There are plenty of ways to become part of Florida State lore.
Some people make a game winning play. Others become famous for a memorable call, a legendary tailgate story, or simply being in the right place at the right time.
Then there’s Cole.
You may know him on X as @ColeW55, but chances are you know him better as the “Waffle House Coach.”
If you watched Florida State’s trip to Duke in 2024, you probably remember him. Shirtless. Headset on. Waffle House menu in hand. Looking every bit like he was about to call the next play from the sideline.
FSU ultimately lost that game, ending a miserable night in Durham, but something unexpected came from it. Cole’s bizarre combination of college football, Waffle House and sheer commitment to the bit went viral.
What started as an attempt to make his friends laugh became one of the more recognizable characters in the FSU online community.
And now, with a new season approaching, Coach Waffle House is back.
The Origin Story
Cole is, first and foremost, exactly what you would expect from someone who ends up becoming an FSU internet character: a lifelong Seminole.
“I was put in a FSU onesie immediately and never looked back,” Cole said.
The Waffle House Coach, however, didn’t originate in Tallahassee.
It started with a bachelor party.
Cole and his best friend Noah had planned a trip to North Carolina during the 2023 season. The idea was simple: mountains, golf, some beers and eventually an away FSU game.
The trip eventually turned into a 2024 return to North Carolina, this time with the Seminoles facing Duke.
There was just one problem.
Florida State had just 1 win on the season and coming off one of the most disappointing starts in recent program history.
And despite the circumstances, there was one thing Cole knew.
Florida State had never lost to Duke.
So Cole decided to try something different.
“I wanted to inspire the fans and prayed before the game that Bobby Bowden would give us a hand from above,” he said.
Then came the headset.
Then came the Waffle House menu.
And, eventually, the shirt came off.
“As for why my shirt was off, no matter where I am the 4th quarter means East Bound and Down and tarps off until the clock hits 0.”
The result was the birth of Coach Waffle House.
Why Waffle House?
The logic behind the character is actually pretty simple.
Cole had spent years watching football coaches stand on the sideline, hiding behind those giant laminated play sheets while pretending to look extremely important.
So he decided to make his own.
Only his play sheet was a Waffle House menu.
“If I’m gonna dress like a coach I’m gonna get a Waffle House menu to ‘call’ plays behind,” Cole explained.
There was also a personal connection.
“Waffle House has taken care of me and is the clear #1 breakfast restaurant.”
And Coach Waffle House takes his order seriously.
His go-to?
An All-Star Special with eggs over medium, hashbrowns smothered, covered and chunked, bacon, white toast with apple butter, a blueberry waffle and sweet tea.
In other words, the man has a game plan.
From Joke to FSU Lore
Cole didn’t initially set out to become recognizable.
He simply wanted to make his friends laugh and hopefully inject a little life into a fan base that desperately needed it.
That changed quickly.
His phone started blowing up with calls and texts.
But the moment he realized the character had become something bigger came at the next FSU game.
At the Miami game, Cole was walking toward a tailgate when Miami fans began stopping him to take pictures.
It was around Halloween, which made the whole thing even more fitting.
Suddenly, Coach Waffle House wasn’t just something his friends knew about.
People knew him.
And then came one of the most ridiculous chapters of the story.
Chris Johnson dressed up as him for Halloween.
Yes.
CJ2K.
The same Chris Johnson who once terrorized NFL defenses.
Cole had actually drafted Johnson onto his fantasy football team back in the early 2000s.
Now the former NFL star was dressing up as Cole.
“CJ2K himself was me for Halloween,” Cole said. “That was wild.”
It doesn’t get much more surreal than that.
When the Coach Met the Real Ones
Eventually, Coach Waffle House made his way into the orbit of the actual Florida State program.
Before the 2024 Florida game, Cole was tailgating when then FSU athletic director Michael Alford pulled up and took a picture with him.
The timing made it even funnier.
It was only about ten minutes after Gus Malzahn had been announced as Florida State’s new offensive coordinator.
Cole joked with Alford that he hadn’t even gotten a chance to apply for the job.
Then there was another memorable encounter involving former FSU quarterback Brad Johnson.
After the UNC game in 2024, Johnson’s brother recognized Cole, which eventually led to Cole meeting “Big Bad Brad.”
For a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, that was a pretty special moment.
And then there was Bert Kreischer.
During the Alabama game last year, Kreischer was guest bartending at MadSo. Cole’s Waffle House menu caught his attention, and Kreischer and Tom Segura ended up signing it and laughing at the whole thing.
At this point, the menu has probably accumulated more celebrity interactions than some actual football players.
But Why Florida State?
Behind the joke is someone whose connection to FSU runs much deeper than a Waffle House menu.
Cole credits his father and his late great aunt Pat for making him a Seminole.
His father’s path to FSU fandom was a little unconventional.
Growing up in Lakeland after spending his high school years in Greenville, South Carolina, Cole’s father put it bluntly:
“I didn’t wanna be like those weirdos in Clemson.”
He eventually gravitated toward Bobby Bowden and the message of Faith, Family, Football.
The rest was history.
For Cole, Florida State has been a constant throughout his life.
“Everything,” he said when asked what FSU means to him. “It’s been a part of me since I was a little kid and I wouldn’t wanna be with any other fan base in the world.”
His earliest FSU memory is also his first game at Doak Campbell Stadium.
October 2, 2004.
Florida State beat North Carolina 38-16.
Cole remembers the score.
He remembers the game.
And, perhaps most importantly, he remembers getting a pretty serious sunburn.
Saturdays in Doak
Ask Cole what makes attending a game at Doak different from watching it on television and his answer sounds like something you’d expect from someone who grew up around the program.
“It’s an actual cathedral of College football.”
For Cole, it’s the history and the connection between generations that make the stadium special.
“Connecting the past to the present and to the future.”
Even the brutal September noon games don’t change that.
“You cannot beat Saturdays in Doak.”
That’s ultimately what makes the Waffle House Coach character work.
It’s funny because it’s ridiculous.
But it’s also funny because underneath the headset, menu and lack of shirt is someone who genuinely loves Florida State.
What If Coach Waffle House Actually Coached?
Unfortunately for FSU, Cole’s coaching résumé isn’t particularly impressive.
“Only on NCAA.”
Still, he has already identified the perfect role for himself.
Director of Sideline Vibes and Energy.
His job would be to make sure the players are locked in while keeping the bench engaged and the crowd involved.
His offensive philosophy?
“Whatever the Spread Option was on NCAA 14. That.”
Honestly, that’s probably enough to get an interview.
He does have some thoughts on the current offense, though.
“Less screens and more pound the rock hard nose football.”
And if he were given one halftime speech, there would be no complicated diagrams or lengthy motivational speech.
Instead, he’d roll a compilation of Bobby Bowden, Jameis Winston and the famous 2023 postgame rock celebrations.
Then he’d deliver the message.
“You’re at FLORIDA FUCKING STATE. PLAY LIKE IT. DOMINATE AND SILENCE THE NOISE.”
It’s not exactly a TED Talk.
But you can probably hear the headset clicking on already.
Coach Waffle House Is Coming Back
After the 2024 season, Cole put the character on the shelf.
There simply wasn’t much to celebrate.
“I had to stop. The team wasn’t showing any fight so I just tabled it until now.”
But 2026 brings a new opportunity.
And Coach Waffle House has apparently upgraded his equipment.
“There’s a brand new and improved menu I’ve been ‘gifted’ for this year.”
The menu is ready.
The headset is presumably ready.
And judging by Cole’s prediction, the expectations are back, too.
He’s calling for 9-3 in 2026, while admitting that his optimism sometimes gets the better of him.
“I’m brutally optimistic.”
The worst case?
“4-8.”
He doesn’t even want to think about it.
That’s the thing about being a Florida State fan.
You can be realistic.
You can be frustrated.
You can spend an entire season wondering what the hell is happening.
But eventually, you come back.
Because the hope never really leaves.
One Last Promotion
If Florida State ever does decide to hire Cole, he’s already picked his position.
Forget offensive coordinator.
Forget head coach.
Just give him the recruiting polo.
“Just let me put on the recruiting polo and send me off to get the next generation of Noles locked in!”
Maybe that’s the best way to describe the Waffle House Coach.
He’s not actually a coach.
He’s not trying to be one.
He’s just a Florida State fan who decided, at one particularly miserable point in Seminole history, that the best way to inspire Nole Nation was to put on a headset, grab a Waffle House menu and take his shirt off.
It didn’t save the Duke game.
But it created something far more lasting.
A character.
A running joke.
A piece of FSU internet lore.
And now, in 2026, Coach Waffle House is back on the sideline.
So if you’re at Doak this fall and you see a shirtless man holding a Waffle House menu, don’t worry.
The coach has the play sheet.
And apparently, the sky’s the limit.