Sting Factor: Luke Altmyer decommits from Florida State
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1 to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
All the connections were there.
Four-star quarterback Luke Altmyer knew Mike Norvell from his time at Memphis and loved his offensive style, so when Norvell went to Florida State it only made sense that Altmyer would follow suit and commit.
That pledge lasted from February until the last few days, when the Starkville, Miss., standout decided to reopen his recruitment.
It is a massive loss for the Seminoles, who continue to struggle with the quarterback position and finding playmakers in the offense.
Almost all the top-rated QBs are committed elsewhere, so Florida State needs to either flip a committed guy or take a shot on a lower-ranked recruit if it still wants a quarterback in this class.
Altmyer’s decision was surprising, but certainly not shocking. The four-star has been in regular contact with Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby and the Rebels’ offense has been humming this season.
For Florida State, there are some young quarterbacks who could provide a spark, but when it comes to 2021 recruiting the Seminoles must go back to the drawing board.
LOCAL REACTION
“You can't sugarcoat it. This is a solid blow because FSU wanted Altmyer from the beginning before other schools started jumping in. He had a really good connection with offensive coordinator/QB coach Kenny Dillingham and Mike Norvell. It's certainly been a forgettable first season outside of the upset of North Carolina. It's rough news but expected, as once the Louisville loss hit the momentum was slipping away.
“The only reason I didn't give it a Sting Factor score of 10 is because Norvell has a short history at FSU of getting good and talented QBs. Colten Gauthier, Jake Garcia and Sawyer Robertson are all guys that FSU either recruited or have a connection with. In the next few days, more names might enter the picture. It's a tough loss for FSU, but you move forward and find the right guy, and Norvell has shown the ability to do that at QB.” - Michael Langston, Warchant.com
Sting Factor: 9.5
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NATIONAL REACTION
“There’s an obvious QB problem at Florida State, so losing Altmyer is massive and a huge deal for the Seminoles. He was going to be one of the building blocks of the future and a guy they could sell to skill players moving forward. So much has gone wrong at FSU lately, and this just wasn’t needed.” - Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director, Rivals.com
Sting Factor: 9