Florida State football finished with a 5-7 record to end the 2025 season, after their embarrassing loss to arch-rival Florida. This was not how the fan base wanted to finish. Head football coach Mike Norvell vowed that major changes would be occurring in Tallahassee.
However, changes happened last offseason, with forty-four new players on the roster and six new coaches to the staff. That is a huge turnover for a program that was starving for success. With the moves, the Seminoles still didn't become bowl eligible.
One of the first moves this offseason was firing defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain Sr., which caused frustration amongst the fan base because he looked to be the best recruiter on staff. Meanwhile, position coaches such as John Papuchis and Tony Tokarz (as the fans expressed) still have jobs in Tallahassee.
The coaching staff could be changing more and more by the day, as the Seminoles are hiring Syracuse edge rusher coach Nick Williams, who also worked with Georgia, Texas A&M, and Colorado.
It was also reported by 247Sports' Matt Zenitz that Arkansas is expected to hire Florida State running backs coach David Johnson. This makes sense since he worked with new head football coach Ryan Silverfield when he was at Memphis.
Surprisingly, On3's Pete Nakos has reported that Texas running back CJ Baxter plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.
NEW: Texas RB CJ Baxter plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/8pcRuNoWgZ pic.twitter.com/7F2KXZZ2C3
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal) December 8, 2025
Baxter has dealt with injuries throughout his career in Austin, but the former five-star prospect has shown the potential to be a viable playmaker. The Seminoles have shown the capability to develop backs even with injury issues, such as Trey Benson.
The Orlando native used to be a Florida State commit back in 2020, so the familiarity is there with the staff. However, Baxter would be walking into a position group that has pieces such as Ousmane Kromah, Gavin Sawchuk, Samuel Singleton Jr., and Amari Thomas. Plus, the new running backs coach will have to be announced.
Overall, I like the talent that Baxter brings to the table, but there are too many unknowns to suggest that a connection could be formed to bring him to Tallahassee.