Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos had a waiver applying for an extra year of eligibility denied by the NCAA, according to a social-media post by his attorney Darren Heitner. The attorney indicated in his post that the ruling would be appealed.
Mike Norvell confirmed that the waiver was denied and said that Castellanos was going through the process of weighing options after the decision.
“His waiver was denied. I know Tommy is going through his process of fighting for opportunity,” Norvell said. “We support Tommy in being able to explore all things that he wants to and needs to do for his potential eligibility and playing.”
This places Castellanos’ college future in murky waters, and likely forces FSU to explore the possibility of adding a veteran transfer quarterback. Norvell said all parts of putting together a championship roster will be looked at when asked about the possibility of adding a transfer quarterback. He did say with Castellanos’ process looking to go on indefinitely, FSU will “move forward”.
Castellanos spent this past season at FSU, where he reunited with his previous head coach at UCF (2022), Gus Malzahn, who came to the program as an offensive coordinator this offseason.
The results were largely mixed, with some really bright moments as well as bouts of inconsistency. Castellanos finished the year with 2,760 passing yards and 15 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He led FSU with 557 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. He was also responsible for half of FSU’s fumbles this year, with five.
Noles247 first reported earlier this week that FSU was exploring experienced signal callers already in the transfer market.
Castellanos previously said that he would only consider returning to FSU if he received a waiver, and acknowledged that he was unclear how the waiver process would play out. That now seems unlikely.