Florida State football had a ton of tough decisions this offseason when it came to retaining the players on its roster. The Seminoles went 5-7 in 2025, so the fan base wasn't exactly thrilled when players were negotiating for NIL purposes.
This isn't a chance for me to speak negatively on the issue, but this is a realization of it being thought in that sort of light. The Seminoles had a load of players who entered their names in the transfer portal, and the fan base seems to be the most nervous about losing the Desir Twins.
Head football coach Mike Norvell has had his fair share of issues while being employed at Florida State, and the constant NIL issues weren't something that needed to happen.
The Desir Twins were able to be retained by Florida State in the offseason
The landscape in college football is so much different, where coaches are having to constantly monitor what a player is doing 24/7. The contracts are essentially always breakable (just like Clemson or Duke).
Florida State picked up three-star defensive linemen Mandrell Desir and Darryll Desir in the 2025 recruiting cycle from Miami, Florida. The brothers were raved about by the defensive coordinator Tony White, who mentioned that they were "big-time ball players".
Much of the fan base rolled their eyes because they thought that Coach White was just blowing smoke with the prospects. However, Mandrell Desir ended up having 30 tackles and 6.5 sacks, and Darryll Desir had 23 tackles and one sack during the 2025 season (according to ESPN Stats and Information).
The Desir Twins ended their NIL negotiations and announced that they would be returning to Florida State in 2026, which was a huge boost for the Seminoles' defense. Florida State dropped new jersey numbers on their 2026 roster on Seminoles.com (click here for full roster).
In the release, Mandrell Desir got jersey number one while Darryll Desir got jersey number three. These were the same numbers that they wore in high school at Miami Norland. This had to be their reward for staying with Florida State because generally, players who stood out the most get single-digit numbers.