FSU football: Important note from Keldric Faulk’s recruitment

FSU football got a massive commitment from top 100 defensive lineman Keldric Faulk Tuesday afternoon.

It’s a part of the attention to the trenches I highlighted Monday, but there’s another aspect to Faulk’s recruitment important to where FSU football is trying to go.

Recruits commit to schools for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s the school that’s on top, and other times, it’s the school they believe can develop them for the NFL. Sometimes it’s NIL related, and in others, it’s the relationship with the coaches.

However, the biggest takeaway from Keldric Faulk’s recruitment is this statement provided to Rivals.com:

"“I want to bring that program back to what it was in 2010 to 2014,” he said. “They were competing for national championship. It was a good program back in the day and that’s what I want to rebuild.”"

That’s the statement I’ve been waiting to hear from a top 100 player and why they choose FSU over programs like Clemson. FSU is still a big brand in college football, but they are not in a position to snag top 100 recruits left and right.

The new car smell is gone off of Mike Norvell’s staff. COVID-19 robbed them of that and going 5-7 last season knocked some more of that luster off.

However, FSU may have improved the product on the field enough over the final eight games to get a select few blue-chip players to believe in the program’s direction. They have to find those few players that want to be part of the turnaround at FSU. The 2023 version of Lamarcus Joyner and Jeff Luc.

Joyner and Luc had the No. 12 and No. 26 player overall ranking, both five-stars, and were building blocks in Jimbo Fisher’s 2010 recruiting class.

FSU likely won’t get players ranked that high, but they are in the mix for some highly-ranked players that could have a similar effect in attracting other quality players.

Roderick Kearney (No. 128), Keith Sampson (No. 186), and Keldrick Faulk (No. 88) could help land others like Lucas Simmons (No. 107) and Jordan Hall (No. 156).

The key to it all is having enough success on the field in 2022 to make the vision sold a reality for these players to stay onboard and sign.