Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program, and FSU football has struggled to consistently acquire top high school players in the Mike Norvell era for several reasons.
They also struggled with top legacy recruits, which makes the player we're going to talk about here an interesting topic. Devin Carter is the No. 89 player nationally in the 2026 recruiting class and the No. 12 wide receiver. He's the son of Dexter Carter, a former first-round selection in the 1990 NFL Draft.
Devin was 2 years old in the Family picture when I coached at FSU, Fell asleep while looking at a replay of the FSU win over LSU 2022 and pictures with Jordan Travis last week and 3 years ago. WOW! https://t.co/RcFozaPM4u pic.twitter.com/NMCn54HRVO
— Dexter Carter (@iDexterCarter) April 20, 2023
Devin Carter committed to the Noles early in his recruitment process. It was nearly two years ago, in April 2023 after FSU had a 10-3 season. However, he de-committed from FSU in January 2024, a month after FSU won the ACC and went 13-0 in the regular season.
FSU coaches have stayed in contact with Carter throughout the process, even after he committed to the Auburn Tigers in January 2025. He was on campus a few months after de-committing in 2024 and was on campus again last month(March 2025), and has set up an official visit with FSU for June 6th.
He'll officially visit Auburn the week after on June 13th.
I understand he's a top player in his class and a legacy recruit, but what gives? If the coaches don't recruit him, they can't recruit. If they don't sign him, they suck. All the while, he just committed to Auburn a few months ago.
FSU has a new offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach who helped produce some productive receivers at UCF. Maybe that's what's drawing him back to FSU, and he wants to give them a shot. However, they were hired by Mike Norvell when he committed to Auburn.
I hope it's not a case of FSU coaches continuing to pursue a player they ultimately have a small chance to sign. I don't understand the rush to commit to Auburn in January if he knew he'd give the new FSU coaches a shot.
At least they are trying to get top players, and Carter fits a guy that could be electric in the offense. We'll see how it shakes out.