Did the Seminoles head coach liked what he saw out of the transfer quarterback? Or is there a lot of work ahead?
Ashton Daniels earned the Florida State football offensive keys early from head coach Mike Norvell.
Monday's spring football practice marked the first time the quarterback transfer could take control of the offense. Daniels is taking in Tallahassee after exiting Auburn, but is back in the Atlantic Coast Conference after playing at Stanford in 2024. He also got the chance to impress some visiting recruits who took in the first Florida State spring practice.
Did the returning head coach liked what he saw immediately out of Daniels? Here's the review he handed reporters after spring practice No. 1 wrapped up.
"I thought he threw the ball really well today. He was able to locate it," Norvell explained.
That's a strong sign that Daniels is off and running in his transition to FSU. Norvell also liked the chemistry Daniels attempted to build out the gate in his spring debut with the Seminoles.
"You could tell those guys—receivers and quarterbacks—for the first day, you could see the work they've done on their own," Norvell said. "It was pretty clean when it came to that."
FSU still has a ways to go in fully inserting Daniels into its offensive system. But Norvell liked how the veteran QB handled himself at full speed.
"He had really good control," Norvell said. "I thought he played fast, which is what you want for a first day."
Norvell clarified that he's not plopping one thing after another for the incoming QB.
"There's not much that we're asking him to do that's totally different than something he's done before," Norvell said.
At the same time there'll be some different elements sprinkled in that Daniels didn't previously gain at his last two stops.
"There are some foundational elements that he can pull upon, but now it's how we do it and the finer details—where we want eyes, the locations, the reads," Norvell said. "As we're putting that together, there are things that really fit that we knew coming in would be a really good fit for his skill set."
Daniels brings a 60.2% completion percentage with 4,783 passing yards in tow to Tallahassee. He has 24 touchdown passes but 22 interceptions.
Daniels will be called to handle handoffs too. He tallied 1,397 rushing yards at Stanford and Auburn with 11 touchdowns there. But he'll need to improve his record as a starting QB, as he went winless with the Tigers last season.
But Daniels got off and running in day one of his first spring ball at FSU.
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