LaNorris Sellers makes Thomas Castellanos look foolish for his Bama hate

Alabama opens its 2025 regular season with a trip to Tallahassee, and new Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos decided to add a little extra fuel to the Crimson Tide’s fire this offseason. The Boston College transfer, who was notably benched in his final year with the Eagles after former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien took over the job, told Pete Nakos of On3, “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.” 

It was a bold claim from a player now on his third team, looking to revitalize a program that went 2-10 last season, and it quickly sent the Florida State fan base into a panic. The Seminoles' best chance to pull an upset in Week 1 was to catch Alabama off guard, but any chance of that is over now that Castellanos poked the bear. South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, a Heisman Trophy dark horse who will see the Tide in Week 9, took a much different approach when asked about the program that has reigned supreme over the SEC for much of the 21st century. 

LaNorris Sellers gives Alabama respect after nearly pulling an upset last season

In 2024, Sellers was a two-point conversion away from dragging the Tide to overtime before ripping off a six-game win streak to end the year at 9-3 and nearly sneak into the college football playoff. Sellers returns much of the offensive skill talent around him in Columbia, along with superstar defensive end Dylan Stewart, who is entering his sophomore year, and knows that the Gamecocks will have a real chance of beating Alabama for the first time since 2010. But even he, one of the SEC’s best quarterbacks, wouldn’t make any outlandish claims about a team on his schedule. 

Sellers displayed no fear or reverence for Alabama, just respect for the country’s preeminent college football program. He’ll make no headlines for his tactful response, and that’s almost always the goal in the offseason, especially if you have a team that you believe could be special. Castellanos stepped on the rake, then Sellers showed how easy it was to avoid it. And if you had to bet on which of those two quarterbacks has a better chance of toppling the Tide, it’d be Sellers by a mile. 

Yes, Alabama took a step back in Year 1 under Kalen DeBoer, but Tuscaloosa looked like stable ground compared to Tallahassee, and Florida State didn’t have a regime change; it just missed out on the College Football Playoff and crumbled. Castellanos should learn from Sellers, but if not, I’d imagine Alabama’s defense is eager to teach him a lesson or two on August 30.