‘He’s laser-focused’: FSU’s Jaiden Lars-Woodbey simply gets things done (2024)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Donnell Lars-Woodbey knew it was bad right away.

He had seen his son, Florida State linebacker Jaiden Lars-Woodbey, get rolled into by a Florida State teammate when attempting to make a tackle during a late-September win against Louisville last season. His wife, Lanette, was in the stands at Doak Campbell Stadium with her husband and knew a player was hurt, but didn’t know it was her son.

“Whenever somebody gets hurt, I always look to find Jaiden’s number,” Lanette said last week in a phone interview. “I’m like, ‘OK, where is he?’ … Then my husband handed me my stuff and he was like, ‘Are you going to go down there?’ And so I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s Jaiden.’ ”

After Lars-Woodbey had an air cast placed on his left leg and was carted off the field, the couple made their way down to the training room to see him before he was taken for X-rays.

“When we went to the hospital that night, I was trying to show him Adrian Peterson workouts when he tore his ACL and how he came back immediately,” Donnell said via phone. “That’s what I was trying to get into his head, something positive. So he won’t keep on dwelling about it like, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ ”

Lars-Woodbey played through a torn labrum as a freshman in 2018 and had surgery after the season, but he’d never missed a game because of an injury in his life. While the X-ray didn’t show any broken bones, the MRI the next day revealed ligament damage in his left knee. His season was over. Lars-Woodbey was facing something unfamiliar in having to come back from a devastating injury. Both he and his family had to adjust accordingly.

Dr. William Thompson, who also worked on Lars-Woodbey’s shoulder, did the surgery on his knee. Initially, Lars-Woodbey was wheelchair-bound. Then, he had to use crutches. Next, he could walk but not run. During FSU’s recent “Tour of Duty” conditioning program, he was limited to working separately with a rehabbing group of players. For the three spring practices the team was able to complete, he participated while wearing a non-contact jersey.

“I’m feeling great,” Lars-Woodbey said last week. “I’m glad I’m back out here.”

Much has changed since Lars-Woodbey got injured. FSU finished 6-7 and coach Willie Taggart, who recruited Lars-Woodbey to campus in 2018, was fired. After a month-long search, Mike Norvell was hired as his replacement. As he’s rehabbed, Lars-Woodbey has had to acclimate to a new coach, a new defensive coordinator and a new position coach.

“Every year it’s always change, but I just feel like this year we’re a little bit more disciplined, in my opinion,” Lars-Woodbey said. “A lot of guys are a lot more disciplined and serious. The last three years weren’t the best for Florida State. They were all learning years. We don’t want to have another one.

“The ’17 class and the ’18 class, we’re stepping up a lot because we’ve experienced the tough times at Florida State. We don’t want to have that again.”

Not much has gone according to plan for Lars-Woodbey since signing with FSU. He was a four-star recruit who was a national top-40 prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle, but he didn’t receive an offer from FSU — his dream school — until December 2017, right after Taggart was hired. He signed with the Seminoles about a week after getting the offer.

Lars-Woodbey played safety at powerhouse Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco and was a top-five national prospect at the position, but he’s yet to play safety in college. He played FSU’s “star” position, a safety/linebacker hybrid, as a freshman; he started all 12 games and earned ESPN Freshman All-American honors.

He worked at safety last spring, and around that time, he announced that he was changing his last name from Woodbey to Lars-Woodbey. Lars is his mom’s maiden name, and he changed his last name to honor his grandfather, who died before getting the chance to watch Jaiden play in college.

“I never had a problem with it,” Donnell said of the name change. “. . . That was big to (Lanette). She gets emotional. When she sees ‘Lars,’ that’s her father’s name. And she’s a daddy’s girl. For him to do that, it’s kind of cool.”

While he was at safety during the spring, Lars-Woodbey was moved to inside linebacker in preseason camp. Then, in Week 3, starting edge linebacker Joshua Kaindoh suffered a season-ending injury. Lars-Woodbey then moved again, to replace Kaindoh, and was playing edge linebacker when he suffered his own season-ending injury the next week.

It would’ve been easy for Lars-Woodbey to become discouraged. He’d gone through three position changes in just two seasons and now faced a daunting recovery. Instead, he chalked it up as a learning experience.

Lars-Woodbey played more of an emphasis on film study and learning the ins and outs of the game. He went for treatment two or three times a day, never missing a day, and attacked his rehab aggressively. He said his film study helped him understand “what everybody else has to do. Knowing what the defensive line has to do, knowing what the back end has to do and knowing what the middle piece has to do — it’s just like a big puzzle.”

He also stayed on top of his school work. He wasn’t happy about not playing, but that didn’t stop him from going to games to support his teammates. His parents often attended games, too, wearing No. 6 jerseys in support of their son.

“I already knew how Jaiden would take it because Jaiden is tough,” Lanette said. “Whatever he has to do, he’s going to do it to get better.”

Initially, Lars-Woodbey needed help with everything: Getting up the stairs, putting his socks on, even standing up and sitting up. Along with the support staff at Florida State, he was able to lean on his parents.

Starting from when Jaiden was injured last September, Lanette, who’s a child care provider, stayed in Tallahassee from Friday through Monday; Donnell, a hair stylist at 430 Hair Studio, then visited from Monday through Thursday. They were there for emotional and mental support, but also to ensure that he stayed on track physically throughout his rehab process.

The couple would join forces on Saturdays for games all the way through the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, and would continue to visit their son until his birthday Jan. 20.

“He’s been playing since he was 7 and he’s never not been able to play,” Lanette said. “For him to have a season-ending injury, it was really tough for him mentally. That’s why I’d be there to try to help him through it and give him words of encouragement. I still went to the games so that I could be there to support him, as well as the team, just so that he could still feel good about it.”

While back home in Fontana, Calif., in the L.A. suburbs, Donnell decided to join in on his son’s rehab. Jaiden would wake up at 6 a.m. to work out, so Donnell got up at 3 a.m. on the West Coast and did the same as a show of support. “Whatever he do, I do,” Donnell said. “Whatever workout he do at the school, I do it here. I’ll go to the gym. I’ll make sure we’re on the same page. He won’t be alone.”

Lars-Woodbey took pride in each milestone along the way. It all blended together as a part of the process within his road to recovery. He’d never failed at anything he’d put his mind to before, and that wasn’t going to start now.

“These are his trials and tribulations in growing,” Donnell said. “Now, he appreciates it. He sits back and he understands that he’s just got to go harder and he’s got to be smarter.”

It’s cliché, but Lars-Woodbey views himself as an improved and more complete individual after his injury. He’s not all the way back yet physically, but he knows that’s only one piece of the equation.

“I took those things for granted,” Lars-Woodbey said. “I went from being a Florida State football player playing every play to not even being able to put pressure on one leg or not even being able to bend down and put my socks on. Our support staff was very important. They helped me get through a lot of dark places and a lot of dark moments.

“It just made me who I am. It made me stronger, it made me more mature and it made me look at football from a different perspective.”

Lars-Woodbey writes his entire day out. He puts down every detail — academic, athletic, recreational — every day. He knows what he needs to do at all times and avoids getting sidetracked. His parents and coaches have helped him put together a routine throughout his two years in college, but that approach has been instilled since his upbringing.

When he enrolled at FSU in January 2018, his parents traveled with him to speak to the counselors and decide which classes he was going to take and what his major would be. They’d stressed the importance of education his entire life, and they felt they needed to ensure that continued once he was out of their hands.

“Everything is for a reason,” Lanette said. “He’s out there on business. He can have fun sometimes, but he’s out there to work. I tell him, ‘You’re 2,000 miles away from your family. You can’t go out there and play around or mess up. If you’re sacrificing this time away from your family, it has to be for something.’ ”

It’s paid off. Lars-Woodbey made the All-ACC Academic Team after the 2018 season and recently was honored as a member of the university’s “Torchbearer 100,” which recognizes students deemed to be exceptional leaders from across campus in their senior year. Although Lars-Woodbey is a redshirt sophom*ore in football terms, he’s set to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in international affairs this summer after only two and a half years in college.

“We always try to finish what we started,” Donnell said. “He don’t go out, he don’t party, he don’t drink, he don’t smoke, and he’s ready for the challenge.”

Lars-Woodbey doesn’t do much outside of activities within the football program, though he does have a girlfriend. It’s not that he’s anti-social or particularly reserved; instead, he won’t allow anything to sidetrack him.

“He has a goal and he’s focused on that goal,” Lanette said. “That’s what he’s working for. He has a path. He’s laser-focused on one thing. All of the other stuff, he’s not going to let that affect him and take him off of his path to reaching his goal.”

Before FSU’s spring practice was postponed, Lars-Woodbey worked at “buck” safety; in coordinator Adam Fuller’s scheme, that’s a safety who’s able to drop back in zone, play man coverage, make run fits and rush off the edge. The needed versatility makes Lars-Woodbey a logical fit, given his experience playing three positions at multiple levels of the defense.

“I’m excited,” Lanette said. “He said that he really likes the direction that it’s going in and he really likes the new coaches. We’re just hoping that he’s able to play the position that he trained to play instead of having to do other things. He’ll do whatever for the team, but it would be nice if he can showcase what he really knows because that’s when you guys will really see something. You ain’t seen nothing yet. You’ve seen that he was good doing a position that he don’t know. Can you imagine what he can do when he actually knows what he’s out there doing?”

Donnell is just happy his son is healthy. Playing his natural position is a big plus, too.

“Once he gets his speed up and his biometrics up, he’s going to be a whole different animal, especially if he’s able to play the position that he feels comfortable with,” he said.

Lars-Woodbey is nearly back. Assuming good health, he’s positioned himself to start at buck safety in 2020 even if spring practice is ultimately canceled. His work isn’t done just yet. He still has to graduate, then begin working on his master’s degree — he hasn’t decided the subject yet. He’s still learning his new role, too. He understands it all, but it’s hard for him not to get excited.

“The training staff, they kind of got to hold me back because I want to do so much,” Lars-Woodbey said. “It’s just a matter of what they say I can and cannot do at the moment. Honestly, I don’t know (what the next step is.)

“I’m just doing what I need to do in order for me to get on the field as fast as I can.”

(Top photo: Logan Stanford / Icon Sportswire via AP Images)