ACC champions Florida State, others deal with QB changes
AP Sports Writer
Florida State coach Mike Norvell, like most every other coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference and across the sport, has spent the spring handling change.
He hopes it can lead to another league title and a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
The biggest new addition for the Seminoles is at quarterback, where one-time Clemson starter D.J. Uiagalelei takes over for Jordan Travis, who helped Florida State to its first ACC championship in nine years before a late, season-ending injury.
Uiagalelei, a backup behind Trevor Lawrence when the Tigers last went to the national playoffs in 2020, looks to keep the Seminoles near the top.
“All in all, it’s just been a really good spring that we’ve been able to put together,” Norvell said following the team’s spring game this past weekend.
Uiagalelei, who twice defeated Florida State as a Clemson starter, spent last season at Oregon State. Uiagalelei said he joined the Seminoles because expectations are high after last season’s success.
“That’s what you want. You want to be able to be able to be able to play at a place where the expectations are high and it’s ACC championship, national championship or bust,” said Uiagalelei, playing his fifth season.
SIGNAL CALLERS
The Seminoles are not the only program navigating change this offseason. Louisville is without Jack Plummer, who led Jeff Brohm’s first-year program to its first ACC title game berth.
North Carolina State broke in Coastal Carolina transfer Grayson McCall this spring. North Carolina, Duke, Pitt, Syracuse
and Wake Forest will all have quarterbacks getting their first extensive action with their teams.
Brohm liked what he saw out of Texas Tech transfer Tyler Shough this spring. “Once we get into game planning and ways to move the chains, he’ll be very efficient because he’s an accurate passer,” Brohm said.
Accuracy is what new Wolfpack passer McCall is all about. He set the NCAA record with a 207.6 passer efficiency rating in 2021, a mark that was surpassed by LSU’s Jayden Daniels (208) this past season.
North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren saw McCall’s poise and confidence all spring. “He’s got a lot of grit. He’s a really tough kid, couldn’t be happier with what he’s doing,” he said.
COACHING CHANGES Three ACC teams had new leaders in charge this spring in Boston College’s Bill O’Brien, Duke’s Manny Diaz and Syracuse’s Fran Brown.
O’Brien took over when Jeff
Hafley left to become Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. O’Brien had success as head coach at Penn State before going to Houston. He also was on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff and helped develop quarterbacks Mac Jones and Bryce Young
Diaz, the former Miami coach, was hired after Mike Elko left to become Texas A&M’s choice to replace the fired Jimbo Fisher.
BIGGER CHANGES
The ACC, like all other Power Five leagues except the Pac-12, will add to their membership with SMU of the American Athletic Conference joining officially on July 1 and Cal and Stanford the Pac-12 joining on Aug. 2.
The moves mean additional travel for college football coaches that don’t generally like change. Florida State will play at SMU next season and host Cal.
Louisville goes to Stanford next season a week before facing Pitt at home. Another contender, North Carolina State, heads to Cal in mid-October.
PLAYERS TO WATCH BOSTON COLLEGE: DB Ryan Turner came to the Eagles from Ohio State, where he played very little in two seasons. The 5-foot-11, 189 pound third-year sophomore has made an early impression with his new team. He broke up a pass and had the hit of the spring game in disrupting a screen pass.
CLEMSON: WR Bryant Wesco is a five-star freshman who enrolled early and is drawing comparisons to some of the program’s top wideouts like Sammy Watkins and Tee Higgins. Wesco, at 6-2, could be the stretch-the-field receiver Clemson’s been seeking the past few seasons.
DUKE: QB Maalik Murphy, the Texas transfer, got the start at the spring game and knows he’s got work ahead if he hopes to make a winning impression with the Blue Devils. He connected with Jordan Moore on a touchdown and said the game was a good way to help his timing with his new receivers.
FLORIDA STATE: RB Roydell Williams is an Alabama transfer who ran for 560 yards and five touchdowns last season. He has looked good in the spring for a team that saw its leading rusher, Trey Benson, head to the NFL this season.
GEORGIA TECH: WR Chris Elko is a redshirt freshman who had two touchdown catches to highlight a five-reception, 143-yard performance in the spring game. Elko, at 6-1, was redshirted last season. He has shown confidence to be a strong target for returning passer Haynes King.
LOUISVILLE: QB Tyler Shough looks like he will get a chance to take over for Jack Plummer, who helped the surprising Cardinals to their first-ever ACC title game berth. Slough is a grad transfer who threw for 2,922 yards and 20 touchdowns in three seasons at Texas Tech.
MIAMI: LB Raul Aguirre Jr. enters his second season with a chance for more playing time after a strong spring, according to coach Mario Cristobal. Aguirre saw action in all 13 games as a freshman and will look to work his way into the rotation this season.
NORTH CAROLINA: WR Jordan Shipp is the Tar Heels’ highest-ranked recruit and played like someone who can make an immediate impact this season. He had a 16-yard TD catch in the final spring scrimmage.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE: TE Justin Joly should be a big help to new quarterback Grayson McCall this season. Joly is a 6-3, 235-pound junior transfer from UConn, who has not yet played up to expectations. Coach Dave Doeren is confident Joly can do that in this offense.
PITTSBURGH: LB Rasheem Biles tied a program record with three blocked kicks as a freshman last year. This season, Biles is hoping to get into the defensive mix and showed that with a spring game-best seven tackles, two for loss including a sack and a pass breakup.
SYRACUSE: QB Kyle McCord is an Ohio State transfer who figures to have the chance to light things up in the offense of first-year coach Fran Brown. McCord went 11-1 as a starter with the Buckeyes and has looked polished throughout the spring.
VIRGINIA: DE Chico Bennett Jr. enters his sixth year as healthy as he was two years ago when he led the Cavaliers with seven sacks. Bennett was slowed last season by shoulder problems, but was dominant in the spring game with seven tackles and three tackles for loss, including two sacks.