By Bob Ferrante
Orlando Sentinel Correspondent
TALLAHASSEE — There are college football programs around the nation taking more transfers than Florida State. But few can claim a success rate quite like that of Mike Norvell and the Seminoles’ staff the last few years.
FSU had 11 selections to the 2023 All-ACC team who transferred in after Norvell took over, a group that doesn’t include quarterback Jordan Travis. While there will annually be a debate over who is the portal king, and really anyone from Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin to Colorado’s Deion Sanders to Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and even former FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham at Arizona State can stake a claim.
But Norvell has always stated that recruiting the portal and high school ranks is all about “fit.” FSU has found the right fit of production, leadership and personality that have translated to 23 wins the last two seasons.
“It’s about being right,” Norvell said. “There’s plenty of people that have taken more transfers. People point to ours because ours are good. They do a great job when they get here. They make impacts.”
FSU’s coaching staff will get a first-hand look at the transfers and what impact they could have in 2024 when spring practice opens on Tuesday. It’s the first of 15 practices leading up to the spring showcase on April 20 inside a Doak Campbell Stadium that, perhaps fittingly, is also going through a massive renovation.
There’s perhaps no bigger transfer than quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, whom Norvell says has fit right in with Brock Glenn and incoming freshmen Luke Kromenhoek and Trever Jackson, an Orlando native. But the impact of transfers could also be reflected at nearly every position group on offense and defense.
While the narrative with transfers is that they often come and go after one year, Jared Verse was a two-year transfer who is set to be an NFL first-round draft pick. Defensive tackle Fabien Lovett and defensive back Jarrian Jones just spent four years at FSU following a transfer from Mississippi State.
And FSU has retained a number of multi-year transfers who will be major parts of the 2024 roster, including tight end Kyle Morlock, offensive linemen Jeremiah Byers and Keiondre Jones, defensive tackle Darrell Jackson, defensive backs Greedy Vance and Fentrell Cypress, linebacker Justin Cryer and tailback Caziah Holmes of Cocoa.
Norvell called it a “new age of college athletics with change and transition.” As the Seminoles have won incrementally more games in each of his prior four years, they have also been able to manage the portal better and better. With wins comes the attraction of FSU’s coaches and roadmap for player development as well as helping them develop for the NFL.
FSU loses Verse as well as Lovett and Braden Fiske on the defensive front. But their development and success is why FSU was able to land some of the top defensive ends in the portal in Marvin Jones Jr. (Georgia), Sione Lolohea (Oregon State) and Tomiwa Durojaiye (West Virginia) as well as defensive tackle Grady Kelly (Colorado State).
“We’re not going to say that we’re better than anyone else,” defensive coordinator Adam Fuller said. “We’ve taken a lot transfers and high school kids. But tell me the ones that haven’t worked out. The trust is that. Right? … We’re not better evaluators than everybody in the country. I’m not saying we are. But I’m saying we’re really good at it — for what fits here.”