Thoughts on Evan Cooper being hired as safeties coach at Florida State

I want to say that this Florida State football offseason has been very eventful already. The Seminoles had one of the most unforgettable campaigns in the program's history, as the team went 2-10 in 2024.

Head football coach Mike Norvell understands that this result is not the standard at Florida State, which has a proud tradition and is a championship-caliber program. This was not the expectation coming off of an undefeated regular season and conference championship in 2023.

Norvell knew that things had to change and change very quickly. He mentioned that this would be a quick fix. Many fans were skeptical because of what transpired in previous years. However, the first line of business was that Early Signing Day was very successful, where the Seminoles landed many talented prospects and finished with a top-20 recruiting class.

Then Norvell went about re-arranging the coaching staff. He has already hired offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, defensive coordinator Tony White, and defensive line coach Terrance Knighton.

Then on Saturday morning, Florida State announced more changes as the Seminoles officially hired Evan Cooper as its new safeties coach.

This was a massive get as Cooper was a former American Heritage player with South Florida connections. He also worked as the Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Secondary Coach at Nebraska in 2023 and then the Cornerbacks Coach/Director of Player Evaluation for the Carolina Panthers from 2020-2022.

This seems like something that made former Florida State head football coach Jimbo Fisher so successful here. Fisher recruited the likes of South Florida very well and won several recruitments over the arch-rival Miami Hurricanes for many years.

As for Patrick Surtain, I do not believe that Cooper's hiring impacted his decision to leave. I believe that it helps him stay with having someone familiar that used to be a former player. Plus, the head football coaching job that Surtain was looking at with Southern Miss has already been filled.

I might start telling elite lies this offseason.