Florida State went out and made a real statement when it flipped Ousmane Kromah from Georgia on Early Signing Day a few years ago, and the Seminoles have every reason to believe that bet is about to pay off in a bigger way.
Kromah arrived as a top-100 prospect and still carved out a role immediately, even with a crowded backfield around him. Florida State had Gavin Sawchuk, Samuel Singleton Jr., Roydell Williams, Jaylin Lucas, Kam Davis, and Caziah Holmes in the mix, but the true freshman still finished third on the team in rushing with 72 carries for 408 yards. He also caught 9 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
That production came despite a rotation that made life harder than it needed to be. Florida State leaned on the backfield by committee last season, sometimes using as many as six backs in a single quarter. For a young player still trying to find his footing, that kind of stop-and-start usage can keep a runner from ever settling in.
Now the Seminoles are trying to unlock the next level under new running backs coach Kam Martin, and the early signs point toward a much bigger sophomore season for Kromah.
Martin has come in with a demanding style, and he’s made it clear the standard in his room won’t budge. During Florida State’s open practice last week, he was on his group from start to finish, coaching players hard, making them repeat reps and constantly reinforcing the details. At one point, he even got in Kromah’s face after a lost rep in pass protection work against the linebackers.
Martin’s approach is rooted in belief. He sees a player with real upside and is pushing to bring it out.
"Ous man, I'm very hard on Ous, man. I know Ous he has all the tools to be very special, man," Martin said on Monday.
"He takes hard coaching, that's what I love about him. He's a guy that's in the building all day, trying to get on the VR boards, trying to study protection, trying to watch film.
He's in my office all day."
"Ous is a guy that's going to take that next step this year," Martin added. "I'm hard on him just like I'm hard on all the other guys. I feel like Ous, he's ready to go."
Kromah has no problem with the intensity. In his eyes, it’s part of what makes the room work.
"He inspires us, he pushes us, we grind every day. Like there's no not grinding with Kam Martin, I'm going to be real.
He makes it fun but it's also very serious at the same time," Kromah said. "We know what we got to do.
We know we've got a job to do this year. When you've got somebody like that, it really pushes you to be behind him."
The offseason has also brought a physical reset. Kromah said he got up to 225 pounds during spring camp before dropping to 216 pounds heading into preseason, with conditioning a major focus in his first full college offseason. He also spent a lot of time in the VR room working on pass protection.
"Conditioning. This year, I want to be in there all the time," Kromah said.
"It's more or less, you just want to be in great condition so you never want to come out the game. You can always have better conditioning, in my opinion."
Florida State has also brought a little more edge and emotion into fall camp, and Kromah says he welcomes it.
"Oh yes, it's competition. We love that at Florida State.
It wouldn't be fun if that wasn't happening. That's what we need," Kromah said.
"I'm going to be real, that's how it's going to be on the field. When we're in between those lines, that's how we're going to treat it.
But right outside of that, we're going to go back to loving each other."
The Seminoles will get their first scrimmage of the preseason on Tuesday evening.
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Norvell has already signaled that this seasons rotation will look different, which makes the early part of the opener especially worth watching. With so many pieces competing for snaps, Kromahs rise has created a real ripple effect in the depth chart, and Florida State may be about to learn how quickly his offseason momentum turns into game-day opportunity. [Read more 🡒]