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00:00 How you doing?
00:00 Good.
00:01 How you doing?
00:01 Good, man.
00:02 What's it been like to finally be here?
00:04 And has it been what you expected the first month or so?
00:08 It's been great being here.
00:09 And it's been everything what I expected.
00:13 A grind really toward duty, how that started.
00:16 So that's been a grind.
00:17 But everything else has been smooth.
00:18 It's been a smooth transition from high school to here.
00:21 And I really love being here.
00:22 So it's been good.
00:25 It can be hard for true freshmen to get on the field, especially
00:27 on a good team.
00:28 What do you think you have to do if they told you
00:30 what you need to do to make sure you're
00:32 a part of the rotation and a part of the plans in 2024
00:35 and not just beyond that?
00:37 I feel like I just have to go out there and grind,
00:39 improve myself every day, and do the little things,
00:42 like learn the playbook, go hard in the weight room,
00:45 go hard in tour of duty.
00:46 So just all the little things.
00:50 We've got one on the Zoom here from Logan.
00:54 Hey, Landon.
00:54 What about Mike Norvell's offense?
00:57 What do you think excited you the most
00:59 about picking Florida State and how you fit into that scheme?
01:04 I just like how they spread everybody around the field.
01:09 They just don't keep somebody in one specific spot.
01:12 I can go outside.
01:13 I can play the slide.
01:15 So I just like how they will use me more
01:18 versatile in their offense.
01:21 We'll go up front on your left here.
01:23 Start with Chris.
01:24 [INAUDIBLE]
01:29 Hey, Landon.
01:30 Can you talk about your relationship with Coach Thompson
01:32 and just what it's like to kind of get coached by him
01:34 now that you're in the fold?
01:36 You know, Coach Thompson--
01:38 we've got a good relationship.
01:39 Coach Thompson was one of the first people
01:41 to give me an offer my ninth grade year.
01:42 So that connection was building over the years.
01:46 And we have a really good connection with each other.
01:49 That's my man, really.
01:51 Just really, he's a really cool person
01:53 to be around every day now.
01:56 I'm loving to get coached by him right now.
01:59 Who are some of your fellow classmates, freshman,
02:01 that you're close with?
02:03 And what about that group stands out or is unique to you?
02:07 I'm close with a couple, like Todd, BJ, Jaden Todd.
02:13 And I feel like this recruiting class is special.
02:15 You know, we've got a lot of unique playmakers
02:16 in there always.
02:17 So I feel like we've got a really good class here
02:19 right now.
02:23 In that tie-down room, have you gotten close
02:25 with some of the players yet?
02:27 You've been kind of trying to learn from in that room?
02:30 Somebody I've been trying to learn from is Kyle.
02:32 He's a hard worker.
02:33 Like, every day I sit in the weight room,
02:35 he's working hard.
02:36 So I'm trying to feed off of his energy
02:39 and work as hard as I can, too.
02:41 So Kyle's definitely one of them.
02:44 Kurt, on your right up here.
02:52 You flipped, obviously, back in the spring
02:53 before this past season.
02:55 I guess making that decision, you talked about the offense,
02:57 and then seeing how the success so many tight ends had,
03:00 I guess how validating was that of seeing I
03:03 can make a similar impact?
03:05 You know-- wait, can you ask one more time?
03:08 So many different tight ends who played in different ways.
03:11 I guess just how validating did that make your decision
03:13 to flip back in the spring?
03:15 I see how they was using Jaheim a lot.
03:16 Like, they moved him all around the field and got him the ball.
03:20 So that's what I was liking, too.
03:22 That's like, I can do that, too.
03:23 So that's what really drove me.
03:26 Not really, but that's--
03:28 it was a little place on it when I flipped back.
03:30 We'll put that up some over here so the mic gets there.
03:35 On that note, what's your skill set?
03:47 What are you good at?
03:48 Are you similar to Jaheim Bell, like in how you think
03:51 he could be used?
03:52 Or what's your skill set?
03:54 I feel I could be used similar to Jaheim,
03:56 but I feel like my best attribute
03:57 is in the pass catch game as a tight end,
04:00 but also my blocking.
04:02 So that's really-- my blocking-wise and pass catch
04:05 overall, really.
04:06 You guys have-- there's a lot of players on the team
04:17 from South Georgia.
04:18 How many guys did you know?
04:19 Were any of them close to you coming up?
04:23 Really, BJ, to be honest.
04:25 I've been knowing BJ through mutual friends
04:27 for the past couple of years and stuff.
04:28 So it was really BJ, the main one, and Cam Davis.
04:31 I've been knowing about him since I was little,
04:34 like PB football and stuff.
04:37 I've been hearing Cam Davis' name since I was 10,
04:40 something like that.
04:42 We'll go to another one on Zoom here from Logan.
04:45 Hey, Landon, any plans this offseason?
04:48 You're listed at 245 right now, but what
04:50 does Coach Storms have in plan for you this spring?
04:53 Weight-wise?
04:55 Yeah.
04:57 For the spring, I want to get at like 235.
05:01 And I'm about there.
05:02 I'm at like 232.
05:03 Got you.
05:06 Sure.
05:06 Another South Georgia guy, not really
05:11 from your part of South Georgia, is Luke,
05:13 the quarterback of the class.
05:15 I mean, you want that quarterback to be the leader type.
05:17 How much was he that guy?
05:18 Was he kind of a glue guy or a leader in the class?
05:22 Yeah, I felt like Luke was definitely a leader in our class.
05:25 Luke would pull up to people, sign the days.
05:27 He always would check in on me, ask me how my family does.
05:29 So I felt like Luke was a great leader and somebody
05:32 that was encouraging me good in my recruitment process.
05:34 He stayed on me.
05:35 I was kind of two parts.
05:40 One was, did you play a lot of other sports coming up?
05:42 And then also, are there any athletes, college or pro,
05:45 that you've kind of watched that you feel
05:47 like you're similar to them?
05:49 Growing up, I used to play baseball a lot.
05:51 And I played a little basketball, but not too much.
05:54 But you said similar players in college?
05:56 Yeah, the college NFL that you watched.
05:59 I watched Trevor Kessler a lot.
06:01 That's who I try to model my game after.
06:02 Have you figured out how he's always open?
06:08 No, I don't.
06:09 I haven't.
06:09 [LAUGHTER]
06:11 I haven't.
06:13 [INAUDIBLE]
06:18 Landon, whether it was your coaches in high school
06:20 or the people you trust, when you go to get advice,
06:23 is it best to want to come here as a freshman
06:25 and have the idea in your mind to make an impact,
06:27 to actually get on the field to make an impact?
06:29 Or do you need to just kind of see how the chips fall and go
06:32 with the flow?
06:33 In my mind, I always think I want
06:36 to come in and make an impact.
06:37 But if the roads play out, I have to just sit and wait.
06:41 My turn, I would do that.
06:43 But right now, I want to come in and make impact any way I can.
06:45 You mentioned your blocking skills earlier.
06:50 Through your recruitment, you always
06:51 said how much you love blocking.
06:53 Most tight ends might say they like pass catching better.
06:55 But why do you like blocking so much?
06:58 I feel like that's a better way for me to get on the field,
07:01 blocking-wise.
07:02 Everybody can't block for real.
07:04 So I feel like if I can get down blocking,
07:07 I feel like I can get on the field faster.
07:09 [INAUDIBLE]
07:11 When it comes to recruiting, we'll
07:12 hear about pressure that you guys
07:15 feel to make your decision.
07:17 How hard was it to be from the state of Georgia,
07:19 commit to that program, and then end up
07:21 flipping and sticking with your commitment throughout all of it?
07:24 My decision wasn't really hard at all.
07:26 Throughout my whole recruitment process,
07:28 it wasn't really too stressful for me.
07:29 I just knew where I wanted to be myself.
07:32 So when that time came, I just made a decision
07:34 and chose Florida State.
07:38 Playing at Coquitlam County and the history and tradition
07:41 of that program, how big were the crowds you played out
07:44 in front of in high school?
07:45 And do you think that helped you in terms of just understanding
07:49 the importance of football compared
07:51 to maybe some other high schools that kids come from?
07:53 Yeah, definitely.
07:54 I played in a couple of games with a very large crowd.
07:57 So I felt like that.
07:59 South of Georgia football is different.
08:00 It's really important.
08:01 It's the only thing you can do for real down there.
08:03 So I felt like that really drove me to coming somewhere
08:07 and I like how I packed the games.
08:11 I feel that makes me play better.
08:13 No error for mistakes.
08:15 I'm just going to add one for the last one.
08:17 How important in your decision making
08:23 was it knowing that a talented quarterback, a guy like Luke,
08:26 was also going to come to this class?
08:28 How important was that for your college decision
08:29 to know that you're going to come with a quarterback that
08:31 could help you also maximize your skills?
08:34 That was a very important quarterback.
08:36 You want to know who is going to be throwing you the ball.
08:38 You want to make sure you get to know that person.
08:40 So I feel like over my recruitment process,
08:41 I got to know Luke better and I got to know him way better
08:44 since we've been here.
08:45 So it was very important for him to be in the class.
08:50 OK.
08:50 Thanks, Landon.
08:51 Thank you.
08:51 Appreciate it.
08:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]