Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos wishes he would’ve handled his transfer from Boston College differently and regrets bailing on his team last November, according to an ACC Network interview that aired Tuesday night.
Castellanos expressed remorse during a conversation with ACC Network’s Roddy White that was filmed during ACC Kickoff in Charlotte last month. Castellanos accounted for three touchdowns during last season’s opening win against the Seminoles, but was later benched against Syracuse in Week 10 before entering the portal.
“If I had to go back and do it again, I think that I owe my brothers a better explanation,” Castellanos said during Tuesday’s airing, as transcribed by WarChant. “If I had to do it again, I would stay. And I would just go through the storm with them. Just because of all the work we put in together. All the relationships and bonds that are created with those guys. I feel like I owe that to them — just to have sat through whatever I was going through and put my problems aside and not be selfish.
“And just be there for them, support them through no matter what it was. I really wish, if we could go back in time, I would just sit. And I would just watch.”
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Castellanos continues to push back on the narrative that he quit the team after he was sent to the bench, an opinion that Boston College coach Bill O’Brien shared his take on earlier this summer.
“Tommy can think what he wants,” O’Brien told ESPN’s David Hale. “We supported the hell out of Tommy. We coached Tommy, we taught Tommy. I wish him the best. We went with Grayson [James]. We told him, ‘The team needs you, come back and compete and win your job back.’ It’s called life — L-I-F-E. Deal with adversity. He’s fine. He’s the starting QB at Florida State. It worked out well. I wish him the best.”
Castellanos had started 20 career games for the Eagles across the last two years — one season under Jeff Hafley and then under O’Brien in 2024 — and now is Florida State’s QB1 alongside first-year OC Gus Malzahn.
Castellanos suffered his first turnover of camp during Sunday’s second team scrimmage, but received rave reviews from the Seminoles’ coaching staff leading up to that point.
“We’re challenging Tommy. He’s challenging himself. I think he’s growing throughout fall camp,” coach Mike Norvell said, via Noles247.
Busy summer for Castellanos
There’s not a player in college football more confident in his team’s seismic opener than Castellanos, who triple downed last month with a harsh critique of Alabama before the Seminoles entertain the Crimson Tide on Aug. 30.
“We stand on what I said, so I said what I said,” Castellanos said. “We stand on that. I don’t mean no disrespect to none of those guys at Alabama or anything like that, it’s just I have confidence in my guys and the work we’ve been putting in, the preparation we’ve been putting together.
“That’s all that was. No disrespect to those guys, but we stand on what I said.”
Alabama failed to reach the playoff last fall in Kalen DeBoer’s first campaign, finishing 9-4 following a loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Castellanos previously said he “tore the ACC up by my damn self” citing his past production at Boston College and warned Florida State’s “weapons” offensively would help turnaround a unit that ranked near the bottom nationally in scoring offense last season.