FSU football fans have become jaded with recruiting in the Mike Norvell era. Some of it is warranted, and other times it's whining for no reason and this situation is more of the latter.
2026 four-star edge target Cam Brooks has visited FSU several times over the past few years, mostly with the old defensive staff. However, he made it to campus a month ago to meet the new staff and has an official visit with FSU scheduled for June 6th.
He also has official visits scheduled with Clemson (May 30), Ohio State (June 20), FSU (June 6) and California (June 12). Brooks announced a commitment to California on Sunday evening that caused some FSU fans on social media to crash out and complain about FSU not landing him.
MONSTER commitment for Cal in the 2026 class as Rivals100 DE Camron Brooks has committed to the Bears. Huge recruiting win for Justin Wilcox's program as Cal beats out a number of top programs. Clemson, Miami and Florida State are some of the other schools that had been involved.… https://t.co/LjCJStUfEU
— Cal Rivals (@CalRivals) April 27, 2025
A few things to consider:
- Brooks has a teammate who officially visited Cal earlier this month and committed there. Did that help influence him some?
- I think he (Brooks) just visited there for the first time and committed.
- A four-star kid from Georgia committed to California over FSU, Georgia, Clemson, and Ohio State? That move screams California probably paid way more than anyone else was talking at present.
- It's a LONG way until the Early Signing Period in December, and I'd bet money he doesn't sign there IF Georgia, Clemson, FSU, or Ohio State covet him.
- He's the same size as FSU legacy Aaron Hester, who entered the transfer portal and committed to Liberty.
The latter is the most important part because it likely played a role in this deal. Some FSU media say he'd play the JACK position in FSU's 3-3-5 defense, and that position's primary job is to rush the passer.
Brooks is under 6'3" and only 225 pounds, again, the same size as Aaron Hester, and he was dead weight on the roster. He could potentially grow more I suppose. However, unless he has an ELITE first step and/or extremely long arms, he's gonna struggle to be an effective pass rusher.
It's likely why none of these schools were pushing for a commitment this early. He visited FSU and Clemson this spring, and if he sticks with California, then we know either they dropped a crazy big bag, or the teams in his backyard didn't think he was as good as his ranking (No. 166 nationally, No. 19 Edge). High-caliber players don't leave Georgia and go out of state to somewhere across the country like California for no reason. It's not like California is anywhere close to good(they lost to the worst FSU team in our lifetime last year).
Let's see if he takes his official visits as scheduled this summer.