Florida State wrapped up week one of fall camp on Friday with the sounds of thumps between helmets and pads after donning them for the first time this fall. It was a chance for the big guys up front to compete and get physical as they tried to bully the opposing lines around.
Two of the guys up front who were helping lead the charge were defensive linemen Darrell Jackson and Joshua Farmer. The duo were former teammates at Gadsden County High School, and this upcoming season will be the first time the two see the field together wearing garnet and gold.
Long-tenured defensive line coach Odell Haggins met with the media after Friday’s practice to discuss the defensive line unit and remarked on how both players have improved throughout the offseason.
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“One thing I look forward to is he’s leading the guys off the football field,” Haggins said of Farmer. “He’s leading the guys, trying to help guys like [Jamorie] Flagg, DD Holmes, and also he’s getting better as a football player, understanding what we want in the classroom. That’s the thing we want him to keep growing in, the classroom.”
Head coach Mike Norvell had similar praise for Farmer, saying that he is the prime example of pushing to get better.
“You can be an older player and still go get better, you have to and I think Josh has been a great picture of that, Norvell said. “You know, you look at him from his freshman year to where he is now and the improvement that he’s continuing to make. I mean, it’s a choice he’s making.”
Jackson was sidelined last season, not with an injury, but instead by a now-defunct NCAA rule not allowing a player to transfer more than twice without sitting out a year, unless that player is a graduate transfer. He was able to practice with the team in 2023 but did not participate in games until the postseason with his lone appearance coming in the Orange Bowl. Haggins said that his body had changed in the offseason as he continues to grow in his fundamentals.
“One thing is his body has conformed — different body. He’s playing hard. He’s trying to play within the system. He is playing within the system. Fundamentally inside.—that’s what I want from Darrell,” Haggins continued. “Darrell’s got all the attributes to be a great player, but I want him to be a fundamentally sound-playing guy. He can go out and bully a guy around easy, but I want you to do it with great technique. Beat people with technique.”
Former teammates and long-time friends, Farmer and Jackson have built a bond between which Haggins described as ‘like brothers’, and have an attitude towards not letting just each other down but the entire team.
“You know, they’re like brothers. When they hit the field, I tell all my guys, ‘You play like brothers. Hey, the man next to you, you’re going to play hard, you’re going to play. You can’t let him down.’ They look at each other, ‘We can’t let each other down,’ playing hard, doing your assignment, and dominating the man in front of you.”
Watch Haggin’s full interview below.
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Publish date : 2024-07-26 15:50:13
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