FSU football: Credit to coaches to overcome player tampering

I wrote about 2023 FSU football recruiting a couple of days ago and how the next month or two would tell us a lot about how this class would finish.

However, one aspect most fans have not considered is the coaching staff having to recruit players on the roster over and over from the transfer portal.

The transfer portal is a gift and a curse. FSU would not have been as competitive last season if not for Mike Norvell’s use of the transfer portal.

However, player tampering could have sent the Noles back to a state where they would have been significantly less talented if a couple of guys entered the transfer portal in hopes of chasing NIL opportunities.

Mike Norvell confirmed with Packer and Durham during the ACC Spring Meetings some FSU players had been contacted through different avenues, although they were not in the transfer portal.

"“We had conversations with a couple guys on our team that have had people from the outside talking, and they’re not in the portal, but they’re trying to make decisions on certain things for their future. That’s what’s unfortunate. But grateful for the guys we have and the team that we’re going to be able to move forward with. But for college athletics, we want to be together moving forward.”"

I think it’s important to note the players contacted were most likely players FSU got from the transfer portal. The players’ Mike Norvell and the coaching staff brought in, because I don’t think there were many, if any, players that teams wanted from the roster after the 2020 season. The fact well over the majority of the players that have left FSU for the transfer portal have not landed at a Power 5 program tells us a lot.

However, I think the emergence of Rising Spear over the past couple of months has helped FSU become more competitive with other teams in the NIL landscape. However, credit has to go to the coaches for having those conversations with said players regarding why they should continue their careers at FSU.

I also think it sends a message to opposing teams that they can’t just come in and try to poach players from the roster. It says FSU can compete with some schools looking to poach players, which is a good sign. If FSU lost some of their best players to the portal, some FSU fans would be the first to complain the sky is falling.

FSU may not be landing elite recruits from the high school level, but the fact their best players haven’t bolted for the transfer portal should tell fans the program is in a solid position. I think winning more games in 2022 will put FSU football in a better position to compete for more elite players from the high school ranks.