We’ve spent the better part of the last two weeks documenting missed opportunities by Florida State coaches and its back office during the transfer portal recruiting cycle.
FSU didn’t hit on its top targets at quarterback, lost a couple of guys they would have liked to keep, and it looked like they were going to lose the nucleus of its defensive line that they invested in and developed from the high school ranks. Mandrell Desir, Darryll Desir, and Kevin Wynn had all announced intentions to enter the transfer portal, which was a disastrous scenario for the Florida State staff.
It was two of your best defensive linemen and the highest-ranked defensive lineman from the 2025 recruiting class on the verge of exiting the program. That’s after losing Darrell Jackson and other depth pieces.
Florida State Needed This Positive News In The Worst Way After Getting Clowned For The Past Few Weeks
We wrote that FSU had to keep at least two of those three players to have any semblance of a defensive front going into the 2026 season. Somehow, FSU managed to retain all three. Wynn was the first to announce his plans to return after only appearing in four games last year due to injury. He redshirted and has four years of eligibility remaining.
The Desir Twins announced their intentions to return to FSU shortly after. It was a dream scenario for the Florida State staff to retain all three of those players who could anchor the FSU defensive front over the next couple of years(provided they don’t jump in the portal again next year).
It was a nice win for Florida State from a perception standpoint, and in reality. All in all, the transfer portal haul saw some improvements at positions. I'll post my final grade for the class later once it's completely done.