Mike Norvell is quietly putting together a brilliant 2026 class...by Mike Norvell standards

This is not the time for FSU recruiting to take one step back. The June surge was amazing and July got off to a great start with Earnest Rankins and Chauncey Kennon. FSU fans have never been more optimistic about football recruiting since Mike Norvell took over.

But let's be honest. It's still not good enough. Sure, having a top 15 recruiting class is very good given Norvell's history as a recruiter and that's part of the problem. Norvell is not a guy that regularly lands top 10 recruiting class, but at FSU the standard is top 10 recruiting classes.

And the standard has to remain the standard.

I get it. The game has changed. There's NIL, there's the transfer portal....there is more to roster building than simply high school recruiting. That is correct and FSU has been one of the better teams using the portal since Norvell arrived - heck, three years ago you could have called Norvell the 'Portal God'.

The 2024 season changed that. FSU went heavy in the portal, and it didn't work out at all. Norvell deserves credit for salvaging the 2025 recruiting class amid major staff changes and his new staff deserve credit for re-establishing FSU as a player in high school recruiting. 

But it needs to be better. 

FSU isn't a program that can survive in the 8-4, 9-3 space where programs that land top 15 recruiting classes usually land. That would be a great record in 2025, coming off of a 2-10 season, but it can't be the norm. '

Norvell is getting paid like a top guy, he must recruit like a top guy

Eight months ago, Norvell was the sixth-highest paid coach in the country. Four of the five coaches ahead of him made the playoffs, and landed recruiting classes inside the top 10 (Lincoln Riley., what are you doing?!?!).

Norvell had to pay a loser's tax to make things right with the boosters. It was a smart strategic move that let the fanbase know that he is in the fight with them. The FSU fanbase really WANTS Norvell to succeed. They like him and he's a very likable guy. Find me another coach in P4 that seemingly has good job security after going 2-10. I'll wait. 

FSU is all-in on Norvell. The administration has believed in his plan. But that plan can't be to field above-average teams annually. There have to be more championship trophies at the end of this rainbow. One ACC title and one Cheez-It Bowl trophy over five years isn't going to get it done.

​Can Norvell produce another December recruiting surprise?

Over the past 25-plus years, FSU has been known for the 'signing day surprise'. Whether it's Lorenzo Booker spurning Notre Dame, Antone Smith turning his back on Miami, Greg Reid and Dalvin Cook flipping to the Noles at the Under Armour All-America Game or Jalen Ramsey jumping from USC

Norvell got into the action back in December when he successfully flipped Ousmane Kromah from Georgia. That was a huge exclamation point on a strong day for Norvell. It was a perfect example of what he's capable of. Can he do the same with Derrek Cooper, who just placed FSU in his top five?

If not Cooper, who announces his decision next week, can Norvell flip elite wide receiver Calvin Russell, who just committed to Syracuse? Maybe FSU will kick the tires on blue-chip quarterback Keisean Henderson and see if he can make a late-season visit to Tallahassee. 

Flipping Henderson from Houston seems unlikely and Russell claims he's solid to Syracuse right now. But that's why it's called a surprise. No one expects it to happen until it does.

This class is solid and stuffing Hugh Freeze in a locker is a fun time for all. But Freeze is a struggling coach at a program without direction. Beating the 11th best team in the SEC for a recruit iis a good start, but beating a top five program for a recruit is real progress.

Time to try and stuff Ryan Day in a locker.