FSU football head coach Mike Norvell knows the 2021 season is probably the most important of his career.
I think that’s why we’ve seen him and the staff put such a large emphasis on the recruiting department over the past year.
Despite not having much success on the field, the staff has surprised some fans with what they’ve been able to accomplish on the recruiting trail.
They are off to an outstanding start in the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes, landing their second five-star commit Sunday evening in Sam McCall, a former Florida Gator commit.
Things are going about as well as one could hope with the Noles right now. It looks like they’ll get an actual spring practice, and footage of the guys hitting the weight room is all over social media.
The Seminole Boosters are doing major work with nearly 7,000 donors contributing to the 2021 One Tribe Campaign. In three years, FSU has reached the 100 million pledge goal for its Unconquered Campaign.
Here are my top observations from February with Mike Norvell.
Ryan Bartow
The hire of Ryan Bartow caught a lot of fans off-guard. A lot of FSU football fans were in the is this a good hire category?
Fans wanted Mike Norvell to concentrate more on the Sunshine State, Georgia, and the surrounding areas, and that’s where Bartow brings the most value.
Bartow has an extensive network of recruiting connections, with over a decade in the game while working as the lead college football recruiting reporter at 247 Sports.
Bartow was on the recruiting scene when FSU football was elite under Jimbo Fisher and understands what’s possible with the program.
Not only that, he understands how to evaluate, what it takes to land elite recruits, and what an FSU caliber football should be.
FSU already had momentum on the recruiting trails before the hire, but there was a noticeable surge with recruits taking notice of the hire when it happened.
This hire could prove to be one of the best in helping FSU get back to respectability on and off the field.
2022, 2023, 2024 Recruiting
The FSU football coaching staff was busy with recruiting across multiple classes in February. They landed commits from 2022 five-star McCall, two 2023 commits, and a 2024 commit.
Aside from the commits, the staff continues to leave no stone unturned, continuing to send offers to multiple players from 2022, 2023, and 2024.
I wrote about how the staff is returning to Florida, Georgia, and surrounding areas for the bulk of their recruiting.
They will continue to use their connections like David Johnson in Louisiana, but I expect that to be for players they believe they have a real shot to land.
The coaching staff has offered 126 recruits from 2023, with 68 coming from Florida and Georgia. There are 31 offers for the 2024 class, with 18 coming from those two states.
That’s where FSU football has buttered their bread historically, and that’s why the Bartow hire was so important.
Parting Thoughts
As I mentioned, Mike Norvell has the Noles in a great spot despite the 2020 season and the NCAA continuously extending the recruiting dead period.
The latter is another advantage of hiring Bartow. Bartow can act as an extension of Norvell with high school coaches in the state of Florida.
It’s as simple as those high school coaches trusting Bartow to explain Mike Norvell’s vision, trusting Mike Norvell has FSU going in the right direction.
That’s something Coach Locklyn(Bartow’s predecessor) couldn’t do because he didn’t have those relationships built.
I mentioned the players putting the work in with Coach Storms and the strength and conditioning staff. Spring practice begins March 9, and those 15 practices could be the difference in FSU football making a huge leap forward in 2021.
We’re a long way from the 2021 opener against Notre Dame on September 5, but the coaching staff has to continue to stack good months on top of one another. I think we can all agree February was a great month for the good guys!