Transfer portal success has helped turn Florida State around

When Mike Norvell got to Florida State following the 2019 season, the Seminoles were preparing for a full rebuild. Now, after three seasons, it looks like Norvell has rebuilt Florida State and made them a threat to win a championship again.

So, how’d he do it? A big piece of that puzzle comes down to the transfer portal, which, as Andy Staples explained on The Hard Count, Florida State has been able to under Norvell. However, that strategy may not be easy to replicate everywhere.

“So, I know they want to move to the SEC, but they’re not moving to the SEC this season, right?” Staples joked. “As long as they don’t have to play in the SEC this season, they’re fine, and this an interesting thing because I’ve made this comparison quite a bit in the offseason because there’s some truth to it. You look at what Mike Norvell has done at Florida State, and that is the hope of what Billy Napier can do at Florida.

“But the difference is by playing in the ACC, Mike Norvell has been able to do it in a different way at Florida State. You can get competitive through the transfer portal in the ACC, and that’s exactly what they’ve done,” Staples continued. “They have a team that can compete with just about anybody in the ACC. We’ll see when they play Clemson in late September how that looks. We’ll get a good look at how they stack up against a team with really elite talent when they play LSU in the opener.”

Florida State is currently ranked ninth in the On3 Team Transfer Portal Rankings, having added 12 new players through it this offseason. That type of success is nothing new for the Seminoles.

“But, they’ve done a great job spot recruiting out of the portal, they’ve improved, and they’re using that to get kids out of high school,” Staples said. “Once they start doing that, and you’re starting to see that now, but give that a few years, and suddenly, you have a very sustainable program that can compete anywhere. I’m not sure Florida could pull that off. I’m not sure there’s enough quality in the transfer portal to do that in the SEC.”

According to the On3 Industry Rankings, Florida State has the 12th-ranked class in the 2024 cycle. Florida has the third-ranked class, though both of those could change as time goes on. To Staples’ point, it’s more important for Florida to land that high school talent than it is for Florida State.

“Like, Florida’s gonna have to build through high school. Florida State has a team that can compete right now for the ACC title,” Staples said.

“They’ve built that offensive line back up, Johnny Wilson blows up coming from Arizona State last year. Now, they bring in Keon Coleman from Michigan State who is not like Johnny Wilson. Johnny Wilson didn’t do too much at Arizona State, then he came and Florida State figured out how to use him. Keon Coleman was Michigan State’s best receiver last year. Like Jordan Travis is gonna have some fun throwing to him.”

Mike Norvell explained Florida State’s approach to the portal

Mike Norvell did take the time to emphasize that most of Florida State’s players still come from high school. The Seminoles just look for the right fit in the portal.

“Last year, I think it was 65% of the of the signees that we had were high school or high school players. But you know, the guys that we’re bringing in as transfers, they’re the right fit. They’re great players, great young men. They embrace the culture that we have, and they’re really good,” Norvell said.

“It’s exciting for us, because everybody’s got a different path. And, ultimately, we’re looking for the best bit of guys that can come in and help our football team and I think we’ve done a really good job within our evaluation of who it is that kind of fits that bill.”