Whelp... Thoughts on 4-star LB target Tavion Wallace not committing to the Noles

Well, Tuesday afternoon was considered a disappointing day for Florida State football recruiting. It was when four-star linebacker Tavion Wallace from Wayne County High School in Jesup, Georgia was supposed to decide between Florida State, Florida, Georgia, and Arkansas.

Many recruiting experts felt as though Wallace was going to commit to Florida State. He even told On3's Phillip Dukes that the Seminoles were the leader in his recruitment. Even with the Seminoles being the top school, there was always conversation of the home-state Georgia Bulldogs and arch-rival Florida Gators being contenders for Wallace.

However, when the talented linebacker made his decision, he did the unthinkable as he chose to commit to the Arkansas Razorbacks. This choice was so far out of left field that even the people who were heavily involved in his recruitment felt like Arkansas was the fourth team in the recruitment.

As I always say, recruiting is ever-changing and it requires teenagers to make one of the hardest decisions in their lifetimes. That comes with unpredictability. I had to collect my thoughts before writing this piece because I did not want my emotions to get the best of me.

This was a major whiff by the coaching staff. Just to be completely honest, I had a Tavion Wallace committing to Florida State piece in the drafts waiting to be published to the site. I talked in the article about this being the best linebacker prospect that the Seminoles have got in over a decade.

I valued Wallace that much. Even though he was classified as the third-best linebacker in the 2025 cycle by most recruiting databases, it isn't a stretch to believe that he is high up there. This would have completely overshadowed the misses of four-star Zaydrius Rainey-Sale (Washington) and four-star Gavin Nix (Miami) going elsewhere.

Instead, the Seminoles put all of their eggs into the Wallace sweepstakes and ended up with no one. While I know that a lot of fans want to get out their pitchforks for linebackers coach Randy Shannon, it is an "all-in" approach and I don't think the singular blame should be on Shannon.

This is a bit concerning going forward though. I like four-star Ethan Pritchard (who is the only linebacker prospect committed to Florida State's class) but I feel like they need to have at least two in the fold with veteran DJ Lundy graduating after the 2024 season.

There are slim pickings at the position. The Seminoles could still recruit Wallace and try to flip him from a struggling Arkansas team (but he could just flip to the home-state Georgia Bulldogs). Other options include four-star Riley Pettijohn (hasn't showcased much interest), four-star Tarvos Alford (committed to Ohio State), four-star Gavin Nix (committed to Miami), four-star Zaydrius Rainey-Sale (committed to Washington- do we want to try this for a third time?), four-star Ty Jackson (hasn't visited), and three-star Michael Hastie (committed to West Virginia).

It is so difficult to get prospects to flip from their respective schools. The Seminoles have made it hard on themselves as they look to acquire linebackers in their class. I hope that they don't just settle with Pritchard and try to band-aid it in the transfer portal since the 2025 recruiting cycle has several talented prospects for the position.