Florida State football made headlines on Tuesday morning with the acquisition of Auburn quarterback transfer Ashton Daniels. Regardless of how you feel about the veteran, the Seminoles' coaching staff seems to think that it can be successful with him in 2026.
The Seminoles have gone the transfer portal route for a quarterback over the past couple of years with Thomas Castellanos and DJ Uiagalelei, but neither of them has panned out the way that they thought that they would.
Florida State tried its hand at bringing in several signal-callers during the transfer portal window because it only had two scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, with Kevin Sperry and Jaden O'Neal.
The transfer options included Florida's DJ Lagway, Auburn's Ashton Daniels, and UNLV's Anthony Colandrea. All three of them had intriguing skill sets, but Daniels became the hot commodity among the bunch.
Anthony Colandrea going to the Big Ten was not the expectation
ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Colandrea has committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers after his visit.
Former UNLV QB Anthony Colandrea has committed to Nebraska, per @noah_reisenfeld and @Adie_vongontard of @YMAPAAsports. They told me and @max_olson that he committed today on his visit. https://t.co/vkrVw3uQCt
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 6, 2026
This was an unexpected turn of events after Florida State got the first visit with Colandrea, after he was rumored to be taking a trip to Tennessee. The Seminoles were thought to be in a solid position for the former UNLV and Virginia standout, but after he concluded his trip in Tallahassee, he went to Georgia Tech.
The idea behind the quarterback going to Georgia Tech likely had to be because of getting the most resources and surveying all of his options. In today's college football landscape, it is a money game, and the quarterback position is one of the most important on the team.
The Yellow Jackets no longer have veteran Haynes King since he exceeded his eligibility. Then their backup, Aaron Philo, signs with the Florida Gators. Colandrea was thought to be a great bridge to the next era in their football program.
However, the talented quarterback options elected to commit to head football coach Matt Rhule and Nebraska as they look to turn around their program. It is a wild time in college football, but at least Florida State has a quarterback transfer in the fold.