Massive freshman OL Andre’ Otto turned down the Ivy League so he could attend Florida State

For most of his life, Andre’ Otto didn’t figure he would be getting a college football scholarship.

Key West isn’t exactly a football hotbed, and he got so little attention during his first couple of seasons in high school that he assumed it just wasn’t going to be a part of his life.

That changed, he said, near the end of his junior season. And now, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound freshman is a proud member of the Florida State football team.

“I really didn’t think I was able to go D-I,” Otto said when he met with the media this past week. “And my first offer, I still haven’t even talked to the coach. They gave me the offer, my coach told me about it, and then after that I feel like I started to become more well-known. And I was able to kind of put myself out there more, and that’s when it started to spread.”

To the point where he was being offered by Alex Atkins to play on his offensive line in Tallahassee.

But Otto isn’t like most offensive linemen.

For starters, he ran the 200-meter dash as a sophomore at Key West High School. And while he wasn’t threatening any state records in the event, that speaks to his athleticism.

And then he also was accepted to Princeton University, among others, and said he thought seriously about enrolling there before eventually deciding on Florida State. So that, of course, speaks to his intellect.

“I was really considering Princeton,” Otto said. “I like to think I’m a smart kid, but I don’t think I’m Princeton smart (laughing). I’m just saying. But honestly, I was looking for a school that really had what I was looking for. And Princeton had a film program, it’s just not as well-known as FSU.”

Neither is the football team, of course.

And while Otto certainly has the brains and personality to become a successful filmmaker (or anything else for that matter), he was at the podium earlier this week to mainly answer questions about his football career and what he’s hoping to accomplish in Tallahassee.

The freshman was excited to talk about a possible future career in the arts, but he also was excited to talk about what he can do on a football field. And how the two passions are able to co-exist.

“I’m not saying I’m a different person,” Otto said, “but when I zone in and I’m going against another person, I guess it’s like a flick of the switch? I’m not really sure how to describe it, but it just happens.”

He said he’s not entirely sure what position he’ll start out at on the offensive line for Atkins and head coach Mike Norvell. He said he played every position on the line in high school and isn’t opposed to giving them all a try at Florida State either.

He was ranked the 44th-best offensive tackle prospect in the country by the On3 Industry Ranking and the 112th-best player in the state overall. He doesn’t come into college with a ton of fanfare, at least not compared to other signees in the class, but the consensus three-star recruit said he’s willing to do anything and play anywhere for the Seminoles.

“Whatever can put me on the field the fastest I feel like is the best route,” Otto said.

That likely won’t be this year, of course.

First-year freshmen don’t typically play a lot on the offensive line. And the team Otto joined is likely going to be a preseason Top 10 team that many people think can challenge for a College Football Playoff spot in 2023. So, this will almost certainly be a learning and growing year for Otto under Atkins’ tutelage.

But he’ll also get to learn from his teammates. Because there isn’t a college football team in the country that has more experience on the offensive line heading into 2023 than Florida State.

“The whole team is like really welcoming,” Otto said. “They’ve brought me in really nicely, helped me with my plays if I don’t know. I’ve gone over to [Robert Scott’s] apartment and we went over plays one day. Compared to high school, where it’s just like that seniority thing, it’s not nearly as much here as it was in high school.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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