'Scared the heck out of me': Florida State football coach made quite the impression on incoming transfer

Former Auburn offensive lineman Keiondre Jones was not quite ready for the energy of Florida State head coach Mike Norvell on his visit to Tallahassee.

As is customary for Norvell, he greeted Jones and his mother with a lot of enthusiasm when they entered the building.

"The first thing is his energy," Jones said at his introductory press conference Thursday. "First time I met him when I got here, he yelled at me and my mom. It wasn't really a yell, it was a 'good morning.' It scared the heck out of me.

"I wasn't used to that. I played for coach (Gus) Malzahn. He's a laid-back guy. He brings a lot of energy. ... That yell, I was like, 'is he mad, or what's going on? Did I do something wrong?'"

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Jones joins a loaded transfer portal class for the Seminoles. FSU ranks second behind LSU for the top transfer portal class, according to 247Sports.

For the 6-foot-4, 340-pound guard the decision to transfer to Florida State was an obvious choice.

He said he watched the Seminoles' games on YouTube TV this past season and has high aspirations for what the team can do next season.

"Why not? That's the biggest thing to me. It's Florida (State)," Jones said. "It's coming off a 10-win season. I think a lot of guys in the back end of their careers or looking to do something special in their career, they know that we've got something special going on here. And that's talking to anybody who might enter the Portal here soon.

"Keep your eyes open about Florida State, I'm telling you. We've got high hopes. Championship hopes. Championship goals. I don't even want to say hopes. Goals. That's what we expect."

Jones said he watched the LSU, NC State, Florida and Cheez-It Bowl against Oklahoma this past season. He had already committed by the Cheez-It Bowl, but he then noticed something in the bowl game, based on a conversation with offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins.

"One thing that was huge for me was Coach Atkins came to my house, he told me they do this thing where the offensive line fist bumps between every play," Jones said. "So I'm thinking I've never seen that before. So I go back and watch the game and you're like 'oh, they do that before every play for real.'

"That's kind of huge because it's like no matter what happened last play, no matter how tired I am, no matter how long the drive is going, no matter how bad the game is going, no matter how good the game is going, I've still got you to my right and my left."

Jones is one of three additions to the offensive line room for the Seminoles through the portal.

With Dillan Gibbons and Jazston Turnetine exhausting their eligibility, FSU will have open roles on the offensive line up for grabs.

Jones, who is in his final year of eligibility, said playing time was important to his decision to transfer.

"It's important to me, obviously, but nothing is going to be promised here," he said. "To be honest with you, it wasn't like a 'you're going to come in and we're going to just give you this spot.' No, they brought in good dudes in this room, there are good dudes in this room. So, it's earned."

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State football coach Mike Norvell scared me, transfer says