The countdown to Florida State football keeps rolling as the Seminoles inch toward the 50-day mark, and the latest stretch of the offseason has been filled with schedule and position previews, including a look at Louisville. The wait is also being helped along by the reveal of fan picks for the 50 best FSU games ever, starting at No. 50 and working down through No. 41.
ESPN also put together its list of the best player for every jersey number from 1 through 99, and Florida State landed three names on the list: Deion Sanders, Charlie Ward and Peter Boulware. The Seminoles were also represented by Dalvin Cook, Peter Warrick, Chris Weinke, Fred Biletnikoff, Terrell Buckley, Warrick Dunn, Marvin Jones, Walter Jones, Andre Wadsworth and Björn Werner, who all received shoutouts.
Sanders came in at No. 2 overall, and the résumé still jumps off the page. He was a two-time unanimous All-American, won the Jim Thorpe Award and made the College Football Hall of Fame. The number that stands out most is 1,429, his career punt return yardage, which ranks ninth all time in Division I and remains the best mark in Florida State history four decades after his college career ended.
A three-sport star at Florida State, Sanders was also a standout in baseball and track, but football was where he first became a national name. He was a three-time All-American, including third team honors in 1986, finished with 14 career interceptions and set the school record for punt return yardage.
His interception to seal a 13-7 win over Auburn in the 1989 Sugar Bowl helped close out one of the most remarkable college careers in any sport and marked the start of a new era in Tallahassee. Sanders didn’t just help Florida State become a national contender.
He made the Seminoles cool to a generation of new fans and changed the way the cornerback position was viewed for the next wave of elite athletes.
Ward checked in at No. 17, and his legacy is built on both football and basketball. His trophy case includes the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Walter Camp Award, Davey O’Brien Award, unanimous All-American honors and a place in the College Football Hall of Fame. The number to know there is 19, the school records he set over two seasons as Florida State’s starting quarterback.
Ward became one of the most celebrated two-sport athletes in college history during his time in Tallahassee. He guided the Seminoles to their first national championship in 1993, won the Heisman as a consensus All-American and went 22-2 as a starter.
On the basketball side, he was a four-year starter at point guard and helped Florida State reach the Elite Eight in 1993. Ward also earned back-to-back ACC Male Athlete of the Year honors before becoming a first-round NBA draft pick for the New York Knicks.
Boulware landed at No. 58, and his production off the edge made him one of the most feared pass rushers of the 1990s. His honors include All-American recognition, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Football News National Defensive Player of the Year and a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. The number to know is 19, his Florida State single-season sack record.
Boulware’s rise was relentless. Even though he started only two games as a sophomore in 1995, he still posted 10 sacks.
The following season, he exploded for 19 sacks, along with 20 tackles for loss and 68 tackles. He was more than a pure speed rusher, finishing his career with 151 tackles and 34 sacks despite playing only three seasons before leaving after his junior year.
The Baltimore Ravens took him fourth overall.
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Danny Kanell Sends Florida State A Tough Message For 2026
Danny Kanell is making it clear Florida State cannot count on reputation to carry it anymore. The former Seminoles quarterback, now watching the program from the outside, framed the coming season as one where low expectations should become fuel, with the players and Mike Norvell needing to embrace the pressure instead of trying to talk around it.
For Florida State, the message lands in a familiar place: the roster has to answer for itself. Kanell pointed to the need for leadership from within and for key contributors to help change the tone around the program, because the Seminoles are no longer in a spot where history alone will win respect. The challenge now is whether the team can turn that skepticism into something useful before the season starts to define them. [Read more 🡒]
What Will Finally Prove FSU Is Different This Time
For Florida State, the 2026 conversation is less about chasing a headline record right away and more about proving the program has cleaned up the details that have too often worked against it. The Seminoles have spent the offseason looking for better execution, sharper communication and fewer self-inflicted mistakes, the kind of basic football traits that tend to show up before the wins do. If that progress is real, it should be visible in how the team operates, not just in the final score.
A sturdier offensive line and a more organized defense would go a long way toward making that case, especially with Ashton Daniels needing a cleaner pocket to function. Florida State has poured resources into both fronts, and the expectation is that the roster should look more stable and more connected than it did a year ago. Even the road schedule will be part of the evaluation, since the Seminoles have been trying to fix the kind of planning and organization issues that have made those games so difficult. [Read more 🡒]