SAN FRANCISCO - No member of the Florida State football team should be more excited about next season than Brandon Warren.

FSU coaches already kept a recruiting promise to put the football in the true freshman's hands. Warren, despite missing one game with a hip injury, needs just five catches and 34 receiving yards in the Emerald Bowl to become the most productive Seminoles tight end in a single season in 30 years.

And FSU coaches have offered Warren an opportunity this spring to hone skills as a defensive end so that next fall he can become a rarity in today's college football - a two-way player.

But Warren concedes he is uncertain whether that bright future will be fulfilled wearing the Garnet and Gold. The talented athlete is torn between two loves - his mother, who lives in Alcoa, not far from the University of Tennessee, and FSU football.

"All my life I wanted to come here and play, and I made a commitment to this university to be here," Warren said. "But my mom, she's not doing great right now. And that's been hard. My mom told me she maybe would like me to come back home.

"I want to be here, but my heart is with my mom and being at home. I'm so close to my mom. My dad wasn't around, so that's all I've had is my mom. In this situation, football is kind of secondary.

"Even when I was making my decision (to attend college) I knew my mom's health wasn't really great. That's one of the reasons I checked back with UT and made sure I didn't want to go there."

One of Deirdre Warren's kidneys was removed in June 2005 after cancer was discovered. She does not believe the cancer has returned, but tests taken Tuesday will tell her more and possibly explain why she is in so much pain and facing other problems. She continues to work in research development for a national corporation, but said that she still has health-related problems.

Those tests results, said mother and son, will likely go far in determining Brandon Warren's next move. At that time, he said he'll talk with tight-ends coach John Lilly and head coach Bobby Bowden about his future. Until now, Warren said he has not discussed with coaches about returning home or transferring.

Deirdre Warren said she doesn't want to put pressure on her son. She admitted enough of that was done in the recruiting process with so many family members wanting him to attend Tennessee. And she tries to tell her son during their daily phone conversations not to worry.

"I hate he's in this predicament again because of his mother and her health," said his mother. "I would like him back home if he felt like he needed to be here. The decision is really his to make. It was his decision to play at Florida State. It's also his decision to make if he wants to stay there.

"I tell him he's not a doctor and he couldn't help but to give support. I have a good support system."

With a daughter who attended FSU back home, Warren's mother worries about his support system. She notes her son is private and difficult to read, even for her.

"Obviously, if there are things going on at home, particularly where you have a loved one who is sick, that is going to affect you," Lilly said. "But, at the same time, you have people who love you where you are. I think that makes it easier to go through."

One of those players who has talked to Warren about his situation is senior offensive tackle Mario Henderson. He was just 9 years old when his mother died of cancer.

"His mom comes first," Henderson said. "I talked to him and told him, 'You have to do what is best for you.' "

But, understandably, players and coaches want Warren to finish his career at FSU. Former tight end Matt Henshaw, who last season was the first tight end to have more than 20 receptions since 1997, called Warren's talent amazing.

"And to have a real impact on the offense as a (true freshman) shows how talented he is," Henshaw said.

Lilly can't recall a more athletic tight end during his dozen seasons as FSU's tight ends coach. Warren has more receptions than all tight ends combined in all but one of the previous eight seasons. Warren also had some drops, and he needs to add strength.

"He showed a lot of faith in us and what we were going to do at the position while he was here," Lilly said. "Hopefully, we stood up to that end of the bargain as far as giving him opportunities.

"He's made a bunch of plays, and a bunch of big plays for us. But there were a lot other plays that he could've, should've, would've made and he's the first person to tell you that. But he can catch the football, and there really is nothing you (can) draw up he can't do."

Warren has shown that by moving ahead of a number of former tight ends who made it to the NFL, including Pat Carter, Lonnie Johnson and Zeke Mowatt - on the season list for receptions. Warren said he is thankful coaches put him in that position. He also can't wait to add defensive end to his collegiate resume.

"There's not a whole lot of guys playing two ways in college," Warren said. "It would be fun."

The question is whether Warren will be doubling his fun at FSU next season.

"I'm just stuck in a pickle, it feels like," Warren said. "It's definitely a difficult situation. I don't really know what to do."