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
Nyjalik Kelly committed to Florida State in August and it was a nice pledge for the Seminoles but it was relatively muted since he was not ranked as one of the top prospects in the state.
That is expected to change in the coming months after his dominant performance at a recent camp in Florida and so his decision to decommit from the Seminoles definitely hurts.
The Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard defensive end said all the right things when he committed and throughout the last eight months or so as he stuck with Florida State, talked about how he liked this recruiting class and the direction of the program and it looked like coach Mike Norvell and his staff scored a major recruiting win.
However, Kelly is back on the market and while he had no comment about his recruitment it looks like Florida State will keep battling for him but the program to now watch is Miami. The Hurricanes have consistently recruited him and it’s right down the road which could make Miami even more tempting.
Kelly’s recruitment is wide open now and Florida State is not eliminated but it’s oftentimes difficult to get a player back in a recruiting class.
LOCAL REACTION
This one stings because Nyjalik was one where FSU jumped on him early and put in the work there. He's also a guy that looked like he was moving up the rankings. Now from all signs Kelly is still very interested in FSU so the sting factor could change if FSU can pull him back. But for now it's a significant hit because FSU wants and needs solid pass rushers and Kelly fit that in a solid way. Can't sugarcoat this one right now. It hurts for FSU at the present time. With that said Kelly has indicated in the past few months he planned to take visits. That part was expected. A decommitment was not. Either way it's clear in the spring FSU built some nice momentum but they'll still need to show it some on the field too. - Michael Langston, Warchant.com
Sting factor: 7
NATIONAL REACTION
Kelly was an early recruiting victory for Norvell and his staff and they struck gold because he’s proven to be better than his current ranking and his versatility could have been spectacular for Florida State’s defense. But it now looks like he will be headed elsewhere and what really hurts is that it could be to in-state and conference foe Miami. What also comes to mind here is that Florida State has not really had too much recruiting momentum in terms of commitments after an outstanding visitor list for its spring game. Those pledges might be coming but until they do, the Seminoles cannot count those chickens. Florida State is moving in the right direction but losing Kelly and 2023 ATH Cedric Baxter - and not seeing dramatic paydays from that outstanding spring game - does hurt. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 8
