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Despite strong 2024 FSU football recruiting class, late flips a troubling trend | Kassim
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- Despite strong 2024 FSU football recruiting class, late flips a troubling trend | Kassim
Mike Norvell admitted something interesting last Wednesday at his press conference to announce Florida State football's 2024 recruiting class.
He admitted it hurts and sometimes he takes it personally when a recruit flips away from the Seminoles and his staff.
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Well, while FSU has shown improvement in each year under Norvell in recruiting, one thing has been common: 5-star recruits trending away from his program.
In 2021, 5-star defensive back and the No. 1 overall recruit in the class Travis Hunter shocked the world when he chose Deion Sanders and FCS-Jackson State over FSU. Last year, it was 4-star defensive end Keldric Faulk , the No. 62 overall recruit and No. 9 DE in the class, picking Auburn over the Seminoles on signing day.
This season, No. 15 overall prospect and No. 3 safety KJ Bolden picked Georgia over FSU. To add salt to the wound, No. 41 prospect Armondo Blount picked rival Miami — though this one was more expected and telegraphed for about a week.
"I try not to take it personally, but it hurts. It does," Norvell said at his press conference of losing prospects flipping to other programs.
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"Because I care about these kids. And just because they don't choose Florida State doesn't mean I won't care about them. You just don't get to be a part of the journey with them."
Whether it be Hunter choosing to play for his idol, NIL matching issues, or problems with the conference FSU plays in, the Seminoles staff needs to find a way to close out recruiting classes better. Especially with the elite players late in the cycle.
Georgia, Alabama and other top-tier programs lose prospects to flips every cycle. It's not an FSU-alone issue. Especially in the NIL era where the loyalty is to the money, not a program.
But the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide finished up as the top-two ranked recruiting teams in the cycle, per 247Sports Composite Rankings.
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Rival Florida up the road lost eight recruits in the last week and nearly saw its class fall apart.
But even then, the Gators ended up with two more 5-stars than the Seminoles in the No. 4 overall player in QB DJ Lagway and the No. 6 player DE LJ McCray.
The latter is the biggest concern for FSU. Along with closing elite players, the Seminoles need to recruit better along the defensive line and at linebacker.
Florida's class features two blue-chip linebackers. Miami, ditto. The Hurricanes signed six blue-chip defensive linemen. UF added an elite talent in McCray.
The Seminoles added a low 4-star defensive end in DD Holmes and zero blue-chip players at linebacker.
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FSU is coming off a 13-0 season and an ACC Championship. This is year 4 of Norvell and his staff. There is no excuse for the poor close out or struggles at those two key defensive positions.
Seminoles still added great talent and a good class
It's not all negative for FSU, even though many on Twitter and social media acted as if the world were ending with the Seminoles losing a pair of key recruits and unable to close out 5-star receiver Jeremiah Smith.
As Norvell pointed out, FSU signed a damn good class of 22 recruits. The Seminoles sit at No. 9 in the 247Sports Composite Rankings as of Wednesday night.
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The Seminoles flipped 4-star tight end signee Landen Thomas from Georgia in April, four-star defensive back Cai Bates from LSU in December and three-star offensive lineman Manasse Itete from USC in July. Jamari Howard , a 4-star cornerback, was originally committed to Michigan State before he backed off and eventually picked FSU.
While there are no 5 stars in the class, 15 of the 22 prospects are 4-star recruits. Quarterback Luke Kromenhoek is the jewel of the class. He's someone FSU recruited early on before he had even started a game at quarterback. Now he's the No. 35 overall prospect and the No. 4 QB.
There's a reason Kromenhoek was offered by Georgia late in the recruiting process after the Bulldogs lost their own QB commit, Dylan Raiola - Bolden's Buford teammate - to Nebraska .
Norvell and his staff have an eye for hidden talent. This has been demonstrated over and over again.
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Running back Kam Davis committed to FSU after finishing his freshman season. The Seminoles were still finding their footing under Norvell at the time. Now he's the No. 133 prospect and No. 7 running back.
"I think you look over the last three, four years, we've done a good job in our evaluations," Norvell said. "We just finished this last season 13-0, and offensively and defensively, special teams, we've got some dynamic players and guys that are going to be taken very high in the NFL draft this year.
"When you find that combination of great talent, great young men, you invest and build that trust over the course of time, great things can happen. And I definitely believe this is a special group."
More roster changes coming
FSU is far from done with constructing its roster for the 2024 season. As is the case across the nation in today's landscape of college football, there will be more attrition coming for the Seminoles.
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A few more players currently on the roster might see better opportunities arise elsewhere. A few more may see a chance to enter the NFL Draft. FSU might decide they need to "mutually part" with some players who aren't quite playing up to their standard.
Norvell acknowledged he's happy with the current roster, but always looking for ways to improve his roster, sort of like a GM in the NFL.
"It's always a work in progress, to be honest with you. And I like where we are sitting here on signing day. Obviously there's a few guys here and there that still have to focus on when it comes to the high school ranks," Norvell said. "We'll see the different dynamics of guys or positions that we might pursue in the portal. But I really like where we are when it comes to the overall roster construction.
"... But we'll look at where our roster is, especially coming into the spring semester. And just like last year, we had some guys that chose to explore other opportunities and it opened up a spot for guys like Keon Coleman . Worked out pretty good for us.
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"We'll see where that goes. But it's always kind of a fluid situation, I guess, in today's world of college athletics."
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports), Instagram (tlhnolesports) and YouTube channel (NoleSportsTD).
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football recruiting looks bad losing KJ Bolden, Armondo Blount
