Florida State football did not have the 2025 season that it wanted. This started with an opening victory against the Alabama Crimson Tide, where quarterback transfer Thomas Castellanos mentioned that legendary head football coach Nick Saban couldn't save the program.
This made fans have high expectations of making the College Football Playoff, but it should have been worth mentioning that the Seminoles needed to know how to win first before hatching their eggs into the postseason.
As it turned out, Florida State started with a 3-0 record, but then only won two of the final nine games. This was unexcusable for a program that should have the expectations of competing for conference and national championships.
As the losses began to mount up, head football coach Mike Norvell's job security is starting to heat up. This is the harsh reality of college football, where teams have to win now.
Roster construction needs to be evaluated every single year. Programs need GMs to manage the teams. The transfer portal window begins on January 2nd to January 16th. Teams are starting to gain knowledge of who will enter the portal before that point, for the most part.
The Seminoles will probably be in the market for a quarterback transfer once again for the third year in a row (DJ Uiagalelei and Thomas Castellanos). The hope from the fan base is that redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry could be in consideration for a starting gig in 2026.
However, the coaching staff needs to do its due diligence at the position. West Florida transfer Marcus Stokes will be visiting Syracuse on January 3rd and Memphis on January 10th. This makes me believe that the Seminoles are out on the sweepstakes for him, or at the very least looking at all of their options.
West Florida transfer QB Marcus Stokes will visit Memphis on January 10, his rep @bnm_nil tells @On3sports.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 21, 2025
Also has a previously scheduled trip to Syracuse on Jan. 3. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound QB totaled 3,664 yards & 40 TDs this season. https://t.co/woHswjRYH3 pic.twitter.com/dMiUKMQKNA
Transfers such as Brendan Sorsby, Dylan Raiola, Rocco Becht, and Josh Hoover are options at the quarterback position. There are no shortage of available talent for quarterback needy teams.
Fans should not panic that Stokes might be trending away. The program has to get this decision right. As we see with the Miami Hurricanes, they connected on Cam Ward and Carson Beck, which have resulted in double-digit win seasons.
Overall, this should not be a barometer of what Miami is doing, but they have connected on quarterback transfers unlike Florida State, where they haven't produced much at the position without the likes of Jordan Travis.