We’ve written that talent hasn’t been the issue at FSU the past two seasons. Has it been a national championship roster? No, but it’s much better than a 7-17 roster.
FSU has a mass exodus of players from the program after the 2-10 season in 2024. The program improved more than its record in 2025, yet FSU has had 15 players announce plans to enter the transfer portal.
There are two on that list I wish FSU could have retained. That tells me that it’s a lot of dead weight trimmed from the roster. Most of those guys didn’t contribute much, and likely wouldn’t contribute much in the future.
That likely means some money can be directed elsewhere to acquire or retain players who may potentially make an impact going forward.
It’s not clear if more players plan to exit the program, but if that’s it, there’s a solid nucleus to build upon. FSU has young talent with production at running back, tight end, wide receiver, defensive back, and defensive line. There are other young talents who have redshirted and have the potential to become impact players.
The biggest component is that they want to be at FSU and may want to actually play for one another. That was the biggest thing missing in the past two years. There was no chemistry or brotherhood between the offense, defense, and special teams.
FSU will need to plug holes with players from the transfer portal, and it’ll be imperative that those players have a team-first mindset. If they can find a quarterback with proven ability who’s able to get the others to follow him and hold one another accountable? FSU could have a different type of team in 2026.