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00:00 First one will be Chris Neen, front row to your left.
00:03 Morning, Jalen.
00:06 Good morning.
00:07 Obviously, you're familiar with this place, especially
00:09 with your brother being here.
00:11 But when you went into the process
00:12 of figuring out a transfer destination,
00:14 what was it about FSU that set him apart from other candidates?
00:17 What about FSU?
00:19 What set him apart from other candidates?
00:21 I'll just say they had a great, great season last season.
00:27 But I just felt like it was the best fit for me.
00:29 And I also wanted to play here with my brother.
00:32 Just what Coach Narvaez got going on here, Coach Jack,
00:35 man, is a great, tremendous running back.
00:39 It's out there.
00:39 Florida State is the place to be in.
00:41 I just love this place.
00:44 Next will be Essend, second row to your left.
00:47 Yeah, what would they sell you?
00:49 Your role's going to be over here.
00:50 Give me running back, receiver, kick return, front return.
00:54 What were you sold on for what your role's going to be here?
00:57 My role's going to be here.
00:58 It's probably going to be a running back.
01:00 I'm in a running back room right now.
01:02 So I'm also going to be a huge contributor
01:04 to the special teams.
01:06 That's what I'm looking forward to.
01:07 But just giving me an opportunity,
01:10 I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity.
01:12 And it is what it is.
01:14 We'll come to Iroh, second row on your right.
01:17 Were you watching Florida State?
01:19 I know you're busy with your own season.
01:20 But were you able to watch a lot of Florida State games,
01:22 especially with Ja'Kai playing?
01:23 And what was your thoughts about the offense?
01:25 And did you see it as something you could play in?
01:28 Of course, I see Florida State every week,
01:31 see how they were playing against different teams.
01:35 A great season last season.
01:37 But I know I always watch my brother,
01:39 see what he's doing on the field.
01:41 But I also evaluate how I can be used in the offense and just
01:46 things like that.
01:47 Next will be third row on your left for Jordan.
01:53 Jalen, you mentioned it a little bit already.
01:55 Can you talk about what it means to you
01:56 to play with your brother and how that also
01:58 influenced your decision?
01:59 It means a lot to play with my brother.
02:01 He was my high school quarterback.
02:03 We had a lot of chemistry together.
02:05 And I just love the way that he just always give me a call.
02:10 He wished that I was here playing with him.
02:13 And now it's able to happen.
02:15 But I always wanted to play with my brother.
02:18 That was my dream coming out of high school,
02:20 was to play with my brother and see how to do or be here.
02:24 All right.
02:24 We'll go back to the front row on your left for Brendan.
02:27 When you entered the transfer portal
02:29 and you were able to--
02:30 I guess Florida State became a reality
02:32 to potentially play with Ja'Kai.
02:33 I guess what were the conversations you guys had?
02:35 And what did he tell you about his time at Florida State,
02:38 the way the offense runs?
02:39 Just what were conversations you had with Ja'Kai
02:41 about Florida State?
02:42 The conversation with my brother was like,
02:45 you got to come here and put the work in.
02:47 He told me about how tour duty is.
02:49 Like, man, it's really a mental thing.
02:51 Like, every little thing here matters.
02:53 And I always wanted to be a part of something like that,
02:56 like a great program.
02:58 And it is what Florida State is.
03:02 It takes a lot out of you.
03:04 And you really got to have a strong mental to be here.
03:08 Every little thing just matters.
03:11 Front row on your right for Kurt.
03:14 Hey, Jalen.
03:14 You talked about special teams and your expected ability
03:17 to contribute there.
03:18 Obviously, that's something this staff
03:20 puts a lot of time into, pays a lot of attention to, I guess.
03:24 How many different ways do you think
03:25 you can be impactful in special teams?
03:27 And I guess, how nice is it to see a staff that cares about
03:29 as much as you seem to?
03:32 Special teams always been a big factor.
03:35 Just par return, kickoff return, that
03:37 will be a huge factor to just giving me the ball in space.
03:41 But other than that, I just don't
03:43 feel like I'm a special teams guy.
03:45 I feel I can get the ball in any type of way.
03:48 I don't care.
03:48 Like you said, I'm a small back.
03:51 I'm going to show you I'm on a bigger back level.
03:57 So--
03:57 Right next to me, Matt, second row to your right.
04:04 FSU had recruited you previously out of high school.
04:07 How much did those relationships play into you coming here?
04:10 Those relationships played heavy.
04:12 I had a great relationship with Coach Narvel and Coach Jack.
04:16 They always stayed the same, and he always
04:19 just told me to be ready.
04:21 So the opportunity came, and I was ready.
04:24 All right, stay there for Ira.
04:27 Along with your brother, there's a ton of New Orleans
04:29 and Louisiana guys on this team and on this coaching staff.
04:32 How nice is that?
04:32 And how many of these guys did you know before?
04:35 I know a lot of them.
04:37 I know Greedy.
04:40 I know Fat.
04:41 Man, it's a lot of guys on the team.
04:43 And it just feels great to have some of those guys
04:46 here, and it's basically like Louisiana was here,
04:50 so we just building a culture and bringing it here and just
04:53 making the team better.
04:55 We'll go back to Essend, second row on your left.
04:58 I know it's very early, and you guys
04:59 haven't taken the field as a practice practice.
05:01 But how do you think the running back room compliments
05:03 each other right now?
05:04 Man, the running back room compliments each other
05:07 each and every day.
05:08 We understand it's a brotherhood,
05:10 but at the end of the day, it's going to come to a competition.
05:13 But man, we all got love for each other, man.
05:16 We got guys in the room.
05:17 We got Rodel, we got LT, we got Kha'Zix, man.
05:21 We got guys that can go.
05:24 We'll go back to Brendan, front row on your left.
05:26 From a skill set perspective, both at running back,
05:28 returner, wherever you're going to line up,
05:30 I guess, what are things that you
05:31 feel like you bring to the table that make you unique?
05:33 And then secondly, what are some skills
05:34 that you're trying to build on, work on during your time here?
05:37 Things that make me unique?
05:39 I think I got great speed, great change of direction.
05:42 But there's also some things I need to work on.
05:44 Each and every day, I think I need
05:46 to work on pass detection.
05:48 That's a bad side to just being a small back.
05:52 But I feel like I still got to fight
05:53 it to pick up a Mike linebacker, any type of linebacker, really.
05:58 But it just all comes with repping and just getting better
06:02 at it.
06:03 Go back to Ira a second.
06:05 On some of these returns, we've watched them on videotapes.
06:10 What's that feel like, man?
06:11 Do you know I'm gone pretty early in the return?
06:15 Yeah, I know pretty early in the return when I'm going on.
06:17 If it's a big hole, just hit it, stay true to the gap,
06:20 and just speed from there.
06:23 Just being part of a program who has a legitimate chance
06:35 of winning a national championship,
06:37 is that a different sort of challenge for you?
06:39 How exciting is that?
06:40 Man, that's very exciting, coming from--
06:44 not to say a bad program, but just coming to a winning
06:48 program and seeing a program that's on the rise.
06:50 I feel like this year, man, we got the athletes
06:53 to go and compete out there with some of the best colleges
06:57 out there.
06:58 But it's going to take a lot out of you
07:01 just to come and compete every day.
07:04 Coach Narvaez always teaches you always
07:07 got to get 1% better each and every day.
07:10 It's always a little thing that matters in life.
07:15 He always tell everybody the same thing,
07:19 like just continue to get better.
07:21 I was going to ask two questions.
07:25 Are there any running backs that, growing up or even now,
07:28 that you look at and say that you identify with,
07:31 that you have a similar skill set?
07:34 Running back I look at, I look at Darren Sproles.
07:37 I also look at Tyreek Hill.
07:41 I look at-- there's tons of running backs out there.
07:44 It's everybody, everybody good nowadays.
07:48 And then I know the tour duty can be tough for a lot of guys.
07:51 You're a guy that obviously could probably run for days,
07:54 but is it even challenging for a guy like you?
07:56 Some days.
07:57 Some days you feel like, man, I got to go do this again.
08:01 But it's just football.
08:05 Wake up, it's just something that you got to do.
08:08 Go back to Ed Wong.
08:10 When you interact with a coach as a recruit,
08:13 sometimes it can be a little bit different
08:15 than when they're your coach as an actual player, when
08:17 you enroll.
08:18 How cool, I guess, is it that Coach Norvell seems
08:20 to be a pretty consistent guy?
08:22 The way he recruits you is the way
08:23 that he actually is when you show up on campus.
08:25 Man, look, I'll just say, like, there's
08:28 nobody in the G compared to Coach Norvell in the G.
08:32 He never going to change.
08:34 You never can tell if he having a bad day,
08:37 but he always staying positive.
08:40 Everything he said is true.
08:41 He just wants you to be you.
08:43 And it's going to work out fine.
08:45 Jalen, kind of along those lines,
08:58 you mentioned you'll be part of the running back room.
09:00 Can you also talk about your relationship with Coach
09:02 Jack and how that's going these past couple of months?
09:05 My relationship with Coach Jack, he just--
09:07 it's great, obviously.
09:09 But he just always tell me, man, it's
09:13 going to take a lot out of you.
09:14 You just got to come in with joy game.
09:17 Like he say, he was on the road.
09:19 He say he's recruiting guys better than us.
09:22 So it just make you just want to go harder.
09:26 You feel me?
09:27 So I just feel like, man, Coach Jack is a great, great,
09:32 great coach.
09:32 Like he got the proof in the pudding.
09:34 Like he got running backs in his room that had great numbers.
09:38 Like Trey Benson, Kenneth Gainwell,
09:42 his resume is official.
09:43 Like it's real.
09:47 Anything else?
09:48 All right, thank you, Jalen.
09:50 You're welcome.
09:50 Thank you, Coach.
09:51 You're welcome.