ACC Kickoff has been a special moment for Florida State football linebacker Kalen DeLoach.

He's watched players before him get the opportunity to represent the Garnet and Gold on the conference stage, and now he gets to be one of those faces.

His blue suit and patterned tie coordinate with his pocket square and socks, with a small arrow pin darting across his jacket to represent FSU.

"I'm feeling comfortable and confident," he said to the local media Wednesday morning.

It's a long way from where he was his freshman year. A 4-star linebacker out of Islands High School in Savannah, Georgia, he committed to FSU over Clemson, LSU and others.

He came into an FSU program that was on the decline, following Jimbo Fisher's exit in 2017.

Then-head coach Willie Taggart was fired at the end of DeLoach's freshman season after FSU missed a bowl game for the first time since 1981. Two more seasons saw the Seminoles go 8-13, with multiple players and coaches making exits from the program.

However, DeLoach, and those remaining from his recruiting class, persisted.

"My 2019 class stuck together for as long as we could," DeLoach said. "When we all committed, we wanted to be that class that was going to change the culture and the view of the program. Just three brotherhoods we have. We stuck through it all. We were going to be here from the time we got here to the time we ended."

When Mike Norvell was hired as head coach in 2020, DeLoach said while things weren't ideal, result-wise, the Seminoles bought into Norvell's philosophy. They were tired of losing and were looking for a change.

"The first year you could tell it wasn't what we wanted it to be," DeLoach said. "As you build those leaders and see what coach Norvell wants every day, you want to do it. We had to buy in because we were tired of losing. We had to come together. The second season we knew we could do it and in the offseason, we had to focus on the little things."

Now entering his redshirt senior season, the landscape in Tallahassee has changed. After a 10-3 campaign and winning its first bowl game since 2017, FSU is a favorite to make the College Football Playoff and possibly win a national championship. DeLoach's commitment has paid off even when things were looking bleak.

"You get around a good group of guys that want you to stay," DeLoach said. "It makes you want to buy into what we're doing here. I never thought about leaving. When I made my decision, I made it for myself. I feel like this is where I want to be. No matter what the circumstances. I committed to the culture. I know what I'm getting out of it and know what I've come here for."

"I could never imagine we would be in this position. Seeing all the different coaching changes, I appreciate all of them. They all taught me something different that I can use in life. I appreciate all my coaches."

While excited about the position of success that the Seminoles could be in this season, he emphasized the importance of the first four games of the year. FSU kicks off its season against LSU, in Orlando, before traveling to Boston College, hosting Southern Mississippi and the traveling Clemson.

"The first four games are the defining factors of your season," DeLoach said. "You see what type of team you have and you see what type of guys you have. The first four games mean a lot for us and we're trying to win as many games as we could."

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU linebacker Kalen DeLoach stayed committed to Seminoles through it all