FSU football fans have had a lot to cheer about this offseason. FSU coaches finished strong in the 2025 Early Signing Period and had a top 10 Winter Transfer Portal class. They will likely add one more blue-chip player to its 2025 class on National Signing Day.
The 2026 class is off to a strong start, but it took a hit on Sunday evening when its highest-ranked commit, Brady Smigiel de-committed from the Noles.
It's not news that comes unexpectedly, with coaching changes and a 2024 season to forget on the field. He committed to the Noles in June 2024.
Sources: Blue chip QB recruit Brady Smigiel, the No. 36 overall player in the Class of 2026, has de-committed from Florida State. He’s ESPN’s No. 4 QB in the Class of 2026 and has received significant interest from Michigan, Ohio State, S. Carolina, Wash., UCLA and Michigan St. pic.twitter.com/H15AqmHbrT
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 26, 2025
Fan Reaction
Who cares get a mobile qb https://t.co/CeUeywhF90
— No Sweat DFS (@NoSweatDFS) January 26, 2025
Man now I gotta listen to a bunch of crying ass fans complain about a 2026 kid decommitting.
— Juice Cryer Fan Club President🍢🍢😂 (@Frisbie_Hendrix) January 26, 2025
If anyone thought that Cali QB kid was sticking, I have some excellent real estate investments for you…
— 🇺🇸🍢 K-9 NOLE 🍢🇺🇸 (@PCNole813) January 26, 2025
If you are whinging or complaining about it, thank you for showing your lack of knowledge so I can refrain from interacting with you.
Have a wonderful day
Thanks for not delaying the inevitable. Now let’s focus Duckworth and jit committed to Houston https://t.co/jA7QogkE31
— Adrian a.k.a Polk 🍢🍢🍢 (@AdrianL0863) January 26, 2025
Norvell might be the worst coach in the history of college football in keeping long tome QB commits committed
— SkotD (@SkotDuran) January 26, 2025
Honestly qb recruiting is different. No kid wants to sit and develop and most aren't ready to play for 2 or 3 years. It's why there is a ton of qbs in the portal every year.
— Brian (@bomftdrum) January 26, 2025
Thoughts
The good news is that it's early enough in the recruiting cycle for FSU coaches to have time to shift their focus to new targets. I agree with most of the sentiments from the fans above. When was the last time a player from California signed with FSU and made an impact? It's been a LONG time. AJ Duffy was the last blue-chip QB originally from the West Coast, and he's at Tic-Tac-Toe University after entering the transfer portal multiple times.
The last post holds the most weight. Top programs are not developing high school quarterbacks because they take proven players from the transfer portal nowadays. Highly-ranked quarterbacks have high bust rates, so there's no guarantee Smigiel will live up to his ranking, and he likely wouldn't contribute in year one anyway.
FSU coaches simply need to find a talented player who's a dual-threat guy for the 2026 class. The good news is they already have two former blue-chip players on the roster behind Thomas Castellanos.