High school recruiting has to be better for Florida State football

It is rock bottom in Tallahassee where the general public consistently take jabs at the Florida State football program.

It is well-deserved as Florida State came off a 2023 campaign where they had an undefeated regular season and a conference championship. It all came spiraling out of control in December as the College Football Playoff committee left the Seminoles out of the playoffs in favor of one-loss Alabama.

I don't like to make excuses and I certainly don't want to give this football team a pass for what has transpired through five games where their only victory was against a lackluster California team. However, the playoff snub virtually destroyed this football squad.

Rock bottom is a place where I never thought I would envision after the 0-4 start in 2021. I certainly forecasted that it would be in the rearview mirror as the future seemed bright for a program that kept his head football coach Mike Norvell from taking a job with the Crimson Tide in the offseason.

However, here were are... No room for growth, the roster in shambles, and more importantly a fan base/high-paying boosters that have lost interest. The program has to find a way for new life.

I believe that the only way that is achieved is securing talent via the recruiting ranks. The Seminoles have struck out on several prospects such as Travis Hunter, Jeremiah Smith, CJ Baxter, LJ McCray, Wesley Bissainthe, Rueben Bain, KJ Bolden, among many others.

Florida State football has been a laughing stock when it comes to closing prospects out on National Signing Day. This trend has got to change. The Seminoles are ranked as the 29th-best best 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports' Composite rankings. However, the program did lose pivotal pieces such as four-star defensive end Javion Hilson and four-star defensive tackle Myron Charles.

It could get even worse as the program potentially loses even more games on the season. Florida State has to find a way to stop the bleeding and develop those relationships with a variety of recruits. Elite teams such as Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, and even your hated arch-rival Miami has done tremendous on the recruiting trail.

That is unfortunate due to being a combined 23-4 the past two seasons. It is time for the program to get back to the foundation of strictly building from within especially on the trenches while not relying so heavily on the transfer portal to fill out every need due to a lack of recruiting accountability.

It won't be easy to climb back out of this hole, but the focus of recruiting high school prospects have to be a talking point.