Florida State\u2019s defensive coaching staff for the 2026 season is coming into greater focus.<\/p>\n
John Papuchis<\/a>, who has been the Seminoles\u2019 linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, is leaving to take a position at Missouri, according to ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel.<\/a><\/p>\n Papuchis previously coached defensive ends at Florida State and has been on the staff since Mike Norvell<\/a> came to Tallahassee in 2020.<\/p>\n With Papuchis leaving, Florida State could elevate former Seminole star Ernie Sims<\/a> to linebackers coach \u2014 he served as assistant linebackers coach this past season and as a defensive analyst before that. Defensive coordinator Tony White<\/a>, who played linebacker in college and has coached the position, could also take over that spot.<\/p>\n There was an indication Papuchis could be leaving when Florida State hired Nick Williams<\/a> as Edges coach and pass-rush coordinator earlier this month.<\/p>\n White\u2019s defensive coaching staff now features Terrance Knighton<\/a> as defensive line coach, Williams handling the Edges, Blue Adams<\/a> coaching the cornerbacks and Evan Cooper<\/a> handling the safeties. White did not have responsibility for a specific position last season.<\/p>\n Warchant.com\u00a0provides just what passionate FSU fans expect: Market-leading coverage of Seminole athletics and recruiting.<\/p>\n Join the largest Florida State fan community and receive all the benefits that come with it:<\/p>\n Elite team and recruiting coverage of the program you love.<\/p>\n Exclusive video and board Q&A\u2019s with\u00a0Warchant\u00a0staff.<\/p>\n Interaction with the most passionate Seminole fans across multiple board forums.<\/p>\n 10% off all\u00a0Garnet & Gold<\/a>\u00a0purchases while holding an active membership. Member exclusive discounts once a month at even higher savings.<\/p>\n Access to\u00a0Warchant\u00a0member benefits and giveaways at site events.<\/p>\n So much more!<\/p>\n SIGN UP:\u00a0Join Warchant\u2019s FSU Community for $1 today<\/a><\/p>\n Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida State\u2019s defensive coaching staff for the 2026 season is coming into greater focus. John Papuchis, who has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-380309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}