FSU football: One major trend noticed with 2026 recruiting class

FSU football coaches added their fifth commitment in its 2026 recruiting class Thursday night with the addition of South Florida defensive back Tadarius Hughes. It was the second 2026 commitment in as many weeks. That's a good sign, as FSU began June 2024 with only four commitments in its 2025 recruiting class. Major programs like Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma had 15+ commitments going into the summer months. FSU closed the gap with six commitments over the last couple of weeks with its 2025 class and now has 10 total, with several targets likely to announce their decisions soon. Part of this has been a strategy by the staff to get most of their priority targets to officially visit in June, with commitments to follow. However, it appears they could move towards building their high school recruiting classes earlier with the success they've enjoyed on the field over the past two seasons.

They've already gotten their quarterback, Brady Smigiel, a position who is usually the centerpiece of a recruiting class. There is risk in this approach because the staff is relying on early evaluations and projections. However, it's better to have players commit early and adjust instead of having little room for error if they miss a priority target. There are major benefits to building the class earlier. One is it allows the staff to start working on the next recruiting class and continue to build those relationships so they can accept earlier commitments. We've seen the staff begin to do with inviting 2026 players and beyond to the FSU Elite camp this summer. I don't put much stock into players committing so early nowadays, but it's what top programs do. It's good to see FSU potentially moving in that direction as it looks to continue improving its high school recruiting.