All the final recruiting rankings are out and there's not much to say about FSU's successes or failures in recruiting that hasn't already been said many times over. At this point, we know Mike Norvell isn't the dynamic recruiter that we're used to seeing from FSU football. Some of that is poor leadership from above, but a lot of it is the fact that the product on the field has been struggling and that's completely on him. Even when the product was better, Norvell's recruiting left plenty to be desired.
However, it's really frustrating when the Seminoles staff are ahead of the game on a recruit and do the right things and are in a position to succeed, but it still doesn't work out. That was the case with blue-chip defensive back Jay Timmons, who was an FSU legacy recruit before he decided to flip to Ohio State.
Ohio State got an absolute stud when they flipped 5⭐️ Jay Timmons from Florida State. Rivals has him ranked #12 in the class of 2026 and the #1 CB although he's show the ability to play every DB position. One scout said the Timmons is "pound for pound the best football player in…
— Buckeyebreakdown (@Buckeyebreakdo1) January 31, 2026
So Timmons, who was kind of a fringe four-star prospect when he committed to the Seminoles over the summer, had an amazing senior season and shot up the rankings across the board, gaining a five-star designation at Rivals and was a high composite four-star in 247Sports' final rankings.
Former FSU commit Jay Timmons draws elite status in final ranking
When the son of former FSU linebacker Lawrence Timmons committed, he flipped from Indiana and seemed like he was going to be one of the most solid members of the class. And as he was rolling through his senior season, it looked like the Seminoles staff got an amazing gem. And then the Buckeyes swooped in and stole him a couple of weeks before the early signing period.
What makes this sting the most is that I don't believe Timmons flipped for monetary reasons. In this case, FSU probably would've matched whatever he was getting even if it was significantly more, because Norvell really needed the credibility of landing an elite prospect. In this case I think it was simply the younger Timmons deciding that Ohio State was better set up for team success and his success as a individual. And that's what hurts the most -- he very simply did not believe that FSU and Norvell offered him the best chance to win and succeed.
I'm not sure how most FSU fans will feel about Tmmons. It probably won't be something they think about once the season begins because he never played in Tallahassee, but for not it stinks that even when Norvell and FSU did something right in recruiting, they will not see the fruits of their labor.