During the Mike Norvell era, June and July have annually been significant months in high school recruiting efforts. Norvell isn\u2019t strong in prep recruiting but he likes to take a bulk of his commitments in the summer and sit in the leader\u2019s chair while trying to fight off other programs during the fall. The degrees to which that has been a successful approach are varying, particularly with a nasty streak of Norvell losing his top-rated recruit each of the past several years, but nothing seemed to change this summer.<\/p>\n
Florida State added eight of its 13 current verbal commitments in the month of June this year. However, it only hosted a total of 24 prospects on June official visits. Doesn\u2019t seem like much, but how does that stack up against the past five years?<\/p>\n
2025: 51 official visitors in June2024: 39 official visitors in June2023: 28 official visitors in June2022: 14 official visitors in June2021: 17 official visitors in June<\/p>\n
There was a steady increase of June visitors over the past four cycles, culminating in a whopping 51 last cycle. The drop this year is significant but not unprecedented, as Norvell had fewer in 2021 and 2022 and similar numbers in 2023. The difference, of course, is that Norvell had a lot more control over recruiting and was trying to sell a new regime in those early years.<\/p>\n
Now? He\u2019s trying to salvage one, and is working alongside a new organizational structure with less control in recruiting. It can be argued that the Seminoles are investing fewer resources in prep prospects this summer (come to your own conclusions as to why…) and it\u2019ll be interesting to see how things look within the program once late fall rolls around and the signing period looms.<\/p>\n
Going off 247Sports Composite rankings, the blue-chip ratio for this class currently sits at 38%. That may be surprisingly high to some folks, simply based on the state of the program. Despite this national recruiting cycle being below average in talent (IMO), 38% is a bad look for any major program that annually prides itself on summer recruiting.<\/p>\n
As of time of publication, 247 Composite considers Florida State\u2019s class to be the 56th-best in the nation (can\u2019t believe I just typed that). It\u2019s July now, so let\u2019s take a position-by-position look at where Tribe27 stands and give some grades (c\u2019mon, it\u2019s the offseason- no better time to assign arbitrary and meaningless grades!)<\/p>\n
Commit: 3-star Logan Flaherty. Flaherty is a developmental QB with decent mobility and a strong FSU family pedigree. He\u2019s appropriately rated a 3-star and will need years of development before he can play meaningful snaps. To his credit, he is trying his best to help recruit.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: None. FSU didn\u2019t cast a wide net and put too many eggs in the Wonderful Monds IV basket. The Seminoles couldn\u2019t even get an OV from him prior to his highest bidder Notre Dame pledge, and with the handful of other offered targets committing elsewhere, FSU quickly pivoted to Flaherty instead. They beat out the mighty Scarlet Knights of Rutgers for the former UCF commit. Not terribly impressed by new coach Austin Tucker yet.<\/p>\n
Commit: 4-star Jayden Miles. Miles is a talented player from Louisiana whom FSU likes as a feature back. LSU is still keeping him warm and if they turn up the heat, Miles likely flips. I have to say, I\u2019m a little disappointed in new coach Kam Martin here- he was able to generate some serious early momentum with some very talented players, but wasn\u2019t able to sustain it in the long run. I still think he\u2019s a plus recruiter, especially on this staff, but he may just be a good recruiter who only becomes great with re$ources behind him.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: Normally I wouldn\u2019t be so frustrated over losing a three-star skill player but Marquis Fennell is special. I don\u2019t know why he\u2019s considered a three-star. He\u2019d fit perfectly in the offense FSU wants to run and his football (and general) IQ is above average for such a young man- he\u2019s a future leader in the locker room. I\u2019ll never fault a kid for choosing Stanford when academics is a high priority, but let\u2019s just say this is a recruitment that Norvell\u2019s three predecessors would have easily won. FSU also lost out on numerous other four-star running backs due to NIL or general non-interest, the most painful being Ty Keys, who promptly committed to Miami after FSU couldn\u2019t come to an agreement with him.<\/p>\n
Commits: 4-star Sean Green, 3-star Majay Thompson. Green is a legitimate blue-chip player and Thompson is a nice complimentary piece, though I don\u2019t feel he\u2019s a very solid commit. Green is someone who can contribute early on in his career pending about 10 more pounds of mass. I\u2019m not worried about Tim Harris on the recruiting trail, though.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: Florida State also hosted Antwan Lockett (Georgia Tech). The disappointment and lower grade here comes from the Seminoles losing to Virginia Tech for Came Wade, a prospect for whom they\u2019d long been a favorite but didn\u2019t bring in for an OV early enough, and Jabari Watkins suddenly dropping the \u2018Noles after things looked promising. Watkins in particular would have been a great get from an important recruiting territory for FSU.<\/p>\n
Commit: 3-star Connor Winn. I need significant convincing that he should be part of FSU\u2019s class. I\u2019m not certain he\u2019s even a DI athlete, no less someone a power conference would bring in on scholarship. He\u2019d be a low two-star in the old Rivals rankings. Hopefully he can actually remain healthy this season and stack some good moments on film.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: FSU has thus far failed miserably at this position, unable to even get official visits from its top candidates. Colton Johnson is a decent-looking prospect and came in on a last-minute OV after a bunch of others cancelled, but he\u2019s likely to end up elsewhere. Chris Thomsen is usually an average recruiter but this has been a horrible cycle even for him.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: One. ONE! DaJohn Yarborough is a solid prospect who profiles as a future starter after reshaping his body, but to only manage to get one offensive line prospect in for an official visit is… dare I say, offensive? Yarborough isn\u2019t a sure bet but FSU sits in a decent position for him. We know Herb Hand prefers transfer OL but this is something else… it\u2019s like he just punted on the summer. High school coaches have long memories. This is brutal.<\/p>\n
Commits: 4-star Anthony Cavallaro, 3-star Jaxon Holly. Both guys are high 3-stars to me but neither is a bad take at this stage. Both will need to put on weight and build strength but profile as rotational players and depth at edge is a necessity in this defense.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: What could have been. Before OVs began, new coach Nick Williams had a list of seven or eight blue-chip edge visitors. Attrition hit hard as players started committing elsewhere but it showed Williams knows how to build strong relationships with guys. Give him adequate re$ources to work with, and Williams is a major player on the trail. As far as other OVs who made it campus, Stevan Thornton has yet to decide and TK Cunningham ended up at Purdue. Neither are difference-makers. I bumped this up to a B- instead of a C+ strictly based on Williams\u2019 efforts on the trail thus far. He is FSU\u2019s best recruiter on staff.<\/p>\n
Commits: 4-star Sam LeJeune, 3-star Eric Vaulx, Jr. LeJeune is the best player in the class right now and represents a significant victory for the Seminoles after a years-long recruitment. Vaulx is an underrated player who could easily finish as a blue-chip, and both guys should be able to train at several different positions as needed. Nice little summer haul for Terrance Knighton, as Vaulx committed on the last day of May.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: Losing on Jason Lewis keep this grade from being an A and marks the second straight year Syracuse has beaten FSU for a coveted in-state defensive lineman. Lewis would have been a nice addition to the class because he can play all four positions along the defensive line- that kind of versatility is extremely helpful when building out depth along the line. Karlos May also took an official to FSU and has yet to decide, though I\u2019d be very surprised if he chooses FSU.<\/p>\n
Commits: 4-star Jernard Albright, 3-star CJ Ohuabunwa, 3-star Olrick Johnson III. Albright was a very pleasant surprise when he flipped from South Carolina and is someone who can immediately help on special teams and profiles as a future starter. Ohuabunwa is an extremely intelligent and disciplined player who has great leadership potential. Johnson was recently offered by LSU and his ranking should rise by hundreds. While none are immediate starters, all three have the potential to develop into rotational players at worst if they stick things out in Tallahassee.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: New coach Ernie Sims is by no means an ace recruiter yet but is finding some early success, which is encouraging. Gregory Batson, a longtime commit, parted ways with the Seminoles after his official visit. I didn\u2019t mind Batson being in the class but I think he\u2019s a three-star talent and losing him isn\u2019t a big deal. He was flirting with Mississippi State and still hasn\u2019t found a landing spot yet, which should tell you all you need to know. Fred Ford came in for an official visit but left after a couple hours because the staff wouldn\u2019t meet his NIL demands. Good move on FSU\u2019s part there to not waste time or energy- if you\u2019re that far apart on numbers, no need for the kid to be on campus. FSU wasn\u2019t able to generate enough momentum to keep OVs with Mikahi Allen, Ethan Hauser, or Ellis McGaskin.<\/p>\n
Commit: 3-star Jemari Foreman. Tied for most interceptions last season at 10, Foreman should rise in the rankings with another strong senior season. I think he\u2019s on the border of blue-chip status. He\u2019s a nice player who shows great instincts, but likely won\u2019t be able to contribute right away. That said, having to drop a bag to keep him from going to Louisville is concerning.<\/p>\n
Official Visitors: 4-star Mekhi Williams, 3-star Dayon Cooper, 4-star Ta\u2019Shawn Poole. I couldn\u2019t be more disappointed in defensive back recruiting, the one position where Florida State should NEVER have a problem accumulating talent. Never thought I\u2019d see the day when FSU couldn\u2019t even gain enough traction for OVs with a majority of its blue-chip DB targets. FSU\u2019s two defensive back coaches are getting their asses kicked in this cycle and NIL isn\u2019t an excuse. Losing a coveted in-state defensive back like Williams to Wisconsin is absolutely ridiculous, money or not. Cooper wants to play wide receiver in college and FSU wasn\u2019t willing to promise that, so he flipped to Tennessee instead. No big deal there, I\u2019m fine with him leaving. Ta\u2019Shawn Poole was trending heavily toward FSU but the Seminoles couldn\u2019t convince him not to take one last OV to Georgia, who is now the primary competition. He would be an immense get for the Seminoles and would see the field earlier in Tallahassee than he would in Athens. Poole has said numerous times that longevity and consistency in relationships is very important to him, which Florida State has demonstrated and Georgia has not. We\u2019ll see if he\u2019s a man of his word or not because if UGA truly wants him, they\u2019ll be able to outbid FSU.<\/p>\n
Florida State still has summer decisions upcoming from a few prospects but to no one\u2019s surprise, everything will depend on how the season goes and what, if any, changes are made on the coaching staff. We\u2019ll be with you for the ride to see how things shake out.<\/p>\n
And remember, everyone knows that verbal commitments mean less than ever before, and you don\u2019t need to announce your departure from following recruiting- this is a comment section, not an airport. Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the Mike Norvell era, June and July have annually been significant months in high school recruiting efforts.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[11398,167416,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-740436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-florida-state-football","tag-florida-state-football-recruiting","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}