FSU football recruiting: The big picture

If you haven’t been paying attention as of late, Florida State’s 2018 recruiting class is in shambles. Over the last week, the Seminoles have lost six 2018 commits and one 2019 commit. We’ll take a closer look at the state of Florida State’s class and what can be done to save this year.

Abandoning the sinking ship?

The Jimbo Fisher saga took a toll on the class. The last week of uncertainty was believed to be the main reason for the recent string of decommitments. But that is only half the story. With rumors starting over a month ago that many coaches would not be retained, whispers began trickling out that a majority of the staff had stopped communicating with commits and targets.

If there’s one thing that helps build relationships and earn commits from players, it’s showing them attention and establishing a strong bond— a bond that can’t be built if there is no communication. Couple that with Florida State’s worst year in over a decade, and it is a perfect recipe for disaster. And a disaster is what the class currently is, ranked 32nd in 247’s composite rankings.

A weak class?

With Florida State’s class being out of the top 10 in the rankings, are their commits really that bad? No. The Seminoles still have two top cornerbacks in Anthony Lytton Jr. and Asante Samuel Jr. Additionally, Florida State still has massive defensive tackle Robert Cooper. That gives the ’Noles three top 100 players.

After those three, Florida State has solid players in Christian Meadows, Amari Gainer, D’Marcus Adams, Rosendo Louis, Christian Armstrong, and Charles Strong. That leaves the Seminoles with two other commits, Stacy Kirby and Chaz Neal, both of whom need to show improvement.

The issue lies in what Florida State doesn’t have. FSU has failed to land a quarterback commit, missing out on top target Justin Fields. There are only two offensive line commits and just one interior defensive line commit. Florida State struggled this year with wide receiver depth and the current class only has one commit. Of the 11 current commits, only 5 are considered top 250 players.

Save me [insert new head coach], you’re my only hope.

Can this 2018 class be saved? Yes, but it’s not a given. Florida State must hit a home run on the next head coach hire. The Seminoles need to land a coach who will hit the ground running in recruiting. Florida State’s next man in charge will have to repair broken relationships, establish new pipelines, and compete against a new Florida staff, in addition to two schools coming off their best seasons in years, Georgia and Miami. If FSU fails in the next hire and recruiting suffers, the ripple effect could be felt for years to come.

Florida State has finished inside of the top 10 every year in recruiting since 2013. With the right hire, that streak will continue. With the wrong hire, the Seminoles may begin a new streak, this one outside of the top 10.