FSU football: How high can 2023 recruiting class finish?

FSU football has a ton of momentum with their 2023 recruiting class as we close in on the Early Signing Period later this month. FSU is one of the few programs to successfully navigate the transfer portal, with nearly half of the players they’ve taken earning All-ACC accolades over the past few years.

However, one false narrative is Mike Norvell doesn’t know how to recruit high school players. It’s something I’ve documented before, but there is the need to do it again when it comes to what’s been best for FSU.

The Noles were in such bad shape when Mike Norvell took over, it made all the sense in the world to use the transfer portal to his advantage. They were getting blown off the field and didn’t have time to recruit and develop high school players to become competitive eventually.

FSU needed to compete immediately, and the quickest way to do that was via the transfer portal. The transfer portal is why FSU didn’t lose one game by more than 10 points in 2021, and why they steamrolled half of their schedule in 2022 to finish with nine wins for the first time since 2016.

Norvell’s navigation between the portal and high school recruiting has been unique, and it works. It’s simple, get experienced players from the portal to compete and win now while your younger players from high school have time to develop.

ACC Freshman of the Year Patrick Payton is a prime example. He watched Jermaine Johnson win ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 and bided his time until his number got called in 2022 when Jared Verse went down with an injury.

Let’s break down the high school class even more.