Florida State is seven weeks out from football, and the early numbers around the Seminoles paint a mixed picture.
Phil Steele’s latest ranking of all 138 FBS teams slots FSU at No. 25, and he projects the Seminoles to finish tied for ninth. That would put Florida State in a better spot than last season’s 5-7 finish, including a 2-6 mark in ACC play, but it still leaves plenty of room for fans to want more than a middle-of-the-pack outcome.
That pressure sits squarely on Mike Norvell. After roster and coaching changes, the expectation now is simple: the results have to show up. If they don’t, the leash in Tallahassee won’t stay long.
One area worth watching is the edge, where JUCO recruiting has become less central in the transfer portal era. Florida State may have an answer in Jalen Anderson, a defensive end whose rise at Pearl River caught attention quickly.
Pearl River coach Seth Smith saw it early.
“When we met Jalen, he was 6-foot-3, around 245 pounds, and we heard he powered through 20 reps of 330 pounds,” Smith said. “I knew then, unless he got here and got soft, he was going to pick his school one day. That’s exactly what happened.”
Anderson backed up that belief with a big sophomore year in 2025. He finished with 7.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and two takeaways, including a pick-six, and he was named conference Defensive Player of the Year.
On the recruiting side, Florida State is also making noise at quarterback. The Seminoles have built real momentum with four-star 2028 QB Chandler Dyson, who visited Tallahassee four times and said the FSU trip stood out above the rest.
“They acted like they loved me,” Chandler said. “The coaches were excited for me to be there and fired up the whole time. They really showed my parents they wanted me there, and they believe I could be a starter if I went there.”
Two other FSU targets are also nearing decisions. Four-star offensive lineman DaJohn Yarborough is expected to announce tomorrow, and the current expectation is that he stays out west.
In Other News...
Mike Norvell Pressure At Florida State Just Hit A New Level
Mike Norvells run at Florida State still carries the memory of 2023, when he guided the Seminoles to a 13-1 record and an ACC championship, but that success now feels increasingly distant. The conversation around the program has shifted hard in the other direction, with the Seminoles recent slide putting a very different kind of spotlight on the coach who once looked like he had the whole thing pointed back up.
Florida States on-field struggles have been paired with recruiting concerns that only add to the unease, as the 2027 class sits at No. 59 nationally and does not yet look like the kind of group that can quickly reset the trajectory. Even among ACC coaches, Norvell is being viewed through a harsher lens now, and the longer the results lag behind the standard he set, the harder it becomes to ignore the pressure building around him. [Read more 🡒]
Can FSU Finally Trust Its Linebackers In Year Two Under Norvell
Florida States linebacker room looks a lot different heading into the second year of the 3-3-5, and that is by design. The Seminoles have turned to transfers Ernie Sims, Chris Jones and Mikai Gbayor while also keeping a core that includes Blake Nichelson, Omar Graham Jr., Caleb LaVallee and AJ Cottrill, with freshman Izayia Williams adding another layer of competition. After a season of shuffling and uneven play at the position, the hope is that a cleaner fit in the scheme and a deeper group will finally give the defense more stability in the middle.
Jones arrives with a strong track record from Southern Miss, while Gbayor brings familiarity with Tony White after previous stops and a productive year at Nebraska. LaVallees return from a leg injury should matter too, because Florida State needs bodies it can trust, not just names on the depth chart. The bigger question is whether all of those pieces can settle in quickly enough to make the linebacker spot a strength instead of a weekly concern, especially with so much riding on how the new-look group handles the demands of year two. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Just Hit A Familiar Roadblock With Elite In State QB
Florida State is back in the familiar position of trying to hold its ground with an in-state quarterback who has plenty of options. Hudson West, a 2028 target for the Seminoles, is drawing interest from Florida, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, and his recruitment already has the feel of a long one. For a program that still sells itself on staying home and winning big in Florida, landing a player like West would matter well beyond one class.
West has made relationships a major part of his decision-making, which gives Florida State a clear opening if it can keep building trust over time. The challenge is obvious, though: Mike Norvells uncertain tenure and the programs recent struggles to consistently secure top in-state talent hang over this pursuit, and those are the kinds of questions that can linger deep into a quarterback recruitment. [Read more 🡒]