Virginia
Gateway announces Virginia megachurch founder as new senior pastor
Gateway Church plans to announce during service today that the church has a new senior pastor: Virginia megachurch founder Daniel Floyd.
Floyd and his wife, Tammie Floyd, will be leaving their roles as senior pastors of Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Va., a megachurch they founded about 20 years ago that now has five Virginia locations. The Floyds plan to start their new chapter at Gateway around August.
In 2016, Daniel Floyd founded Fredericksburg-based Lifepoint College, a school offering two-year degrees and certificates in subjects including ministry, leadership and biblical studies.
Gateway Church in Southlake has been without a senior pastor since last June, when its longtime senior pastor and founder Robert Morris resigned after being accused of sexually abusing a child in the 1980s. Morris was indicted in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child in Oklahoma and made an initial court appearance in Osage County court May 9. Morris’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Floyd came to Gateway in March to preach a sermon on prayer during the church’s first service since the Oklahoma Attorney General announced the news of Morris’ indictment.
In a Friday interview, Floyd told The Dallas Morning News that before a Gateway elder reached out to him early this year, he had no plans to leave the church he founded. “Honestly, in 20 years, I’ve never looked — I’ve just been really content in the calling that we have right now,” he said.
Tra Willbanks, the chair of Gateway’s board of elders, reached out to Floyd in January through a mutual friend to discuss the possibility of Floyd coming to lead the church. “My first thought was: ‘How would this impact [my] family, and is God in this?’” Floyd said. “And then I think after that, you begin to ask those questions of ‘Do I have what it takes?’”
Floyd said his decision to move to Texas was informed by his daily prayer time and his understanding of what God was calling him to do.
He wakes up around 5:30 every morning, and starts his day with coffee, Bible reading and then prayer for around an hour. “I want God to speak to me before I talk to anybody else, or even before I talk to him,” Floyd said.
Over the past few months, Floyd said, he’s felt God encouraging him to come to Gateway through signs in his daily prayer and Bible reading and through conversations with friends and mentors. “At some point, my wife and I, we were just like — ‘You can’t make this up anymore, how much God is directing and guiding this,’” Floyd said.
Willbanks, who was also part of the Friday interview with The News, said Floyd was giving up a “thriving church” to come and “do a lot of repair work in a community.”
“We needed somebody that understood that for what it was,” he said.
Floyd said he was up for the challenge.
“I don’t want to coast in my life,” he said. He finds the “big task” of leading Gateway both daunting and exciting. “It’s all those emotions in one.”
Willbanks told The News in January that Gateway set up a committee of about 20 to 30 people, including both staff and members, men and women, to help vet the new senior pastor. The church also added four new elders in January to help vote on a senior pastor, choosing people who were not “in the bubble” of how things were run at the church before June, according to Willbanks.
In discussing what the church wanted in a future senior pastor, Willbanks said humility was a top priority. He said he and Floyd spent time talking about the humility and vulnerability needed to stay grounded while leading a large church.
“[Floyd] called me at one point in this process, and he had told me that he had gone back to some of his closest friends and just asked them … ‘Do I show up like a celebrity?’” Willbanks said.
That capacity for self-reflection was a good sign to Willbanks.
“A narcissist doesn’t do that,” he said.
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
The Florida State Seminoles recorded their second ACC victory of the season in the middle of November. On Saturday night, FSU took down Virginia Tech, 34-14.
The Seminoles outscored the Hokies 24-7 in the second half, overcoming a 7-3 deficit in the second quarter to win by 20 points.
READ MORE: FSU football ends home slate on high note with 34-14 win over Virginia Tech
Here are 30 notes surrounding various data-points from the game.
Stats To Remember From FSU’s Win Over Virginia Tech
- Florida State won its 600th game in program history Saturday, beating Virginia Tech 34-14 in the home finale at Doak Campbell Stadium. Among schools with 600 all-time wins, FSU (79 seasons) and Appalachian State (96) are the only schools to play fewer than 100 seasons.
- Head coach Mike Norvell improved to 27-9 in November as a head coach, including a 14-5 mark at home. FSU is now 22-2 under Norvell when allowing fewer than 20 points, with a 5-0 record in 2025.
- The Noles improved to 25-13-1 all-time against the Hokies, with a 15-6 mark at Doak.
- Wide receiver Duce Robinson led Florida State with 6 catches for 134 yards and a 50-yard touchdown. Robinson’s five 120-yard receiving games are tied for the national lead and are the most for a Seminole in a season since 2014 (Rashad Greene, five).
- Robinson’s 947 receiving yards rank 18th in FSU single-season history and are the most for a Nole since 2019.
- Robinson’s touchdown was Florida State’s seventh of the season of at least 50 yards.
- Robinson’s catch was his third of at least 50 yards in 2025, 2nd-most in the ACC behind teammate Micahi Danzy’s four. Robinson leads the ACC with 10 30-yard catches.
- Robinson also broke up a pass on Virginia Tech’s hail mary to end the first half. He previously had an interception on a hail mary vs. Penn State while with Southern Cal in 2024.
- Florida State has had a 100-yard receiver in five consecutive games, the Noles longest streak since 2013-14 (five games).
- Quarterback Tommy Castellanos was 12-for-24 for 189 yards and three total touchdowns – one passing and two rushing. His touchdown pass to Robinson was his eighth pass of 50+ yards, most in the ACC and top-5 nationally.
- Castellanos’ eight rushing touchdowns are tied for the team lead and a new FSU’s singleseason record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (Jordan Travis had seven rushing touchdowns each season from 2020-23).
- Castellanos’ three total touchdowns tie his most in a game this season.
- Castellanos will enter the NC State game with 6,006 career passing yards.
- True freshman Mandrell Desir forced a fumble on a 4-yard sack in the third quarter, the first forced fumble of his career. Linebacker Blake Nichelson fell on the ball, his first career fumble recovery and FSU’s second of the season.
- Nichelson added a 3-yard tackle for loss on fourth down in the fourth quarter.
- Desir later teamed up with Omar Graham Jr. for a tackle on 4th down, forcing a turnover on downs. Desir finished with three tackles in the game, while Graham had five tackles and now has 102 for his career.
- Desir leads FSU with 5.0 sacks and 6.0 tackles for loss in 2025. His 5.0 sacks are the most for an FSU true freshman since current New York Giant Brian Burns had 9.5 in 2016; Desir’s 5.0 sacks are the 2nd-most for an FSU true freshman since 2005.
- Safety Ashlynd Barker had five tackles with 1.0 tackles for loss and ranks second on the team with 5.0 TFL for the year.
- Tight end Randy Pittman Jr. rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter, his third rushing touchdown of the season. Pittman’s three rushing TDs in a season are the most for a tight end in 2025 and most for an ACC tight end since 2019.
- Pittman’s touchdown followed Nichelson’s fumble recovery; FSU has scored points after 11 of 14 takeaways in 2025, with eight touchdowns.
- Senior cornerback Jerry Wilson’s interception on Virginia Tech’s third play was his 3rd of the season and 8th of his career.
- Wilson’s interception was FSU’s 11th interception of the season and was FSU’s first takeaway on an opening drive since an interception vs. Boston College in 2022.
- Wilson added a 5-yard tackle for loss on 3rd-and-2 on the Hokies’ next drive, his first of the season. Wilson’s TFL forced a Virginia Tech field goal try from 54 yards that was missed short.
- Earl Little Jr. had six tackles and one pass breakup, the second PBU of his career.
- Redshirt senior Stefon Thompson forced a fumble, the fifth of his career and his first since 2023.
- Jaylin Lucas returned consecutive kickoffs for 37 and 39 yards in the second half, FSU’s two longest kickoff returns of the year and Lucas’ longest as a Seminole. Offensively, Lucas added 13 yards on two catches and 10 yards on two runs.
- Kicker Jake Weinberg connected on two field goals to tie a career high. He was 4-for-4 on point-after tries, extending FSU’s streak to 159 straight made PAT.
- Florida State did not punt, the Noles third game without a punt in 2025. Entering the season, FSU did not punt in only four games in school history.
- The three games without a punt are the most in the country this year and match the most in a season since 2007.
- In a pregame ceremony, Florida State recognized 18 seniors: LS Mason Arnold, WR Gavin Blackwell, DB Shyheim Brown, QB Tommy Castellanos, TE Markeston Douglas, OL Gunnar Hansen, LB Elijah Herring, RB Caziah Holmes, DL Darrell Jackson Jr, DL Jaden Jones, OL Richie Leonard IV, OL Adrian Medley, OL Luke Petitbon, OL Micah Pettus, LB Stefon Thompson, WR Squirrel White, RB Roydell Williams and DB Jerry Wilson.
READ MORE: Mike Norvell sickened by FSU football’s loss to Clemson: ‘that comes down to all of us’
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More Florida State News
Only two hours remain until the Florida State Seminoles kick off their tenth game of the 2025 season.
The Seminoles are back in Doak Campbell Stadium for the seventh time this year, hoping to end things off on a positive note in Tallahassee. Florida State is 4-2 at home but 0-3 on the road this fall.
READ MORE: FSU football navigating Tommy Castellanos’ potential return for 2026 season
Virginia Tech is hoping to spoil Florida State’s senior day. The Hokies had a week off to prepare for the road trip.
The Seminoles and Hokies will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
Earlier this week, Florida State announced DB Ja’Bril Rawls, DL Deamontae Diggs, DB Quindarrius Jones, DB Ricky Knight III, LB Caleb LaVallee, LB Ethan Pritchard, and DB Donny Hiebert would miss the game.
Rawls was injured in FSU’s loss to Clemson last Saturday.
In the first two ACC availability reports, Florida State listed two players as questionable (TE Chase Loftin, RB Samuel Singleton Jr.) and six others as probable (RB Roydell Williams, WR Lawayne McCoy, DE James Williams, WR Jayvan Boggs, OL Gunnar Hansen, WR Teriq Mallory).
The ACC released its final availability report for the matchup two hours before kickoff, providing final updates from Florida State and Virginia Tech.
On gameday, the statuses for players on the report are out, game-time decision, or available.
The total number of missing players is up to 23, 15 for Virginia Tech and eight for Florida State.
The Seminoles will get some much-needed reinforcements with redshirt junior defensive end James Williams and true freshman wide receiver Jayvan Boggs returning to the lineup.
Running back Samuel Singleton Jr. and left tackle Gunnar Hansen are game-time decisions. Tight end Chase Loftin has been ruled out.
Virginia Tech backup offensive lineman Tommy Ricard will play.
Check out the full report below.
FLORIDA STATE:
OUT:
— DB Ja’Bril Rawls
— DL Deamontae Diggs
— DB Quindarrius Jones
— DB Ricky Knight III
— TE Chase Loftin
— LB Caleb LaVallee
— LB Ethan Pritchard
— DB Donny Hiebert
GAME-TIME DECISION:
— RB Samuel Singleton Jr.
— OL Gunnar Hansen
VIRGINIA TECH:
OUT:
— S Quentin Reddish
— CB Joshua Clark
— WR Keylen Adams
— WR Chanz Wiggins
— LB Gabe Williams
— CB Caleb Brown
— RB Braydon Bennett
— CB Jojo Crim
— DL Sherrod Henderson
— DL James Jennette
— OL Montavious Cunningham
— OL Brody Meadows
— WR L.J. Booker
— WR Joseph Hobbs
— DL Andrew Hanchuk
READ MORE: Mike Norvell sickened by FSU football’s loss to Clemson: ‘that comes down to all of us’
Stick with NoleGameday for more FREE coverage of Florida State Football throughout the 2025 season
Follow NoleGameday on and Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok
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