On Sunday, four-star safety Mekhi Williams, who had been the top-ranked player in Florida State’s 2027 class since he committed in March, 2025, decommitted from the Noles. After that, it didn’t take long for the Ruskin, Fla. native, who never shut down his recruitment, to find a new home, and it’s with a coach in an eerily similar situation to Mike Norvell.
On Wednesday evening, Williams, ranked No. 179 in the country by Rivals Industry, announced his commitment to Wisconsin, immediately becoming one of the top prospects heading to Madison. However, he’s not the top-ranked recruit in a class that ranks No. 22 in the country, which is an unexpected resurgence for Luke Fickell.
Fickell, like Norvell, is entering the year on the hot seat, largely buoyed by a considerable buyout. That potential for instability often makes it difficult to recruit, so it wasn’t necessarily a surprise to see Williams flee from FSU’s class. It was a bit of one to see him leave for a coach in a similar spot, which proves that hot-seat status is far from Norvell’s only issue on the recruiting trail. The lack of institutional support is a problem he can't, and probably isn't supposed to solve.
Mike Norvell’s recruiting struggles might be by design, but not his design
Norvell’s strong suit has never been recruiting. Watching the 2024 offense, the last time he called plays before he’ll resume those duties this season, it’s hard to say that’s his forte either, but I digress. Norvell isn’t an active recruiter and has never built a strong recruiting staff. Still, his 2027 class is currently ranked No. 43 in the country, a steep decline from a top-15 class in 2026 and a top-20 group the year prior.
There’s still time to improve that standing nationally and escape the realm of Kansas and Stanford, which the Noles are currently sandwiched between. However, with Williams dropping out of the class, things seem to be heading in the wrong direction. That points to other issues and likely to the larger plan seemingly in place for FSU to eventually move on from Norvell and reinvest in the program with the next coach.
Rather than paying Fickell’s buyout to restart in Madison, Wisconsin opted to reinvest that money into the program, and it’s paying off with a strong recruiting class and a decent portal haul that could thrust the Badgers back into the Big Ten’s middle class. Outwardly, Florida State took something of a similar approach. Yet, the money simply isn't there for the 2027 class, and a transfer portal haul headlined by new starting quarterback Ashton Daniels is an unmissable sign that the program was hunting in the bargain bin.
That decision was born out of necessity for this lame-duck staff because, in reality, FSU and its big-money boosters appear to be keeping their powder dry to pay Norvell’s buyout, which, at the end of the 2026 season, is still $51 million. They opted not to bite the $64.1 million bullet at the conclusion of the 2025 season, but with the buyout only falling to $42.5 million by 2027, the waiting game eventually needs to end.
With a tough schedule, by ACC standards, and last year’s crowded coaching carousel, FSU was wise to punt this decision down the road. But that wasn’t done with the intention of giving Norvell every opportunity to change the minds of the powers that be. Either he's an even more limited recruiter than previously known, or, more likely, he’s so financially handicapped that even trading punches with Fickell and Wisconsin is too tall a task.
Wisconsin is pouring money into Fickell to salvage a tenure that's been heading in the wrong direction. FSU took a different approach, refusing to spend more money to patch up a sinking ship, and after missing a bowl game two years in a row, probably unable to raise it. So, the ship will sink, and at this point, that seems to be the best option.
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