Florida State football has not had a fun offseason, as the program finished with a 5-7 record last year. Plus, the arch-rival Miami Hurricanes are in the College Football Playoff national championship game and the Florida Gators have a "new car smell" with their new head football coach, Jon Sumrall.
Meanwhile, Florida State is "stuck" with head football coach Mike Norvell after the administration decided to retain him for the 2026 season. This is the reality that the Seminoles are in.
The transfer portal window opened, and the Seminoles knew that it needed to add many pieces to their roster to be successful next year.
Quarterback transfer Sam Leavitt chooses LSU over Miami
Florida State is having difficulty recruiting at times with the recent struggles on the field. However, the fan base was sick of the Seminoles going into the transfer portal and grabbed one-year rentals at quarterback. They already had failures from DJ Uiagalelei and Thomas Castellanos in the last two cycles.
The Seminoles did not want to make the same mistake again. Even though a solid amount of the fan base wanted redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry to get a chance to start in 2026, Florida State only has two scholarship quarterbacks on its roster.
The Seminoles went out and grabbed Auburn's Ashton Daniels from the portal, which some individuals were not happy with. However, it fit a need, and Sperry still has the chance to compete for the starting job.
There were other options out there, though. Looking at Miami, they ended up getting Cam Ward and now have Carson Beck in the transfer portal for the last two years, which is a big part of the success.
The Hurricanes had former Arizona State quarterback transfer Sam Leavitt come in for a visit to Coral Gables this weekend. However, it wasn't even as Leavitt eventually decided to commit to the LSU Tigers.
BREAKING: Arizona State transfer QB Sam Leavitt has committed to LSU, @PeteNakos and @Hayesfawcett3 report🐯https://t.co/U31NaOwnr0 pic.twitter.com/1tnilf3O5W
— On3 (@On3sports) January 12, 2026
The Hurricanes are starting to get desperate for a quarterback in 2026, where they need to get one from the portal, but they keep striking out. There was even a report from Yahoo Sports that Miami offered $6.5 million to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, who declared for the NFL Draft.
Alabama QB Ty Simpson continues to receive NIL offers from Power Four programs hoping to keep him in college for 2026, per @aldotcom.
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) January 12, 2026
Three SEC schools have offered at least $4M, and another program has gone has high as $6.5 million. pic.twitter.com/buRK6TRZ7Z
Miami is trying to use the extra revenue that the conference gave them for making the national championship game versus Indiana to get themselves a quarterback.
While I don't believe Simpson is the greatest fit and wouldn't be the smartest idea for him, I commend Miami for making a bold move to keep their offense on an elite level for the 2026 season.