Florida State football, recruiting news: ESPN is high on FSU’s offense

Football:

Zane Herring will spend his remaining years of eligibility elsewhere.

Ever QB on that list is a Davey O’Brien award contender; two of them are on FSU’s schedule.

ESPN’s FPI is not as high on FSU’s defense as they are on FSU’s offense.

The model is mostly buying the offense (rank: No. 10) but is less confident in the defense, which it ranks 26th. In general, Florida State has lower talent rankings (based on the recruiting ranks of players on the roster) than the teams above it in FPI. The Seminoles rank 17th in offensive talent and 24th in defensive talent. There’s a lot to like here — just not quite as a top-10 team yet.

It’s in part due to the talent gap that FPI still likes Clemson (FPI rank: eighth) more in the ACC. The Tigers, who have higher talent ratings on both sides of the ball, have a 45% chance to win the ACC, while the model gives Florida State just a 17% chance.

FSU’s slightly lower ranking in FPI than other preseason polls does not surprise me b/c like S&P+ high-school recruiting rankings make up a significant part of the formula and the majority of FSU’s best players are from the portal.

Coach Atkins made this top 15 under 40 list of college football coaches.

Mike Norvell joined Emily Proud of 247Sports for an interview about his continued success in the transfer portal:

With all the comings and goings in the transfer portal; it’d be a good idea if someone had a centralized location for all transfer portal related news. Oh wait.

Matt Baker wrote that if you thought FSU was a playoff contender; nothing that happened in the spring game would change that opinion.

Recruiting:

FSU’s first commitment of the 2026 cycle is the son of former FSU running back Dexter Carter; and he might be a future five-star recruit.

Other Sports:

Softball took care of business on the road in game one vs. the Hokies.

It’s championship season in Tallahassee: