Today's trench day, Ira. I know when we were allowed into practice, we celebrated walking over to the trenches, really enjoyed watching how those things came together. Can Herb Hand do it again with a wholesale change in the offensive line? I think is going to be the big question mark as we head into spring and fall camp this year. Yeah, it's almost like, you know, line changes in hockey with this, the way this,

the situation is with Florida State's offensive line these days. You have basically five new

starters last year. That was the whole storyline of the offseason. Can he take these five guys

that really, because of preexisting injuries and things that they dealt with during camp when

they were here, he really didn't have a ton of time with those five guys leading up to preseason camp. I think it was in preseason camp before they really got to work together a lot. This year, it's a whole new starting five again, so we know we can do it. And hopefully they've got better health and they'll be able to get more time, more continuity together in the spring. but yeah, I think a lot of people, you know, FSU fans don't have a lot of confidence in a lot of these coaches, but they seem to have a lot of confidence in Herb Hand based on what he did last year. And there might be a player, too, that have an outside chance who are back on the roster from last year, who maybe can crack that rotation, if not the starters, and certainly in that top eight. but I think we both agree last year, Ira, if you were pointing at things where it went wrong for Florida State or things that didn't live up to the billing for Florida State as they were trying to come out of the cellar from 2 and 10, you wouldn't point fingers fast to the offensive line. Herb Hand kind of pulled it off. And to your point, too, they didn't really have a healthy bunch in spring. So he had an even

more compressed outlook than he does right now. But Herb Hand, mission accomplished year one for him.

Yeah. And, you know, one of the things that was impressive about that group was that just how

committed they were to playing every game. You know, because you wonder about that in this day and

age, with players, you know, coming for their final year of college football or, or, you know, guys that have transferred multiple times. And how much is a Micah Pettus, a guy from who transferred him from Ole Miss? Once the season's not going well, is he going to really want to play in some of those games? But those guys, Pettus, I think, missed one game, I think, due to injury, but for the most part, Pettibone across the board, those guys played just about every game, a lot of cases, every snap. And that's huge, man. It's just, and it's not like they were healthy through all of that. I mean, sometimes you've got to play through pain, and if you're not injured, if you're just hurting, sometimes the team needs you to play. And that group did it. And I think that's a testament again to Herb Hand and kind of what he's built in that group. So let's get to know the new five offensive linemen that Florida State brought in. Here they all are on the screen. They're not all one and done players. Last year, if you recall, the top six for Florida State, including Jacob Brissy, who was already here on campus, they all only had one year of eligibility left. In this case, a couple of the guys do. Xavier Chaplin, offensive tackle, Auburn, Florida State invested heavily in this player, 68, 345. He comes in to play, probably tackle. I'll get Irish thoughts on that in just a second, But Paul Bowling, a younger player. This is, again, their eligibility this season in 2026. So he's a rising sophomore, 633-10 at a Troy. Braden Joyner at a Purdue. He was a center at Purdue. He was also at Auburn earlier in his career, 6'2, 320 pounds. Chimdia, Nuayu, 6-5, 305, hopefully Chimdia, I got the name right.

Stephen F. Austin, he's a registered junior this season, and Nate Papps coming in from Bowling Green, 6'7, 315 pounds. Now, I don't know that I align these guys, right, because they might line up in different positions that I have them on the screen. So don't look at that and take that as gospel in terms of left tackle or right tackle.

But Ira, we'll start with Xavier Chaplin. that I have them on the screen. So don't look at that and take that as gospel in terms of left tackle to right tackle.

But Ira will start with Xavier Chaplin.

I think he does figure to be Florida State's left tackle blindside blocker this year.

They put a lot of money and they've got a lot of hope in this player.

Yeah.

And, you know, the fact that, again, he started every game for Auburn. So you know he's played this level of competition, probably a little bit better level of competition. Didn't have great grades when you look at pro football focus, you know, had some struggles. But that whole offense struggled. It was kind of a mess all season. So sometimes you give a little bit of grain of salt when it comes to that. But in terms of physical ability, yeah, people can look at the size, the measurable, the height and the weight. When he came on campus, just looks awesome. It looks very much kind of like Micah Pettus. When Mikea Pettus arrived on campus, you're like, okay, that's what an NFL offensive tackle looks like. That's what Chappellon looks like as well. And from what we've heard, you know, a big part of the reason, you know, he wanted to come to Florida State was he wanted to play for Herb Hand. He really believes in what Herb Hand can do in terms of development. So again, I think it's a good, not just a guy that's a mercenary looking for a check. I think it's a guy that wants to develop, wants to play well. And from what we heard at the time, when they got him out of the transfer portal, some people on the FSU staff thought he was the best tackle in the portal. And so if that's true, if he's close to that, and you really feel good about that with the left tackle. On an offense, it's probably going to throw the ball more from a drop back standpoint, probably under Mike Norvell with this quarterback situation than they did last year with Tommy Castellano. So, so yeah, I think getting that left tackle was a big deal. And familiarity with the quarterback, Ashton Daniels. It's not like it's a chemistry thing, like a receiver in a quarterback, but it is nice to have familiarity in the room. And as you're trying to set the tone in the huddle, the left tackle on the quarterback,

do know each other from Auburn last year. I love multi-year transfers, Ira. So therefore,

I love Paul Bowling. He as a true freshman started every game, played in every game at the very

least at Troy. And he's 310 pounds.

He can move.

This is somebody that Herb Hand wanted to get his hands on to mold over multiple years,

but it could be that Paul Bowling already is entrenched at Florida State as a starter in

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