Florida State football has not had the best of luck with quarterbacks during head coach Mike Norvell's tenure with the Seminoles. Over the past two seasons, the program has turned to transfer options DJ Uiagalelei and Thomas Castellanos, who didn't pan out.
However, not all is lost for 2026. Florida State did add three quarterback transfers in Ashton Daniels, Malachi Marshall, and Dean DeNobile. This sounds like the Seminoles are following a similar blueprint, but they have a promising young option in former four-star prospect Kevin Sperry.
Sperry was someone who committed to the Seminoles later in the recruiting process, as he flipped from Oklahoma, but was a quarterback that the coaching staff fell in love with. They also have four-star signee Jaden O'Neal (who is currently injured).
Florida State hosted a three-star quarterback target Derrick Baker from the 2027 cycle
It is great that Florida State has pieces such as Kevin Sperry, Jaden O'Neal, and Malachi Marshall, but the coaching staff needs to continue acquiring talent in the quarterback room.
The Seminoles decided to host a Junior Day this weekend, and one prospect that decided to visit was three-star quarterback Derrick Baker. Florida State is involved with signal-callers such as four-star Jayce Johnson (Texas A&M commit), four-star Wonderful Monds IV, three-star Logan Flaherty (UCF commit), and three-star Davin Davidson.
However, Baker could be someone who climbs up their target board quickly, as he informed us at ChopChat that the visit went great and that he plans to come back to Florida State during the spring. He spent the visit being around head coach Mike Norvell and quarterbacks coach Austin Tucker.
This could be a massive senior season for the quarterback if he is able to stay healthy. The Seminoles' 2026 schedule will be released on Monday night, but Florida State will have home games that include Clemson, Florida, North Carolina State, Virginia, and SMU, which could attract more recruits to come to Tallahassee.