Florida State has plenty of doubters who don't think that they will be successful. Many of them believe that head coach Mike Norvell is on the hot seat. While I don't believe that, the Seminoles need to be way better in being successful on the gridiron.
There is a standard at Florida State that the legendary Bobby Bowden set. Coach Norvell has a ton to prove, but it can be done. Just like last offseason, he added players via the transfer portal and high school recruiting ranks to the roster and hired new coaches to the staff.
Norvell probably hopes that this will once and for all fix the issue of not having sustainable success. Speaking of the coaches, one shake-up that many fans didn't like was that defensive back coach Pat Surtain Sr. was relieved of his duties. Individuals thought that Surtain Sr. was a solid recruiter, his position group was playing well enough, and the players liked him as a coach.
With that being said, Michigan State's Blue Adams was hired to be the next cornerbacks coach, and the expectation is high for him to be successful after the firing of Surtain Sr.
Florida State's secondary still looks great on paper for the 2026 season
With Blue Adams hired, the Seminoles decided to keep around safeties coach Evan Cooper. However, those individuals were faced with adversity when safety Earl Little Jr. (Ohio State), Edwin Joseph (Ole Miss), and Cai Bates (Wisconsin) all transferred out of the program.
Little Jr. was very good in spurts for Florida State, especially in the season-opening victory over Alabama. However, the former Alabama defensive back transfer was too inconsistent to be relied on as a top defender.
The good news is that Florida State was able to get back returnees such as Ja'Bril Rawls and Ashlynd Barker. Then, the Seminoles added productive members of the CJ Richard Jr., Ma'Khi Jones, Nehemiah Chandler, and Karson Hobbs via the transfer portal.
Rawls and Barker have a chance to be All-ACC-type players. Before Rawls got injured last season, he had 40 tackles (two for loss), two pass breakups, one interception, and one fumble recovery. Barker finished second on the team with 48 tackles (five for loss), 3.5 sacks, and two breakups (according to ESPN Stats and Information).
Florida State has the luxury of having a lockdown corner in Rawls and Barker playing meaningful reps at the ROVER position in Tony White's defense. This is a year where, on paper, the defensive backfield could be one of the best in the conference.
I don't want to blow smoke on this team, given that they have won seven games in two years, but this gives the fan base a glimmer of hope that the secondary could be a well-oiled machine in 2026.