Were the Seminoles secretly taking notes on how to beat the Hurricanes? Miami's success should serve as new motivation for FSU to scale past the 'Canes.
Florida State likely laughed and celebrated the result of Monday's National Championship game -- since rival Miami went down.
But what the Seminoles should do is learn from Indiana.
Miami now joins SMU, Clemson and FSU as the Atlantic Coast Conference reps who pursued a national title in the BCS/College Football Playoff era since 2014. Although the Hurricanes' surge should serve as motivation for the 2026 'Noles.
More so how Indiana beat Miami. Which leads into three ways the Seminoles can learn from the Hoosiers and topple the 'Canes moving forward.
1 -- Own Florida on Recruiting Trail, Plus Portal
The top 20 athletes in Florida should always be talent Florida State must pursue. Already a four-star Tallahassee talent Jamarin Simmons is being courted elsewhere outside of the local university FSU.
Miami and Mario Cristobal will only attract more prominent in-state talent. Especially when fans look at the immediate rise of true freshman Malachi Toney plus the dominance of Rueben Bain -- the latter avoiding the portal and choosing to grow at Miami.
But it's not just the recruiting trail FSU and Mike Norvell must own. Florida State should reopen its doors for prominent Sunshine State talent who are in the portal. Help convince the former four and five-star that they can dominate coming back home.
Speaking of the portal...
2 -- Florida State Must Learn Championship Talent, Regardless of Level
Notre Dame cornerback Karson Hobbs comes over as a prized portal find...who played in last season's national title game.
CJ Richard is another who played in a natty, although at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. Even Rylan Kennedy tasted the College Football Playoffs with Texas A&M.
Long story short...these are the exact athletes FSU must seek, talent that played for titles.
Indiana lured in players who pursued conference titles or delivered strong production at their Group of 5 school before crossing over. The 'Noles should limit themselves to portal talent who came from a previous national title contender or playoff team to rebuild the winning mindset even after 2026.
3 -- Dominate the Trenches
Miami's strength was the offensive and defensive line. Yet IU either wore down the defensive line or controlled the line of scrimmage on defense.
Jordan Sanders of Texas State is a good place to start moving forward to boost the interior. He brings a mix of strong hands at the point of attack and lateral movement. Kennedy adds a long defender who can potentially kick inside.
IU closed running lanes early on the interior, proving the Hoosiers built their team from the inside out. FSU can repivot to that strategy in attempting to topple Miami.
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