Sting Factor: Roderick Kearney flips from FSU to Florida
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 one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
The recruitment of Roderick Kearney was unique because normal recruiting patterns were not followed.
After taking a visit to Florida this summer, the four-star offensive lineman from Orange Park, Fla., committed to Florida State.
He was committed to the Seminoles for a handful of months and after visiting Tallahassee numerous times during that stretch Kearney flipped to Florida in recent days and is now part of the Gators’ recruiting class.
His recruitment now looks complete.
The four-star offensive lineman said that a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and that after lots of talks with his family his heart was at Florida. His relationship with those coaches who have continued to aggressively recruit him also played a big factor.
The rivalry on the field between Florida and Florida State remains heated. It’s the same way in recruiting - and the Gators just got one up on the Noles.
LOCAL REACTION
“While Kearney’s recruitment has always appeared to be a battle between Florida and Florida State, this decommitment does come as a surprise. Kearney’s last two visits were to FSU, the last of which being his official on Oct. 15. It's a tough loss for the Seminoles because Kearney’s talent and upside could have had him competing for a starting sport as soon as his second year.” - Cade Stransky, TheOsceola.com
Sting Factor: 7
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NATIONAL REACTION
One of the key focuses when coach Mike Norvell took over at Florida State was to rebuild a weak offensive line, so losing a big, versatile offensive lineman is never ideal, especially for the Seminoles. But Florida State’s 2022 O-line recruiting class was so deep and so talented that it blunts some of the pain from losing Kearney to its in-state rival. This Sting Factor score has nothing to do with the Gators being FSU’s rival, since that impacts one game a year, but it remains important for the Seminoles to keep winning recruiting battles for offensive linemen - and they just lost this one after having Kearney locked up. Lucas Simmons so far in 2023 is a good start, but more work will need to be done. - Adam Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director
Sting Factor: 6