Tuesdays With Gorney: FSU sends strong message to recruits
In his weekly series, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney offers his thoughts on recruiting topics and storylines that impact the national landscape.
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GREAT WEEKEND FOR FSU
Florida State didn’t win its opener against Notre Dame but the Seminoles might have won the weekend.
More than anything, the entire program proved its back on the right track to national prominence. There’s a feeling that coach Mike Norvell and his staff are really on the right track. Recruits I talked with who were at the game had a phenomenal experience, loved the atmosphere and many said they will be back.
Quarterback commit A.J. Duffy might have put it best: “We are on the come up. FSU is special and people are starting to realize it. This game opens a lot of people’s eyes to FSU football.”
Five-star offensive tackle Julian Armella was there. Five-star receiver Kevin Coleman said he loves it at Florida State. The Seminoles might be a little behind others for four-star tight end Jaleel Skinner but this weekend could have changed things.
It’s not just about the uncommitted prospects. Travis Hunter has program-changing ability on both sides of the ball. High four-star DB Sam McCall is super talented and is a teammate of elite 2023 CB Cormani McClain. Things are turning the right way.
Florida State is 0-1. The Seminoles went 3-6 last year. Yet, there seems to be an inevitability to the momentum we can see and feel in Tallahassee that things are going in the right direction.
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BIG QB DE-COMMITMENT
When Zach Pyron committed to Baylor in March, his only other Power Five offer was from Kansas State. It was a nice pickup for the Bears and the Pinson (Ala.) Valley product proved that even more this summer by having some impressive performances at the Elite 11. Pyron was the type of quarterback that coach Dave Aranda picked out from the crowd and that could really do something special in Waco.
So that’s why it hurt Baylor so much when Pyron de-committed from the Bears this weekend. The high three-star quarterback was at the Alabama-Miami game in Atlanta over the weekend and the word is the Crimson Tide are seriously considering taking a second quarterback in this class with Pyron definitely being an option.
But Pyron told me his decision did not have to do with only one team recruiting him (Alabama) and that he wanted to consider all options moving forward. Other schools could definitely get in the mix here. Either way, it hurts Baylor and now the Bears have to search for another quarterback with almost all the highest-rated ones off the board.
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BIG GAMES WILL HELP RECRUITING
There was a time not too long ago in college football where elite teams would find the biggest cupcake opponent hardly with a pulse to play in the first game. Work out the issues, figure out some position battles, get an easy win and move on.
But it was awesome this past weekend seeing Georgia-Clemson, Miami-Alabama, Penn State-Wisconsin, UCLA-LSU, Notre Dame-Florida State, even Iowa-Indiana had some big-time recruiting implications. And the top prospects I talked with who were at those games absolutely loved it, too, and not only for the winning teams.
Almost every recruit I talked to at Georgia-Clemson were amazed by the defensive performance of both teams. That will only help when it comes to recruiting those players in the coming years. Walter Nolen’s father told me, “fast and physical, relentless pursuit of the ball.” The five-star defensive tackle from Powell, Tenn., has the Bulldogs, Texas A&M and Tennessee as his favorites. Seeing that game in person definitely helped UGA.
They will remember that atmosphere and that level of competition. To be fair, Alabama whipped Miami and that probably doesn’t help the Hurricanes much but a lot of those players saw just how dominant the Crimson Tide can be in person and that made a lasting impression.
A lot of top California players saw UCLA take down LSU and five-star former Tigers commit Jacoby Mathews among others were at the Rose Bowl that night. Across the country there were lots of teams who put their necks on the line in Week 1. My bet is that it pays off in recruiting whether many of those teams won or lost.