Florida State and Mike Norvell continue to add pieces to their coaching staff. The latest addition looks like Auburn’s Assistant Quarterbacks coach, Jesse Stone, according to his social media page on Sunday night.
FSU promoted Austin Tucker to the quarterback coach position after Tony Tokarz left for the offensive coordinator position at Buffalo. Tucker has already cemented himself as a dawg recruiter, and the move to add Stone to the staff makes sense. He coached under Gus Malzahn at UCF with FSU offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. as the offensive analyst for quarterbacks:
Incredibly grateful of @Coach_Norvell @CoachGusMalzahn @CoachT_HarrisJR and the opportunity to be a Florida State Seminole! Excited to support and serve our players and staff! #GoNoles #KeepCLIMBing pic.twitter.com/4MmLqSrsKf
— Jesse Stone (@CoachJesseStone) March 2, 2026
I like this move for FSU because of the continuity it brings between Ashton Daniels and Tim Harris Jr.
More importantly, Stone was the quarterback's coach at Auburn last year, where transfer Ashton Daniels played.
Daniels will likely be the starting quarterback at FSU in 2026, barring some unforeseen circumstance. Stone should know Daniels fairly well regarding his strengths and weaknesses. Daniels admitted he spent last year working on those weaknesses at Auburn, mainly the turnover issue, and the two interceptions he threw on 119 attempts were not ill-advised throws.
Daniels played in the final four games of the season and put up some solid stats. He averaged nearly 270 yards of total offense, and two of those games were against No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 9 Alabama.
I keep going back to the similarities between Ashton Daniels and former FSU great Jordan Travis. Travis wasn’t an elite passer, but he rarely turned the ball over and could make things happen with his legs (earlier in his FSU career). It seems like FSU and Mike Norvell are looking to recapture some of that old magic with someone like Daniels. Who better than to help him unlock that than someone who spent last year with him, where he made some large improvements in the passing game?
I'm not saying it'll work, but it makes sense. If Stone can continue to help Daniels unlock some potential, it could be a game changer for FSU in 2026.