Florida State of Recruiting: Where Tribe ‘22 stands right now

Take a deep breath. The craziness of June has come to a close and we’ve hit a recruiting dead period that lasts until July 24. The Florida State Seminoles football program welcomed five new commitments (all offensive or defensive linemen) into the fold after the big official visit weekend at the end of June, bringing the total number of #Tribe22 public commitments to 14. At the time of this writing, Florida State’s class is ranked 3rd nationally and tops the ACC.

I’ll say that again for the people in the back: Florida State’s 2022 recruiting class is currently TOP 3.

Will that last? No, it won’t. The team rankings are cyclical and volatile—in a week, FSU might drop to 10th. As other teams gain commitments, they’ll catch up and in some cases leapfrog FSU. But did anyone think that by the end of June, FSU would have the 3rd best recruiting class in the country? I sure didn’t.

But Mike Norvell and his staff did.

The work this staff has put in has been well-documented by Tomahawk Nation. Mike Norvell and his staff spent the month of May traveling around the state of Florida, hosting youth football camps that showed Seminole Nation how much these guys truly love coaching. The coaches hosted a Midnight Madness event that literally started the first second that official campus visits were allowed. They then pivoted to hosting a Mega Camp that brought in thousands of prospects and exposed them to hundreds of coaches in addition to numerous other Big Man and 7-on-7 camps. Unofficial visitors came in and out of the Moore nearly every day in June in a merry-go-round of good vibes and family feel, all while Norvell had his new Slingshot on display.

Maybe the national media hasn’t caught on yet, but this staff knows how to grind. They don’t give a damn if they’re getting credit from recruiting sites for the work they’re putting in—they’re looking for results, and boy have we seen results recently.

FSU placed a strong emphasis on offensive and defensive linemen during the final official visit weekend in June. On numerous podcasts, articles, and in the recruiting threads, Josh, Tim, and I have been telling y’all to keep that weekend circled, as there was a good chance FSU would gain commitments from a defensive lineman or two, and an even better chance of having the bulk of its interior offensive line class committed.

All FSU did was land five commitments: three offensive linemen, one defensive tackle, and one hybrid lineman who could become a difference-maker on either side of the ball. Those five guys represent 1,517 pounds of human being, or an average of 303.4 pounds. The four OL committed to FSU right now (including Woody) average 321.75 pounds. These kids hold legitimate offers from the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, etc. This is how you build the trenches.

FSU has a pretty strong chance of landing eight of the nine official visitors from this past weekend. Eight of nine! As of now, 3-star tight end Jerrale Powers plans to announce his decision on July 2. His teammate, 4-star offensive lineman Jaylen Early, had originally set a date of July 15, but now plans to commit in the beginning of August. Linebacker Jaron Willis hasn’t put a timeframe on his decision but I feel very confident FSU will flip him from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Emery Jones was always a pipe-dream, as he’s expected to stay home and choose the LSU Tigers. However, everyone else could be a member of #Tribe22 at some point. I’m telling y’all—that kind of hit rate on an OV weekend would be insane!

So take a deep breath, my beloved Seminole brethren. Take two. In fact, breathe as much as you want to. But while you’re at it, realize that Norvell & Co. are grinding like that “14” on the commit scoreboard reads “0”. They’re absolutely relentless.

Stay tuned for Part II of this article, Florida State of Recruiting: Where Tribe ‘22 goes from here in a few days. I’ll be breaking down the remaining and updated targets, position by position, before going more in-depth and updating the Florida State of Recruiting positional articles.

As always, check out our most recent recruiting thread for more discussion!