David Pollack on Tommy Castellanos' Alabama comments: 'I don't think you want to add fuel to the fire'

Florida State Seminoles quarterback Thomas Castellanos recently made headlines in an exclusive interview with On3’s Pete Nakos. There, he called out Alabama in the post-Nick Saban era.

The Seminoles open their season at home against Alabama. That’s a game that Castellanos says he’s dreamed about. After all, without Saban, he doesn’t know how the Crimson Tide are going to stop him.

“I’m excited, man,” Castellanos said. “People, I don’t know if they know, but you go back and watch every first game that I played in, we always start fast. I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”

Unsurprisingly, this has led to some pushback around the country. That includes former player and current analyst David Pollack. On his show, See Ball Get Ball, he explained that he wouldn’t add motivational fire for Alabama ahead of their game. At the same time, he does like the attitude from a quarterback.

“I don’t think Bama’s like, ‘We need this guy,’ to get ready,” David Pollack said. “But I do think Florida State, coming off such a bad year, I don’t think you want to add fuel to the fire.”

Florida State is coming off just a 2-10 season. That led to head coach Mike Norvell making sweeping changes, including at quarterback. That’s where Thomas Castellanos was able to enter the program, joining new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who coached him at UCF.

“You kind of want to fly under the radar. You don’t want to give people things to talk about. You don’t want to piss people off,” Pollack said. “And I can promise you, this quote is going to be all over the locker room. Did you help one percent get better? Did you help one percent spark something in them and give a little reason to be pissed off? Then it’s not a smart thing.”

Castellanos began his college career at UCF before he transferred to Boston College. He’d spend two seasons there before entering the portal again, landing at Florida State. For his career, Castellanos has a 58.6 completion percentage and 3,689 passing yards in 26 games. He also has 33 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions for his career. A dual-threat quarterback, he also has 1,427 career rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. 

“Now, do I want a quarterback who’s got a little swag to him? Yes. Do I want him to have borderline arrogance? Yes. Is Thomas Castellanos an animal? Yes. I would argue this. I think Billy O’Brien, who is a really good coach, was trying to make him what he wants to be, and that’s a next-level quarterback. Trying to help him stay in the pocket, make plays. When Tommy gets loose, Tommy’s a beast. He’s a freak, man. He can outrun anybody in college football. He’s got some severe athletic ability,” Pollack said.

“I’m interested to see how they merge that. Florida State, they missed that a year ago. Their game went off a cliff offensively. Gus Malzahn thrives. He’s the new OC. Remember, he walked away from a head coaching gig at UCF. He wanted to just call plays, be a part of the offense, a la Chip Kelly for Ohio State a year ago. I think his offense works at an elite level when you have an elite playmaker at the position. He has that.”

Florida State will host Alabama on August 30th to kick off the 2025 season. Thomas Castellanos is expected to be the starting quarterback for the Seminoles.

“I wouldn’t have said it. This kid has the swag,” Pollack said. “This kid can play, man. Don’t get it twisted. This dude’s got some serious ability.”