How Thomas Castellanos navigated Boston College benching to become Florida State’s answer at QB

Deep in the doldrums of summer, we have Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos to thank for providing some peak offseason entertainment. The former Boston College standout lit social media aflame with comments he made to On3 in regards to Florida State’s Week 1 game against Alabama this season. 

But he didn’t stop there. He expressed overwhelming confidence in Florida State bouncing back, said that he “tore the ACC up by my damn self for the last two years,” throwing shade at Boston College in the process, and claimed that he wasn’t “repaid” for the effort that he gave the Eagles. 

For now, at least, Castellanos is college football’s main character. The Seminoles are hoping he can carry that energy into being the savior of Florida State football. 

Here’s a look at how Castellanos went from being benched at Boston College to becoming Florida State’s expected starting quarterback in 2025.

Castellanos and O’Brien an imperfect marriage 

Castellanos flourished in 2023 — his first season with Boston College — as one of the most dynamic rushers in all of college football. In fact, he led all quarterbacks with 215 carries for 1,114 yards and 13 touchdowns. Former BC coach Jeff Hafley played to those strengths and crafted his team’s offensive approach around Castellanos’ abilities. 

The Eagles drew up 125 designed runs for Castellanos in his 12 starts. He dipped under 40 yards rushing just once in a single game and reached that production behind a strong offensive line that allowed just 16 sacks all season. Granted, Castellanos mitigated the sack risk with his ability to scramble around and with the fact that over a quarter of his total touches came on designed runs. 

When Bill O’Brien arrived in Chestnut Hill, though, the philosophy changed. This is the same O’Brien that suggested former Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe — who was selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft — should switch positions (according to Milroe, at least). 

Thanks in large part to his background in the NFL with the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans, O’Brien employs a pro-style scheme. That means less improvisation and designed runs and more reading the defense and keeping the chains moving with crisp passing for the quarterback.

On the surface, at least, Castellanos’ passing numbers improved dramatically in his eight games under O’Brien. His completion percentage ticked up to 61.5%, he threw more touchdowns (18 in 2024 compared to 15 in 2023) and cut down on his interceptions (from 14 to 5). 

But that came with a drastic dropoff in rushing production, limiting the best part of Castellanos’ game. He carried the ball 93 times for 194 yards and one touchdown, which put him on pace for 139 total carries (remember, he had 125 designed runs in 2023) for 291 yards and 1.5 touchdowns if he played a full 12-game season with O’Brien’s Eagles. 

He didn’t. 

Castellanos’ midseason exit 

Though Castellanos (ironically) led Boston College to an early season upset of then-No. 10 Florida State, it became apparent rather quickly that neither Castellanos nor O’Brien were comfortable with the pairing of quarterback and offensive scheme. Castellanos was limited by various injury issues throughout the year and things reached a head in November when, during Boston College’s game against Syracuse, Castellanos was benched after starting 2-for-7 with one touchdown and one interception. 

The Eagles turned instead to Grayson James, who completed five of his six pass attempts for 51 yards and a touchdown while leading Boston College to an upset victory against a 10-win Syracuse team. James never relinquished the job. 

In his five games as Boston College’s starter, the Eagles averaged 230.2 yards passing per game, compared to 144 yards passing per game with Castellanos running the show. Castellanos also ranked last in the ACC in QBR (38.3) and points above average (essentially a metric of the number of points contributed by a quarterback) among qualified starting quarterbacks. 

Shortly after he was benched, Castellanos left the team and announced he would enter the transfer portal, a promise he fulfilled when the winter window opened.

Finding Florida State 

Landing at Florida State is a homecoming, in more ways than one, for Castellanos. He was born in Miami, but spent his formative athletic years at Waycross, Georgia’s Ware County High School. 

He was lured back to the Sunshine State when he signed with UCF in 2022. There, he spent a year under current Florida State offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

Though Castellanos didn’t play much in his lone year with the Knights, Malzahn and the Seminoles didn’t hesitate in pursuing Castellanos once he entered the transfer portal for a second time. Castellanos committed to Florida State just over a week after Malzahn was hired. 

He immediately gives the Seminoles some much-needed stability at quarterback after their disastrous 2-10 season. He’s also returning to a system he should be much more comfortable in. 

Malzahn identified Castellanos out of high school as a player that fit his offense. Malzahn’s spread offense encourages creativity, and rushing ability, from the quarterback position. 

Malzahn’s quarterbacks averaged 164 carries per year in his last three seasons at UCF. Then, of course, during Malzahn’s time at Auburn, he developed signal callers like Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton and the versatile Nick Marshall who were renowned for their abilities outside the pocket. 

Florida State’s new spread approach can also cover some of Castellanos’ deficiencies as a passer. There will be plenty of screens and short, quick route concepts to get the ball out fast and stay ahead of the chains. 

There are fair questions to be asked about how Castellanos fits with a Florida State team that lacked in clear leadership last season, but his June confidence has at least sparked the otherwise stumbling Seminoles. 

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