FSU Football Linebacker Cam Riley Expects to Have Critical Role In Adam Fuller's Defense

Riley is coming into Tallahassee to make an impact.

After losing two of its stars to the NFL, the Florida State Seminoles linebacker room will look slightly different this season. Tatum Bethune now plays for the San Fransisco 49ers and Kalen DeLoach is in Tampa with the Buccaneers. The 'Noles looked to reload with two transfer linebackers from the SEC in Alabama's Shawn Murphy and Auburn transfer Cam Riley to compete for the starting job opposite of DJ Lundy.

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Riley met with the media on Thursday to talk about the transfer process and give insight into where he fits in the defensive scheme. After four years at Auburn, Riley said he looks forward to playing inside linebacker because he felt it best fit his abilities.

"I'm looking forward to playing inside linebacker. That's really what I played the majority of my collegiate career. Coming in here, I'll fit into the great defensive scheme that Coach Fuller has," Riley said. "He has the inside backers bouncing inside and outside depending on the package we're in, complementing my game style to bounce from inside to outside, but primarily inside."

FSU had a remarkable 13-0 run last season and went on to win the 2023 ACC Championship Game. A major factor in their undefeated regular season was the defense, and in part, the linebackers as well. Riley said that he likes the aggressive nature of Fuller's style in a defense that allowed an average of 20.62 points per game last year.

"Watching the defense from last year, I seen a lot of great stuff on film. Coach Fuller's defense is very aggressive, and that's something I like doing. I like being in an aggressive defense where I can make negative plays in the backfield. Just watching them from last year and going into this year, I expect nothing but great things out of this defense."

Riley's recruitment to Florida State was an interesting one. He originally pleged to NC State but decided that FSU ws the best fit for him. He and current Florida State offensive lineman Keiondre Jones were teammates at Auburn and played together for two seasons before Jones transferred to the 'Noles. He said that Jones helped him through the process and put the icing on the cake

"You may know Keiondre Jones. He played at Auburn. We played at Auburn together for two years, so really just going through the process with him, you know, talking with him day in and day out about things down here. He told me how good of a program it was and the people around the program and things like that. So just coming down, you know, seeing it for myself, you know, did nothing but put the icing on the cake."

With fall camp starting next week, it will be interesting to see how he fares and fits in with the team. As a summer addition, there shouldn't be much of a learning curve for the 6'5'', 237-pound senior linebacker out of Evergreen, AL.

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