Syracuse, N.Y. — Former Syracuse defensive coordinator Tony White joined the Florida State football program before the season and has been thrust in a difficult position, one in which the fanbase is furious with losing 11 of its past 12 conference games.
On Tuesday, White detailed that the losses by the Seminoles have led to extreme reactions on social media, including death threats.
White mentioned the death threats casually, while discussing being a coach and trying to help players tune out negativity from outside sources.
“You wanna get caught up in it, you’ll get caught up in it real quick,” White said when discussing how he helps his team deal with outside criticism. “You’d be surprised. You hear the stories. Got death threats. Got all this kind of stuff in my Twitter. If I want to get caught up in it, I’ll get caught up in it. It would take me into a black hole.
“But they don’t see the work. They don’t see the locker room. They don’t see it’s not the same losing.”
A reporter than followed up to clarity if White had actually received death threats directly.
“(You see it) all the time, bro,” White said. “That’s real. … Death threats. Worst defensive coordinator in the country. Take you and your family and da da da da da. Guys, that’s part of social media, right? That’s the vitriol that’s out there. And that’s what you sign up for in this profession.”
White is in his first season as the defensive coordinator at Florida State, moving over from Nebraska after last offseason.
His unit ranks in the middle of the pack statistically in the ACC, ranking eighth in scoring offense (22.6 points per game), sixth in total offense, fifth against the pass and seventh against the run.
White was Syracuse’s highest-paid coordinator during his final season in 2022, leaving SU to take an even higher-paying job at Nebraska.
He spent two years with the Cornhuskers before joining Florida State, where he now finds himself on a staff where the head coach, Mike Norvell, is fighting to maintain his job.
Florida State went 2-10 last season that might have been chalked up to a hangover following the team’s omission from the College Football Playoffs due to an injury to quarterback Jordan Travis.
The Seminoles appeared poised for a rebound, beating Alabama as part of a three-game win streak to open the season, but have now lost four straight games, all of them ACC games.
Last week’s was a particularly baffling effort with Florida State falling 20-13 to Stanford, a defeated that led to even more angst among FSU fans.
Afterward, the school announced that it will complete a “comprehensive assessment” of its football program at the end of the season.
“When you’re not producing the way you’re supposed to produce there’s a couple of those people out there that want to let you know. That’s fine. I get it. … That doesn’t mean we can’t go out and work. That’s what Coach Norvell is doing, out of all the noise and all the darkness, we’re right there. All we need to do and it’ll be bright days.”
Two players who played for White at Syracuse are also enduring the difficult season in Tallahassee.
Cornerback Jerry (known as Jeremiah at SU) Wilson has two interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus, he has fared well in coverage but struggled to tackle and finish plays. Linebacker Stefon Thompson has been a rotation player and occasional starter, making 12 tackles.
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