Florida State insider explains how Seminoles landed 4-star CB Jamari Howard

Florida State added another elite piece to its 2024 recruiting class on Friday morning, as Miami Norland four-star cornerback Jamari Howard pledged to the Seminoles.

The 6-foot-1.5, 170-pounder is the No. 136 overall prospect and No. 17 CB in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 19 player in Florida.

With Howard now in the fold, Florida State has 11 top-200 recruits in its class — which ranks No. 4 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking.

FSU recruiting insider Michael Langston joined On3’s Josh Newberg to detail how the Seminoles were able to land another elite defensive back. Relationships and improvement on the gridiron did the trick for Mike Norvell and Co.

DBs coach Patrick Surtain connected with Howard

FSU was the frontrunner for Howard for a majority of his recruitment. That continued to solidify with each visit he made to Tallahassee. That’s in-part thanks to the relationship he’s made with Noles DBs coach Patrick Surtain.

“There’s a lot of different factors. The relationship, he really connected with Patrick Surtain, it was just a different level of the way they connected. Patrick had coached at American Heritage, he knows a lot of people in South Florida, there was a comfort of what he does as a technician that really resonated with Jamari,” Langston said.

…But also, just the way Jamari felt when he was on campus, felt like a family that he wanted to be a part of.”

Winning continued to make FSU look appealing

When in doubt, win football games.

Norvell’s consistent message on the recruiting trail since he took over the reigns at FSU has been simple: Wins will come and you will have the opportunity to come and be a part of the new, successful era of football at Florida State.

Insert a 9-0 start to the season for the Seminoles. FSU looks the part of a legitimate College Football Playoff contender with just a few weeks to go in the regular season. Howard has witnessed the improvement on the field, which is exactly what he and a hoard of other recruits were told would happen.

“I think a lot of those things and then you factor in just the product on the field. The development he’s seeing with the defensive backs that you watch with FSU, how they’ve improved even in a short time,” Langston said. “

I think you add all this stuff up together, and then I always said the changing moment for me was when he shunned Florida that weekend he was supposed to visit. Went over to FSU for a multi-day visit and ever since then it’s been all FSU in this recruitment.”

Jamari Howard Scouting Summary

“Long and rangy two-way player who turns whatever side of the field he is on into an island when playing corner. Measures in at 6-foot-2, 175 pounds with a freakish 6-foot-8 wingspan. Ran a 22.80 200m as well as a blistering 49.71 400m during his sophomore track and field season. Uses his length to manhandle receivers off the line of scrimmage. Has the recovery speed to get back in phase with receivers to make a play on the ball. Will naturally fill out his frame as he physically develops.”

Howard has an On3 NIL Valuation of $99K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.