Florida State football recruiting has been volatile since the official visits season started a few weeks ago. The Noles have added three commits and have lost a couple as players assess their options. A lot of the recruiting game is transactional now. If a player and a school are not in the same ballpark with financials, there’s no point in continuing the conversation.
However, some recruiting battles still come down to relationships and what position a school likes a player in the most. That seems to be the case with Florida State defensive back commit Dayon Cooper. Florida State was among the first Power Four programs to offer Cooper in February 2026.
The in-state Tennessee Volunteers offered Cooper a week later. He came to Tallahassee twice this spring before committing in April and took a visit to Tennessee between the two visits to Florida State.
South Pittsburg (Tenn.) standout ATH @DayonCooper2027 is on Rocky Top for his OV. The FSU commit is taking another look at Tennessee this weekend pic.twitter.com/NVZRBMmfNy
— Matt Ray (@matt_ray_) June 13, 2026
FSU likes Cooper on defense but he wants a shot to play wide receiver
He committed to Florida State as a defensive back, where most colleges believe he has the highest upside, but Cooper is interested in playing wide receiver. FSU has likely had some talks about offensive packages, but they like him best as a defensive back. It’s why Cooper took an official visit to Oklahoma State at the end of May and is on an official visit to Tennessee this weekend.
If Tennessee can convince him they’ll let him play wide receiver, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him flip his commitment to the Vols. It would be the position he wants to play the most, and it would be the in-state school since he’s from Tennessee.
The wide receiver position is one of the more difficult to transition successfully from high school to college. Cooper could likely get on the field much quicker as a defensive back. He has good size and length at 6’0” and 180 pounds. He has good hips and good acceleration. He’s a very good athlete who’s probably underrated a tad because he goes to a smaller high school.
It would be a loss for the Noles, but I couldn’t fault the young man for the decision. He’s being open about what he wants to do in college and communicating it to Florida State. The Noles have other defensive back targets they can turn to if he decides to flip, with three of them taking official visits next week.
Defensive backs are a dime a dozen in Florida and Georgia. Florida State is trending with one of its top defensive linemen officially visiting this weekend. They are in a good spot for another defensive lineman, and had one of their top priority offensive linemen taking an official visit this weekend.
The Noles are not where they want to be in the national rankings, but they have some quality targets remaining on their board. If they can land the guys they are trending for and a few from those taking official visits next week? That momentum would put Florida State near the top 20 nationally, a far cry from the No. 51 ranking they have right now.
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