BOOM!!! Vanderbilt OT transfer Gunnar Hansen commits to Florida State

Florida State's offensive line was horrendous during the 2024 season, and some thought that they had the worst unit in all of college football. It was not a surprising thought since the Seminoles ranked 132nd in the FBS in total offense (out of 133 teams).

Head football coach Mike Norvell knew that major changes needed to be made because this was not the standard at Florida State. The fan base, for good reason, couldn't stomach what had transpired. The first line of business was that Norvell fired a ton of assistant coaches on the staff. This had to be a difficult decision, but it had to be done.

One notable name on the chopping block was offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Atkins was known as a great recruiter, but he had not developed many players at the position as well as heavily relying on the transfer portal instead of the homegrown talent.

As a result, Norvell hired UCF head football coach Gus Malzahn to be its offensive coordinator. It was a polarizing hire, but Malzahn was a guy that Norvell trusted in his coaching tree and had many years of experience in college football.

With the Malzahn hire, he decided to bring UCF offensive line coach Herb Hand to Tallahassee. Hand has a track record of developing offensive linemen. In a recent article, I mentioned the fact that he had not acquired any offensive linemen in the transfer portal yet.

However, I knew that it was a matter of time. Florida State finally got its first one as they landed Vanderbilt senior offensive tackle transfer Gunnar Hansen on Tuesday afternoon.

He had a productive career with the Commodores. The Seminoles needed a quality offensive tackle after losing veterans Darius Washington, Robert Scott Jr., and Jeremiah Byers at the position. Plus, they lost Julian Armella to UCLA. Overall, it helps to have Hansen in the fold, who has a ton of SEC starting experience.