"You just added fuel to the fire": Former Alabama QB issues stern warning to FSU's Thomas Castellanos ahead of Week 1 showdown

Thomas Castellanos began his collegiate journey with UCF in 2022. After one season, he played for Boston College for the past two years. In December 2024, the quarterback transferred to play for the Florida State Seminoles. He is competing for the starting job with Brock Glenn on the depth chart.

In June, Castellanos talked to On3's Pete Nakos. During this interaction, he opened up about Florida State's season opener against the Alabama Crimson Tide on August 30. The quarterback believes that without Nick Saban, they are not a tough team to beat on the gridiron.

"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."

Castellanos' words did not sit well with Alabama legend AJ McCarron. On Wednesday's episode of "The Dynasty" podcast, he called out the Florida State quarterback for his remarks.

"Where do you even start," McCarron said as per On3. "You're going to a team that was 17th out of 17 teams in the ACC. Listen, I'm all for confidence, but this is stupidity. Just ask... Bill O'Brien. Call him up, ask Bill how Alabama is. What type of players they have, how they play the game and let OB tell you, hey Thomas, you might want to stay quiet on this one. Just go out and play.

"You just added fuel to the fire brother. I promise you. I wouldn't want to be you the first game of the year. I don't care how well you can run, how well you can throw it. Once you stand in that pocket and get hit a couple of times, that accuracy that dipped, that cost you the starting job, you'd better find it quick this offseason and during that game, because it ain't gonna be good."

---

AJ McCarron is not the only one to warn Thomas Castellanos about his comments on Alabama

Analyst David Pollack also warned Thomas Castellanos to tread lightly with his words ahead of their opener against Alabama. On Monday's episode of the "See Ball Get Ball" show, he shared some words of advice for the quarterback.

"I don't think Bama's like, 'We need this guy,' to get ready. But I do think Florida State, coming off such a bad year, I don't think you want to add fuel to the fire. You kind of want to fly under the radar. You do not want to give people things to talk about."

Mike Norvell helped the Seminoles to an ACC championship during the 2023 season. But they ended up on the other end of the spectrum last year, finishing with a disappointing 2-10 record.