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Florida State football recruiting: Where Seminoles' 2025 class stands as 'flips' begins
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- Florida State football recruiting: Where Seminoles' 2025 class stands as 'flips' begins
As Florida State is off to its worst start to a season in 49 years , many of the Seminole faithful are looking for something, anything positive to lean on.
The recruiting trail may not be the place to look. As flip season gets underway, the signs tell us that FSU might just be in damage control on the recruiting trail.
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Since the beginning of September, the Seminoles have lost four marquee commits. The first domino to fall was four-star Port Charlotte defensive lineman Myron Charles , who flipped his commitment to Texas the day before coveted Cocoa EDGE Javion Hilson ( No. 5 in the USA TODAY Florida Top 100 ) announced his decommitment.
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Four weeks later and a few days after FSU was thrashed by SMU, four-star Rock Hill (South Carolina) wide receiver Malik Clark decommitted and pledged to his hometown Gamecocks four days later. Four-star wide receiver Daylan McCutcheon from Lovejoy (Texas) followed suit a week later by flipping to the Longhorns.
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Are any other FSU football commits in danger of flipping?
The short answer is yes. Any time a program combines reliance on the transfer portal with on-field struggles, recruits take notice.
Take American Heritage safety Zae Thomas for example. As a member of the native Seminole Tribe, Thomas has more ties to the program than most other recruits in the country. He could be the first native Seminole to ever play on scholarship in the Garnett in Gold, yet he's on the record saying that he's keeping his options open and talking to other schools.
Thomas was on campus for the Clemson game , and said the Noles looked a different team despite the loss. With the addition of teammate Byron Louis, there's a good chance Thomas is walking away from the ledge.
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Greene County (Ga.) defensive lineman Kevin Wynn was also at Doak for the Clemson game, and the four-star is being pursued heavily by Texas and Georgia. He plans to visit USC, Penn State, Georgia, Tennessee , and Colorado, and describes his status as "still open" despite being committed.
Who could Florida State convince to flip?
Vero Beach linebacker and Ohio State commit Tarvos "TJ" Alford was in town for the Memphis game, and Florida State is still recruiting the four-star effectively. Alford, No. 15 in the USA TODAY Florida Top 100, cites his relationship with defensive staffer and former NFL linebacker Ernie Sims as the biggest reason the Seminoles are still in the running. If Alford decommits, Florida State is the favorite to land him.
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Miami Central safety and four-star Tony Williams has been high on the Seminoles board for some time as well, and is likely pushing more for high-touted UCF commit as Signing Day approaches.
One of the top wide receivers making waves on the recruiting trail may also may on the table for FSU. Malachi Toney first turned heads by reclassifying to the class of 2025, and again by decommiting from Miami in early October.
American Heritage Patriots receiver Malachi Toney (1) hurdles lineman Dayen Araibi (75) after catching a pass during the first quarter of a game against the Naples Golden Eagles at Staver Field in Naples on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
The American Heritage (Plantation) four-star spurned the hometown Hurricanes and named Florida State, Alabama, and Oregon as schools that stand out. He has two teammates that are Seminole pledges in Louis and Thomas, and they are likely serving as recruiters for Mike Norvell in the locker room. With just one wide receiver commit in the 2025 class, expect FSU to make a big late push for Toney.
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Are there any bright spots at all in this cycle?
All things considered, it can't be overlooked that the Seminoles are still getting the job done in a lot of ways this year.
Most notably (and most importantly for the strength of this class), offensive tackle Solomon Thomas shut down his recruitment over the summer. The five-star out of Raines ( Jacksonville ) is the No. 2 overall player in the USA TODAY Florida Top 100, and has been committed for nearly a year.
More recently, Florida State landed four-star tackle Mario Nash Jr. out of Kemper County (Mo.) last week. Nash Jr. was pledged to Mississippi State before decommitting and naming the Seminoles three days later. He shut down his recruitment just one day after that, marking two high-level players on the offensive line that are locked in with FSU.
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The Seminoles also landed one of the bigger names in South Florida in Louis late in September. The three-star is the No. 2 running back in the USA TODAY Florida Top 100, and chose FSU over Miami, Georgia, and Wisconsin.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football recruiting: Whom to watch as 2025 commits begin to flip
