Key FSU 3-star target leaves time for a Mike Norvell push with late-June commit date set

This week, Florida State landed a commitment from four-star running back Jayden Miles, but that doesn’t mean Mike Norvell is out of the running back market. Unsurprisingly, the head coach who appealed to FSU as an innovative play-caller at Memphis with a two-back system is looking to add another versatile playmaker to the 2027 class. 

That player is Marquis Fennell, who took his official visit to Florida State last weekend, but left Tallahassee without a commitment. Now we know one will come, either for the Seminoles, Colorado, Georgia Tech, or Stanford, as the 5-foot-10, 175-pound three-star has set an official commitment date. 

According to Chad Simmons of On3, Fennell plans to announce his commitment on June 25, leaving time for Norvell and his staff to close the deal with a priority target. 

3-star ATH Marquis Fennell set to announce commitment on June 25

Upon leaving his visit to Tallahassee, Fennell called the trip “reaffirming” as he got clarity about how he would be used in Norvell’s system. Running backs coach Kam Martin is leading his recruitment, so unsurprisingly, “Coach Kam is recruiting me as a running back, but they definitely still gonna put me at wide receiver slot," Fennell told Kolby Crawford of 247Sports. 

Like Miles, FSU's 6-foot-3, 200-pound four-star running back commit in the 2027 class, Fennell has real pass-catching chops out of the backfield. At his size, he likely won’t be able to be an every-down back, but he has more than a few impressive runs between the tackles on his highlight tape for Valdosta High School. 

He’s not just a good pass-catcher for a running back. Listed as an athlete, Fennell can legitimately play wide receiver, which is why he’s so enticing to a head coach who has described his system as “an offense built for playmakers.” Fennell’s quickness makes him hard to bring down in space, so he’s a yards-after-the-catch monster and excellent in the screen game. 

By the Rivals Prediction Machine, Stanford is leading Fennell’s recruitment at 43 percent, with Florida State trailing at 28 percent. Fennell took his official visit to Stanford at the end of May, with a trip to Colorado a week prior. This week is his final official visit, with a return trip to Georgia Tech, where he visited unofficially in April. 

Norvell has the Noles in a good spot in this recruitment, but the added time may not be a bad thing. So far, the 2027 class has been a revolving door, with this week’s run of three commitments being bookended by flips from Mekhi Williams and Gregory Batson. 

Hopefully, by the end of June, Florida State should have a clearer picture of the class and where to allocate resources to finally hold onto commits. More time for Norvell to recruit may not be a good thing, given his track record and the program's instability. However, his recent success with four-star wide receiver Sean Green may provide a bit of a blueprint for success with a much more active approach from the seventh-year head coach.

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