Mike Norvell opens up on Braden Fiske's impact on roster

Florida State coach Mike Norvell has made as good use of the transfer portal as anyone in college football the last couple years, so his landing of Braden Fiske, an impact player on defense, should have come as little surprise.

Fiske spent the past five years at Western Michigan, where he’d turned into a star.

“I think Braden’s played a lot of football,” Norvell said. “We’ve seen him play a lot of football. But his movements, his understanding, his attention to detail, those things I like.”

All of those things show up in the impact Braden Fiske has had on the stat sheet over the years. While with the Broncos he recorded 148 tackles, 27.5 tackles for a loss, 13.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and three pass breakups.

That’s a whole lot of production.

If there’s one area that Norvell is still working with Fiske on it’s meshing with the overall team culture. Braden Fiske’s impact could be significant if he can get that down.

“It’s still figuring out some of the things, how we do it,” Norvell said. “But I think he maximized this spring even when he wasn’t able to physically get the rep of understand a little bit of the expectation. Now it’s just him going out, being able to execute that.

“But he’s definitely a talented young man. He’s going to help us. I’m excited what I’ve seen and really who he is.”

Jaheim Bell settling in at FSU

Another transfer who has joined the Seminoles this offseason is tight end Jaheim Bell, who transferred from South Carolina. The talented tight end figures to be a fun new weapon for quarterback Jordan Travis.

First, though, Bell has had to get acclimated to the new campus life.

“Honestly, it doesn’t even feel that long. Since I’ve been here, it’s just been great,” Bell said. “Everybody welcomed me. I gained new teammates, new friends. I’m getting to learn the coaches more. I’m getting to learn my position group better and how those guys guys operate. It’s been great.”

In three seasons for South Carolina, Bell recorded 56 catches for 757 yards and seven touchdowns. He also ran 80 times for 301 yards and three touchdowns.