FSU football: Nole NIL among the best in the nation?

FSU football was late to the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) game and paid the price during the college football Early Signing Period in December 2021.

Florida didn’t make things easier with their ruling, which made it difficult for in-state schools to compete with others outside the state(that’s in the process of changing with a recent ruling).

However, the FSU administration was transitioning, which hampered things. They were in the midst of installing a new President and didn’t have an Athletic Director.

Michael Alford wasn’t officially hired until January 2022, and the Rising Spear NIL organization didn’t officially launch until April 2022, in conjunction with the FSU spring game.

That’s late for football recruiting, which I pointed out routinely during the 2023 recruiting cycle. It’s one reason why FSU wasn’t in it for many elite players. However, they were smart with their resources and chose a few realistic targets.

Mike Norvell signed the first five-star player since 2017 and the highest-rated offensive tackle since the same recruiting class.

However, the emergence of The Battle’s End at the end of 2022 focused on player retention and transfer portal players put FSU football in a position to compete for titles in the 2023 season.

The retention of Jordan Travis, Trey Benson, Jared Verse, Tatum Bethune, Johnny Wilson, Kalen DeLoach, Akeem Dent, and others assured FSU would bring the majority of its production back from a team who finished with 10 wins in 2022.

The additions of nine transfer portal players with the highest per player average nationally was in large part because all of those players returned for the 2023 season.

Plus, most of them inked deals with The Battle’s End. Not bad for a team that hadn’t won 10 games since 2016.

We must see if FSU can continue its recruiting success with the 2024 recruiting class that’s already No. 4 nationally. If FSU is only going in one direction, it should show in those recruiting rankings and continued player retention.