Chop Chat

The Florida State Seminoles are keeping one eye on 2026 while also looking down the line as they seek to build this team for future success. Head coach Mike Norvell has had an up-and-down tenure in Tallahassee, but it appears his time will soon come to an end. After two underwhelming campaigns in back-to-back years, it seems like he could be gone sooner rather than later. Despite that being the belief among fans, he's acting as if he'll be the lead man for the future.

According to 247Sports, there are two four-star quarterbacks from Florida in the 2028 class: Jayden Wade, who is the No. 2 overall player in the country and destined to earn his five-star billing, and Neimann Lawrence, a top-100 player at No. 73 in the class. Both are committed, Wade to Georgia and Lawrence to Texas. So, if Florida State is going to land an in-state quarterback in the 2028 class, it needs to look further down the board to the next tier of QB.

The transfer portal is not officially open in college football, but a former Seminole is hitting the market nonetheless. Jalen Brown, who caught eight passes for 75 yards for Florida State in 2024, has entered the portal for the third time after spending 2025 at Arkansas. Brown was arrested on a charge of hindering apprehension after his 12-catch, 167-yard, two-touchdown campaign for the Razorbacks in 2025 and was subsequently dismissed from the team.

Mike Norvell needs these battles to break right to save his job in Tallahassee. Florida State Seminoles defensive back Quindarrius Jones (16) | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect Mike Norvell needs to submit his first winning season since 2023. Even that, though, may not be enough to save his job after posting a 7-17 record over the last two years. It could take an unexpected jump back to eight or nine wins to re-establish himself as a part of Florida State’s long-term plan.

There’s a good chance that the No. 1 player in the country in the 2028 class is from Florida. There are a few in-state contenders for it, but right now, five-star wide receiver Brysen Wright from Mandarin High School holds the distinction. Unlike Jeremiah Smith, the last top overall recruit to hail from Florida, who left for Ohio State, it seems there’s a decent chance he stays home.

Typically, for a coach on a set as red-hot as Mike Norvell’s, evaluating the program’s future recruiting classes is a frivolous endeavor. There’s little chance that Norvell is the head coach of Florida State by the time the current 2027 class gets to campus, not to mention 2028. However, things in Tallahassee are working a little bit differently this offseason.

If you’re heading to Doak Campbell Stadium for a Florida State Seminoles game this season, you’ll be greeted by a different voice than you had for the last 16 years. FSU confirmed to the Tallahassee Democrat that it made the decision not to retain public address announcer Woody Hayes for his 17th year in the press box. Florida State has not yet announced who will replace Hayes and become just the fourth PA announcer in the past 42 years of the stadium.

In April, Michigan became the first team in college basketball history to win a national championship with a starting lineup composed entirely of transfers. The portal is the way of things in college basketball, and that’s true of Luke Loucks’ Florida State Seminoles, too.

It’s been a while since Florida State submitted a truly elite recruiting class. Jimbo Fisher, not Mike Norvell, is the last Seminoles head coach to land a top-10 group in the country, and the 2027 class, ranking No. 57 with just 13 commits, certainly isn’t on track to end that drought. A major reason for those recent struggles, more specifically than Norvell’s general lack of recruiting acumen and effort, is the program’s inability to land talent from its own backyard.

Danny Kanell says he's not much of a "rah, rah" guy, but his unintentional pep talk is one that Mike Norvell should pass along, if he hasn't done so already. Kanell, who led the Seminoles to a 20-3-1 record and two ACC titles in 1994 and 1996, was on the CBS Sports HQ channel to make a prediction for FSU's record in the upcoming season and started his comments with the message he believes every player on this year's team should hear.