Florida State is heading into a rivalry trip to Miami with another roster loss on the books. Freshman cornerback Chuck Kennon, the top-rated signee in the Seminoles’ 2026 recruiting class, has been dismissed, according to a university spokesman Tuesday.
The school said Kennon was removed for “conduct detrimental to the team,” and he no longer appears on the official roster. No additional explanation was offered.
Kennon arrived in Tallahassee as one of the biggest prizes of Mike Norvell’s tenure. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound defensive back from Booker High School was Florida State’s lone top-100 recruit in the class, and the 247Sports Composite had him at No. 41 overall and No. 3 among cornerbacks nationally. Florida State beat out Georgia, Florida, Miami and LSU for his commitment in July 2025.
He stuck with the Seminoles even as Norvell’s future became a talking point during Kennon’s senior year, and he made his loyalty clear at the time.
“I’m a Seminole fan at the end of the day. I love Florida State. No matter the coaching staff, I feel like I’d still be where I’m at,” Kennon said.
On the field, though, his freshman role never really got going. Defensive coordinator Tony White said earlier this year that Kennon had a path to work into the rotation, and cornerbacks coach Blue Adams also spoke highly of him in preseason camp.
“He’s young, he’s energetic,” Adams said. “Sometimes you’ve got to tell him, ‘Hey, focus up.
We’re going this direction.’ But he’s coachable.
That’s what I like about him.”
Kennon didn’t dress for games early in the season and ended up playing just one snap in Florida State’s 38-7 win over Virginia on Oct. 3.
His dismissal doesn’t change much for Saturday’s matchup from a week-to-week standpoint, but it does take away a long-term piece from a defense that’s coming off a rough night at Louisville. Florida State was torched in a 44-20 loss last Friday after piling up 10 sacks against Virginia - the program’s most since 1997 - then giving up 397 rushing yards to the Cardinals. Isaac Brown did most of the damage, going for 235 yards on 17 carries.
“Too many times, we didn’t show the detail, the discipline, the mental toughness that’s necessary on the road. And it starts with me,” Norvell said after the loss.
That defeat stretched Florida State’s road losing streak, which dates to 2023, and kept Norvell in the latest college football hot seat index.
Florida State is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the ACC heading into its trip to unbeaten Miami on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN - the same program Kennon chose the Seminoles over.
In Other News...
Cal Defense Faces A Brutal Test Against Wake Forest's QB
Cals defense is bracing for one of its toughest assignments yet with Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez coming into view this week. Tosh Lupoi and his staff have spent the buildup stressing the same point: Lopez can beat a defense in more than one way, with the kind of passing accuracy that keeps drives alive and the rushing ability that punishes any lapse in contain. For a Cal group that has had trouble handling the run this season, that makes the prep as much about discipline as it is about scheme.
Lupoi and the Bears have talked about mixing looks and staying sound across the board, because Lopez is the sort of quarterback who can turn a single breakdown into a long night. Cal knows it cannot afford to get pulled out of position chasing one part of Wake Forests offense while the other part keeps moving the chains, and the challenge now is translating that recognition into a defense that holds up for four quarters. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Defense Faces Its Toughest Test Yet Against Wake Forest
Wake Forests staff is already treating Cals defense like the standard it will have to measure itself against this week, with head coach Jake Dickert praising the Bears before the matchup and framing the unit as the toughest one the Demon Deacons have seen since Miami. That kind of respect fits the way Cal has played on that side of the ball, where Tosh Lupois group has shown real bite in pass coverage and a knack for attacking the football while making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable.
The challenge now is less about recognition and more about matchups, because Wake Forest brings a mobile quarterback in Gio Lopez who can change the geometry of a play when the pocket breaks down. Lupoi has acknowledged that the Bears have been strong against dropback passers, but the moving parts that come with scrambling quarterbacks create a different test, and one Cal will have to handle better if it wants its defense to keep the same edge it has shown so far. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces A Telling Test Against One Of The ACC's Hottest Teams
Wake Forest arrives in Berkeley riding a three-game winning streak and carrying the kind of profile that makes this a useful measuring stick for California. The No. 21 Demon Deacons sit near the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference, so Saturday night gives Cal a chance to see how its recent win stacks up against one of the leagues hottest teams.
For California, the matchup comes with some extra moving parts after injuries have forced adjustments on the offensive side. The Bears will have to sort through those changes against a Wake Forest team that has been in good form and has already shown it can make opponents pay when things get rolling, which is exactly what makes this one worth watching in Berkeley. [Read more 🡒]