A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about six players who were former high-profile recruiting signees for the Noles who had not lived up to expectations and needed to be removed from the roster.
As of Friday, four of those six players announced their plans to enter the transfer portal. One of those players, I had doubts it would happen due to his relationship with one of the members of the coaching staff.
It was largely known that defensive end James Williams came to FSU because of the FSU defensive line coach, Terrance Knighton. It was a father/son type relationship, and Williams was supposed to offer an upgrade in the pass rush department in 2025. That didn’t come close to happening, and it didn’t look like Williams had any shot to make that come to fruition in 2026.
The fact that Williams and Knighton have a father-son relationship, I thought FSU would keep Williams in the fold inability to produce at a high level. It could be that Williams wanted to get a new start elsewhere, but either way, his entry into the transfer portal is a step in the right direction in terms of accountability in maximizing the roster.
As I mentioned a few days ago, the majority of the players who plan to enter the transfer portal have not been major contributors.
However, the key will be replacing those roster spots with players who can contribute at a higher level. FSU will need to attract talent at several positions via the transfer portal, and they will have 30+ high school players from the 2026 recruiting class joining the program. I still have a lot of questions about what they're doing, but departing with James Williams shows a step in the right direction.