Florida State wrapped up fall camp by giving Ashton Daniels the rock.
The graduate transfer quarterback was the one chosen to break it, closing out another of Mike Norvell’s long-running traditions. The sledgehammer moment, which traces back to Norvell’s Memphis days, is reserved for a player who has separated himself across the different stages of the calendar.
"Man, I'm excited to do this s- with y'all, let's f-ing get it, love y'all boys," Daniels said.
The Seminoles’ football account later posted that Daniels “brought it every day of camp and broke the rock 🪨,” with the caption, “The countdown is on ⏳ #NoleFamily pic.twitter.com/EtglwELnv3”
Norvell confirmed last week that the ritual is still very much part of the program.
"We do, that's something we've done," Norvell said.
He also said this camp has given him a clear read on the team’s overall response to the grind, the swings and the pressure points that show up before a season begins.
"I've been really pleased with this camp. Very few coaches are going to come in here and say, well, I hate what we just did," Norvell said.
"But you know in different teams, in different areas, there's confidence that's been built through their preparation. Then there's also areas year in and year out, like alright, these are some of the areas of concern.
I've been really pleased with this football team, just their mindset, the production, the growth, how they've responded to the back and forth.
"You can usually get a pretty good sense of the emotional maturity of a team through how they handle the ups and downs of fall camp. If you have one side that's just dominating every day, then some unknowns are going to show up as you get into the season.
But as you see the defense have a good day, what's the offense's response? Vice versa.
And guys individually, if they have a day where maybe they miss a tackle, maybe drop a ball, miss a throw, whatever that is, what does that next day look like? Or even within a practice what does that look like?
I've been pleased with the emotional maturity these guys have shown throughout fall camp. So it will not be an easy decision, because a lot of guys have really rose to the challenge of what we want."
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