With the season ready to start and high school football already two weeks in, the recruiting hot stove is white-hot and it's not always good news.
FSU has the 14th-best recruiting class in the country and, with 21 commitments in the house, Mike Norvell and staff are looking to close strong. But while they would love to attract more program-changing talent to get to a top-10 class, the staff also have to play some defense on current commits that might have a wandering eye.
One of those prospects that bears watching is 4-star safety Tedarius Hughes.
Rivals’ @BenjaminRivals lists five elite Florida recruits on flip watch👀
— Rivals (@Rivals) August 23, 2025
+ Syracuse 5-star WR commit Calvin Russell
+ Oregon 4-star safety commit Devin Jackson
+ Florida State 4-star safety commit Tedarius Hughes
Intel: https://t.co/C8QYhsfVQf pic.twitter.com/8q5JCYVlqa
Obviously, any top recruit that is at Miami Northwestern High School is going to be connected to the Miami Hurricanes and potentially several other top school. But there is one new out-of-state program that is starting to make its mark in the area.
Syracuse.
The Orange have already got the pledge of blue-chip wide receiver Calvin Russell (and who knows if that'll stick) and head coach Fran Brown isn't shy about jumping in the mix on some other players, most notably Hughes. How else would you explain this?
Syracuse gloves tonight for the senior season debut of @Tedariushughes2 https://t.co/qlqGwBI8sG pic.twitter.com/zwrWzwJATk
— John Garcia, Jr. (@JohnGarcia_Jr) August 17, 2025
The trips will tell the story on Hughes' recruitment
I think it's safe at this point to consider Hughes a "soft commit". Hughes is expected to be in Tallahassee on Saturday for the opener against Alabama and at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday for the Miami-Notre Dame game. Will Russell join him in Tallahassee? Will he make the game at all or decide to stay home? Northwestern hosts Venuce this Friday is what will be a hotly-contested game, so let's see how things work out.
Hughes is also planning in-season visits to Nebraksa and Syracuase. Don't be surprised if Colorado is in the mix as well. So it's important that he makes it to Tallahassee this weekend, or it might be just a matter of time before the decommitment is coming.
My theory on recruiting is to ALWAYS follow the visits. If a prospect is willing to invest their time in going to a location, it's worth taking that visit seriously. I'm not a betting man, but I would say that Hughes' recruitment is going to come down to the wire and right now my biggest question is if FSU will be one of the schools in the picture when the Early Signing Period arrives.