Roster Building at FSU is Both a Priority and a Challenge

The fall from the football grace for Florida State football has crashed to earth like an Acme anvil.

The Seminoles have not been competitive on the gridiron in over two seasons. Florida State has the talent, but the development, production, and winning are not there.

With five games remaining, the Seminoles have a chance to salvage a winning season for the first time since 2023.

However, for some, this season cannot end quickly enough. When it does, presuming that coach Mike Norvell keeps his job, the focus will turn to roster building for 2027.

Florida State apparently cannot (or will not) fire coach Norvell, who has led the Seminoles to just 10 wins since the end of the 2023 season.

The Seminoles cannot win in the ACC (just four victories), and cannot win on the road (0-12).

So, let us assume for a moment that Norvell is brought back for another season in 2027. Will Norvell have NIL money to go out and lure the top transfers players to Tallahassee?

The university is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. If they do not have the money to pay Norvell’s buyout (approximately $50 million), it stands to reason they cannot earmark money for NIL and roster building.

Before this season, as many as 12 players were designated as top 2027 NFL draft-eligible prospects. Other players could simply transfer to destinations that are more stable in football operations.

One player Florida State could lose (and probably will) is receiver Duce Robinson.

Robinson should have declared for the draft after last season when he was a 1,000-yard receiver and a first-team All-ACC selection. This season, his production has plummeted.

Robinson has a fifth year still to complete. If he does not declare for the draft, he could transfer to a program where he can have a breakout season to raise his draft stock for 2028.

Another glaring issue is the 2027 recruiting class. The Seminoles have ZERO commitments from offensive linemen. Norvell will have to raid the transfer portal for able offensive line bodies.

This is where proper player evaluation is crucial. Look for those players seeking a second chance at a football life, who were successful before, and play for the love of the game.

That is how programs like Indiana and James Madison became successful. Go out and find real football players, who love the game, and develop them to their full potential.

However, if Norvell and Florida State do not have the NIL money to get the top players out of the portal, then that is a huge problem.

Five games remain, then the off-season roster building begins with the transfer portal window in January. What Florida State can do, if anything, is anyone’s guess.

Bobby Bowden is crying tears from heaven as he looks down on the sad state of the program he built from scratch and put on the relevancy map for decades.

The college football world is seeing the destruction of a blue blood football program in real time. The conflagration ongoing in Tallahassee is the sad reality of poor leadership and poor coaching.

For Florida State to be a great football program again, according to the research by author Jim Collins, they “must get the right people in the right seats on the bus. 

“At the same time, they must get the wrong people off the bus.”

Once that happens, Florida State can drive the bus to victory.