go back, and you look at all the things you did in the spring, and you say, 'ok, consistently, what are we good at and what are we bad at?' If we're bad at something, is it an easy coaching fix, or is it throw it the hell out of the playbook? So you got back and reassess yourself."
Florida State will also get an early look at some of its opponents.
By the time the players report for the preseason, White and his staff, along with head coach Mike Norvell, will be fully dialed in on their plan of attack.
"Then you've got opponent scouting. You want to look at your first four games and basically gameplan against those guys in the summertime," White said. "Lastly, a lot of it is you come up with the schedule for the summertime in terms of all the things you need to work on and breaking that down with the time given, our allotted time."
"Alright, practice one, this is good, this is bad, this is what we need to work on, so it's a huge schedule coming up from now until when those guys report in August," White continued. "It's just getting with coach and getting the time together with all the other coaches and just everybody being on the same page, laying it out so we can go execute."
There isn't a moment to waste for a program that desperately needs to win in 2026.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/fsu as Summer Plans: What's Next For Florida State's Defense?.
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This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 9:00 AM.