A deep dive into #Tribe26
Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles welcomed their largest signing class in a decade by inking 32 high school and JUCO players yesterday. Barring any major surprises, #Tribe26 is largely complete.
There are two lenses through which to view this class, and I’m going to try and incorporate both into my grades. I want to acknowledge though that I will always grade more on standards than on context.
The first is a context lens. Considering FSU’s record, the avalanche of negative press coverage, Norvell’s future being in doubt for months, and assistant coaches and coordinator’s future still in doubt, this class didn’t suffer as many defections as many of us thought, and none happened on Wednesday. It was also a larger class than any of us expected. Signing all of the players on the commit list and adding another three on the first day of the Early Signing Period should be considered a nice victory for the staff, especially when numerous other programs had players delay their signings.
The second, though, is a standards lens. For decades, Florida State maintained a very high standard in recruiting that long predates rankings sites like 247, Rivals, and On3. It led to conference and national championships. It literally established Tallahassee as a desirable home for generations of top talent with blue-chip legacies following in the footsteps of their fathers. That standard slipped during the end of the Jimbo Fisher era and never recovered through the tenures of Willie Taggart and Mike Norvell. What does that mean? The incoming class of Seminoles hasn’t seen a composite top 10 recruiting class at Florida State since 2017, when they were in elementary school (and likely unconcerned with recruiting rankings).
Before turning our attention to the January transfer portal and all the madness that follows, let’s take a deep dive into the 2026 class and assign some grades.
Quarterback
Florida State initially had 4-star Brady Smigiel committed, but Smigiel left the class when Gus Malzahn was hired because he wasn’t a good fit for that style. FSU turned its attention to highly-rated mobile QBs like 5-star Keisean Henderson (Houston), 4-star Landon Duckworth (South Carolina), and 4-star Bowe Bentley, but was unable to gain serious traction with any of them. Henderson and Duckworth both cancelled planned visits to Tallahassee.
FSU pivoted and flipped 3-star Jaden O’Neal from Oklahoma and was able to hold on to him despite both parties exploring other options. O’Neal has great arm strength and takes good care of the football, throwing for 29 touchdowns against only three interceptions his senior year. He isn’t an ideal fit for what Gus Malzahn likes to do with mobile quarterbacks, so it will be interesting to see how adaptable the staff is, or how long O’Neal sticks in Tallahassee.
Grade: C+
Running Back
FSU pulled off a rare commitment-decommittment-recommittment trifecta with Amari Thomas, a local playmaker who amassed over 4,500 yards and 75 touchdowns in three seasons of varsity ball. I’m a fan of Thomas and when he kept showing up on campus for games, I felt strongly that FSU needed to get him back on board. When South Carolina fired OC Mike Shula, it opened the door for a reunion and I’m glad he’s a ‘Nole. Love his hands and ability in the passing game, and I think he could play a similar role as Lawrance Toafili. It’s just a shame that FSU had to work so hard to keep a local prospect home.
That said, I’ve long felt that FSU needed two prep running backs this cycle. FSU failed miserably in the Carsyn Baker recruitment, unable to beat out Florida for his initial commitment and unable to gain any traction after Billy Napier was fired. They wasted time and resources on players like Jae Lamar and Derrek Cooper who were clearly headed elsewhere. They couldn’t seal the deal on former FIU commit Qwantavius Wiggins, who opted for Wisconsin. The individual coaching RBs is also the Recruiting Coordinator. Flat out unacceptable. Thankfully, he is moving on to Arkansas.
Grade: C
Wide Receiver
Finally, a bright spot to discuss. Wide receiver went from being an eyesore in 2024 to marked improvement in 2025 thanks to Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy, and Lawayne McCoy. There were still issues though. Squirrel White was paid handsomely to be completely mis-utilized in the passing game and to be timid in the return game. I continue to shout about Gavin Blackwell being the stupidest portal take of the last cycle.
Tim Harris has been a breath of fresh air after the stale stench of Dugans. We saw actual development translating into improved performance through Danzy and McCoy. Robinson had a great season. Wide receiver recruiting is also on the upswing, with six incoming high school receivers coming to Tallahassee (four of whom are blue-chips). They weren’t easy recruitments, either.
Jasen Lopez is a nice victory over the hometown Miami Hurricanes and should make an early impact at slot receiver. Brandon Bennett, the fastest signee in #Tribe26, chose FSU over Georgia and Alabama. Devin Carter flipped from FSU to Auburn and back to FSU and the Seminoles were able to hold on to his pledge the second time around. Efrem White is another blue-chip addition, and JP Winston and Darryon Williams are developmental prospects.
The only things keeping this from being an A are the lack of a true #1 wideout and my frustration with FSU basically conceding Keeyun Chapman at UNC. I think he’s going to be a good one.
Grade: A-
Tight End
I’ve long felt that Chris Thomsen is the most underappreciated recruiter among the assistant coaching staff (development is another story) and he brought in another promising blue-chip along with a high-floor legacy. FSU was able to hold off in-state Alabama and Auburn for Xavier Tiller, who has the makings of becoming a weapon in the passing game. Legacy Corbyn Fordham, who flipped from Ohio State to the Seminoles, provides a nice blocking option with safety-valve capabilities. It’s also nice to see FSU notch a recruiting victory in the Bolles School in Jacksonville. The Seminoles worked hard to flip Heze Kent from Florida, but were unsuccessful. Another solid year overall for tight end recruiting.
Grade: B
Offensive Line
Herb Hand was dealt a difficult… hand… when he signed up to fix the offensive line issues at Florida State. This is a unit that has been destroyed by years of poor prep evaluation and development, leading to a massive need for portal quick-fixes. Hand is attempting to rebuild things through both mechanisms out of need. This season, he signed five (possibly six, depending on which side of the ball Luke Francis ends up on) prep and JUCO linemen. Numbers are fine but when you consider that all five/six of the signees are in the bottom third of individual rankings among Tribe 26’s signees… it’s a concern. I’m fine with FSU not landing Johnnie Jones (I think he’s overrated as hell) or Sam Roseborough (chased a Texas A&M bag) but striking out on Wilson Zierer (Auburn) and Mitchell Smith (Vanderbilt) was disappointing on the OT front.
FSU got a nice surprise when 6’7, 370 pound New Zealander Nikau Hepi flipped from Auburn to the Seminoles. He’s extremely raw but my goodness, you don’t find that type of size in many places. He’ll likely start at OT, as will legacy signee Mike Ionata (6’6”, 300) and late JUCO addition Steven Moore (6’5, 320). Along the interior, FSU has Jakobe Green (6’3, 335) and late Syracuse flip Steven Pickard (6’5, 300). Francis would also project along the interior line at 6’4, 335. Hand lost a commitment from Da’Ron Parks, though he projects best along the interior of the line and FSU was going to try him at OT. I don’t think that would’ve ended well. Former OT commit Xavier Payne was also jettisoned early on, which was addition by subtraction.
The numbers are nice but the problem with this group is that none of these guys are ready for significant playing time, which is what you’d hope for when you sign a JUCO player. FSU is going to have to hit the portal hard once again and hope that Hand’s developmental chops show up with some of the returning linemen who need to prove they’re still worthy of a roster spot. This class just feels like a lot of depth and filler to me but hopefully Hand will be able to develop some of them well.
Grade: C–
Defensive Line
Terrance Knighton has been my biggest disappointment on the recruiting trail among the new hires prior to the 2025 season. That said, FSU was able to pull in a couple of nice prospects along the defensive line (I’m including edge rushers in this section) from a variety of methods. FSU did lose two DL commitments in Tico Crittendon (that one hurt) and James Carrington (hurt a little less) and whiffed majorly on edge Kamron Wilson.
Keeping Earnest Rankins in the fold was a big win for the staff, as he should be a nice interior piece who could play rotationally sooner than later. The Seminoles also won the Franklin Whitley sweepstakes, a prospect who shot up recruiting rankings and boards of some major programs. He’s raw but has perhaps the highest ceiling of any signee in Tribe 2026. Damaad Lewis, Chris Carbin, and Wihtlley Cadeau can become solid rotational players and FSU took swings on Judah Daniels and Luke Francis (who could find a home on offense). There were some big names along the interior FSU was after but the Seminoles either couldn’t afford them or couldn’t keep interest after another poor season.
Jalen Anderson, the top edge rusher in the JUCO ranks, stuck with FSU despite heavy interest from other programs (though if LSU had pushed for him, he’d have gone there IMO). He should be an immediate contributor. Jaemin Pinckney was a nice flip from USF after their coach went to Auburn. He has a great frame and should be able to add enough weight to become effective. FSU also had Cam Brooks fall into its lap after a coaching change at Cal. Brooks notably called out Knighton earlier this season for not caring enough to recruit him. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes.
I’m always a proponent of taking large prep and JUCO classes along both offensive and defensive lines and FSU went hard on both sides this cycle. Anderson should quickly be in the rotation for edge and a couple of others may be able to find some reps this season. Overall, a solid effort.
Grade: B
Linebacker
FSU was able to sign its highest-rated linebacker in a while when Izaiya Williams finally stopped his verbal commitment roulette wheel on Florida State (for the second time). Williams had to sit out his senior season with an injury so there is certainly risk here, but if he is able to recapture his pre-injury form, he should find his way on to the field during his freshman campaign. He was a nice victory on the trail for a unit that has severely lacked star power over the past two seasons.
FSU also managed to keep underrated south Florida product Karon Maycock away from Texas. Maycock should be able to help on special teams fairly quickly and I like his game a lot. Noah LaVallee is also headed to Tallahassee to join his brother Caleb, who should be ready to go in 2026 after losing 2025 to an injury. Noah LaVallee isn’t rated very highly but you can’t deny his production at the high school level. Daylen Green, a local athlete who flipped to FSU from Arkansas, could factor in at linebacker or safety depending on where he’s needed most.
I like this group of signees well enough. There were other options that I liked for FSU who landed elsewhere. It was disappointing that FSU couldn’t get any traction with TJ White (Tennessee) and while the staff made a great impression on Xavier Griffin, it couldn’t realistically pull him away from Alabama. DQ Forkpa turned out to be a total headcase that FSU declined to pursue, and Rodney Colton signed with Colorado.
Grade: B–
Defensive Back
I’ve been on record for a long time in that I believe FSU will always be able to sign blue-chip defensive backs annually. That hasn’t been the issue lately, though- development has, and Patrick Surtain Sr. lost his job because of it. When you sign four 4-star defensive backs in one class and none of them are playing meaningful reps yet, it’s damning on either evaluation or development.
Tribe 2026 has a star in Chauncey Kennon. He’s a high 4-star talent, top-50 player nationally, and has NFL potential. He’s a candidate for early playing time. Jordan Crutchfield was a nice flip late from Kentucky, as he possess a great frame and should push for reps in the safety rotation in the next two years. FSU hung on to Tre Bell, who has strong leadership qualities along with a blue-chip skill level. Again, Daylen Green could also factor into the rotation at safety.
We also have to talk about who FSU lost, in 5-star legacy Jay Timmons. It continued a nasty annual tradition of losing top talent under Mike Norvell and hurt twice as much when the legacy component is taken into account. I realize that he chose Ohio State, but FSU should never lose a recruitment with so many built-in advantages if it has hopes of being relevant. The Seminoles also lost commitments from Tedarius Hughes (I love his game but his attitude, not so much) and Sean Johnson (I don’t care). FSU was unable to gain any traction with Kaiden Hall (extremely disappointing), CJ Bronaugh (big slice of humble pie for safeties coach Evan Cooper on that one), Samari Matthews and J’Zavian Currence (bag-chasers), Traeviss Stevenson, legacy Brody Jennings, Lasiah Jackson, and Xavier Lherisse.
Rough cycle overall for this unit, despite landing Kennon. I expect FSU to do better at this position, and more capable recruiters would likely have netted Hall, Bronaugh, and once of Stevenson/Jackson/Lherisse. For that reason, I can’t give anything higher than a low B (and that’s only because of Kennon).
Grade: B-
As of now, FSU has not signed any specialists.
Overall class grade: B- or C
Again, we have two lenses to look through in our evaluation. When you consider everything the program has been through in the past two years, this class cracks the B- ranking for me. The staff did a better job holding on to commitments than I thought, though they did lose their best player. When you look through the lens of the program standard, though, this class drops into C territory. While there are a few stars and some nice depth pieces, this class doesn’t get you back into contention of winning any conference championships or higher.
What do you think, Tomahawk Nation? Tell me your grades in the comments!
Category: General Sports
