Florida State hasn’t undertaken many five-star pursuits in the 2027 recruiting class, and that is understandable considering how their four-star forays have gone. However, the Seminoles were expected to have one five-star on campus for this weekend's final official visit: EDGE Abraham Sesay.
Mike Norvell offered the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Pennsylvania product early in the process and brought him to Tallahassee for an unofficial visit in March. Whether he ultimately makes his official visit, though, is in doubt after he announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Tuesday.
BREAKING: Five-Star EDGE Abraham Sesay has Committed to Notre Dame, he tells me for @Rivals
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 16, 2026
The 6’6 235 EDGE chose the Fighting Irish over LSU, Penn State, and Florida State
“Thank you to all of my loved ones. Nothing but the Lord’s will”https://t.co/1nUZGKMrov pic.twitter.com/PUal0V7iLn
Abraham Sesay commits to Notre Dame ahead of his official visit to Florida State
Frankly, Florida State is in no position to be spending time or resources going after five-star talents in the 2027 class. Not only was Norvell saved by his $60+ million buyout after posting a 7-17 record over the past two seasons, but with his struggles, the program’s NIL efforts have fallen way off pace with the legitimate contenders.
The revenue-sharing cap is set at $21.3 million for the 2026-27 academic year. That’s the money athletic departments can directly pay to all of their athletes, not just the football team. Yet, there will be plenty of programs spending over $40 million on their football roster alone. Some may eclipse $50 million. Notre Dame and LSU, the two serious contenders in Sesay’s recruitment, will both be pushing the upper limits.
If you’re not spending in that range, you’re not serious about competing for a national championship. It’s that simple. Meanwhile, Florida State is a year removed from athletic director Michael Alford pleading for a “hard cap” to prevent “cap manipulation” as teams pay NIL deals outside of the revenue-sharing cap. Though Alford seems to have backed off that stance, the Seminoles are still lagging so far behind, and don’t have the donor support behind Norvell to make up any meaningful ground.
That’s how Florida State, with its three national championships in the last 33 years, has slipped to the mid-tier of the ACC with a 2027 recruiting class that ranks outside the top 60 and contains only 10 commits. Even last year’s class, when there was more hope of a turnaround, only ranked as highly as it did at No. 16 because of the immense volume with 34 incoming freshmen.
Likely, it doesn’t matter what Norvell’s 2027 class looks like because, without real financial support, he’s marching toward an imminent termination the moment his buyout drops to a number Florida State and its boosters are willing to pay. Still, if he has any hopes of turning things around, there needs to be a solid incoming recruiting class to build on that momentum, so he can’t be wasting time on five-star pipe dreams like Sesay.
He needs to put all his recruiting efforts, which have never been up to par, towards plausible pursuits because dividing his resources as he has leads to a week like this one, where he can lose a three-star to Memphis and a five-star to Notre Dame before Wednesday.
Luckily, first-year EDGE coach Nick Williams landed a commitment from three-star Jaxon Holly on Sunday and has managed to hold onto four-star Anthony Cavallaro since his January commitment. So, of all positions to miss on, EDGE is probably the easiest to swallow.
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