Florida State football's recruiting effort has been scrutinized by the fan base for a couple of years in the Mike Norvell era. It has often led to a chaotic situation in the month of December, where the prospect eventually flips to another school.
While this does happen at other schools, the Seminoles are often a target for recruits. It makes matters worse, Florida State has six losing seasons in eight years. This doesn't allow the Seminoles to sell the vision of accomplishing wins on the field.
The 2026 recruiting class finished with 31 high school prospects that Florida State can ultimately build around. However, the recruiting clock never stops, and the Seminoles have to focus their attention on the 2027 cycle.
Florida State will be hosting big-time wide receiver Jabari Watkins on campus this weekend
The 2027 prospects are almost a whole year away from signing to the school of their choice, but Florida State has to build its relationships now so that, if they start winning, it can benefit from the successes.
The Seminoles will be hosting their Junior Day event next weekend (they are still hosting prospects this weekend), but in the meantime, they have an important visitor coming on campus this weekend in four-star wide receiver Jabari Watkins from Thomas County Central High School in Thomasville, Georgia.
Watkins was someone who was committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, but he backed off on his pledge and is visiting other schools. The pass catcher recorded 847 yards and 11 touchdowns during the 2025 season (according to MaxPreps).
Given that the high school is less than an hour away from Tallahassee, the Seminoles need to keep talented prospects in-house. Luckily, Florida State grabbed his former high school teammate (three-star defensive end signee Cam Brooks) from the 2026 cycle.
While I know that Gus Malzahn's scheme revolves around the idea of establishing the run, they are hoping to grab another prospect from the high school to build for the future.