FSU football has just one player from the state of Alabama – while the Crimson Tide have raided the Sunshine State, including some familiar faces.
In just over two weeks, FSU football will take the field in what is being billed as the biggest opening game in the history of college football as the third ranked Seminoles take on top ranked Alabama. When the Noles and Crimson Tide meet, fans of Florida State as well as players on the roster will likely see some very familiar names.
Since the Sunshine State has become the best for high school football talent in the country, schools from across the country have raided the state in an effort to bring top talent to their school – and steal some from in-stte programs like FSU football. You can count head coach Nick Saban and Alabama as one of the schools guilty of doing such a thing.
Entering the 2017 season, the Crimson Tide have seven players on their roster from the state of Florida – including four players they won direct recruiting battles with against the Seminoles:
"Deerfield Beach – WR Jerry Jeudy (Freshman)Fort Lauderdale – WR Calvin Ridley (Junior), DB Daniel Wright (Freshman)Jacksonville – QB Mac Jones (Freshman)Palm Beach Gardens – LB Vandorius Cowan (Freshman)Tallahassee – DB Ronnie Harrison (Junior)Tampa – WR Chris Herring (Sophomore)"
FSU football went head to head with Saban and the Crimson Tide for Jeudy, Ridley, Wright and Cowan while coming up short – evening having the last name committed to the Seminoles before switching things up. Harrison might be the one that hurts on a personal level since he is a graduate of Florida High, the magnet research school run by Florida State University.
While none of the players from the Sunshine State played for the same high schools as anyone on the Florida State roster, they did battle members of the Seminoles during their high school careers and will be looking for bragging rights at the college level.
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At the same time, FSU football only has one player on the roster from the state of Alabama – redshirt senior defensive back and Fairhope, AL native Nate Andrews – but may have the most important connection in new linebacker Adonis Thomas. The redshirt sophomore is a native of Georgia, but played on season at Alabama in 2015 before transferring to a junior college.