A journey four decades in the making: Dexter Carter savors seeing son Devin commit to Florida State

It was nearly 40 years ago that a fortunate confluence of events set Dexter Carter on his path to a Florida State scholarship and an NFL career.

At the time, he was an All-State running back in Baxley, Ga. But his diminutive size (5-foot-9, 155 pounds) and rural location — Carter describes his hometown as having, “three red lights and a flashing light” — kept him from receiving much attention from college scouts.

It wasn’t until he asked one of his high school coaches about possibly attending college camps, and that coach came back with information about one taking place a few hours away in Tallahassee, Fla., that his football future would take shape.

“I had never heard of Florida State. Surely didn’t know who Coach [Bobby] Bowden was,” Carter remembered this week. “But my mom went above and beyond and somehow got the money to let me go to the football camp.”

Carter’s electric speed, playmaking ability and competitive spirit took care of the rest.

After putting on a show for several days at a camp that would produce several future Florida State stars, Carter was pulled aside by Bowden on the final day. And the coach told him a scholarship would be waiting as long as his academics were in order.

Up until that week, Carter dreamed of one day playing for his home-state Georgia Bulldogs. But that one conversation with Bowden changed everything: “He had me at hello.”

Carter, who went on to be a first-round pick of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, smiled on Friday when thinking about how different his recruitment was from that of his son Devin Carter, a highly coveted wide receiver who committed to Florida State last Thursday.

Over the last several weeks, Devin Carter has been invited to college campuses all over the country. He visited Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina and many others.

Even though he is just finishing his freshman year at Cedar Grove High near Augusta, the offers have been piling up for months. And the gifted 5-11 receiver didn’t have to try out at any camps to receive them; his high school film speaks for itself.

The plan for this spring, according to Dexter, was to visit several schools and make a college decision after Devin’s sophomore season. That way he could focus on his final two seasons of high school and help build a strong recruiting class at his college destination.

That all changed in what seemed like an instant after the family visited Florida State last weekend.

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After spending time with head coach Mike Norvell, receivers coach Ron Dugans and Florida State’s other coaches and players, the Seminoles apparently had Devin at hello.

“I’m not gonna lie. A big smile came on my face when he told me,” Dexter Carter said. “But I was shocked. … I was pleasantly surprised, because I see what he sees. I see Coach Norvell continuing to do it.”

There was a time in the recent past that this commitment would have been highly unlikely.

When Dexter watched his alma mater play football just a few years ago, he was disappointed by the performances and disgusted by some of the actions of the players. He saw selfishness and a lack of discipline. Players celebrating their individual plays while their team was getting beaten soundly.

It was not something he wanted his son to be a part of.

And that was on top of his own personal disappointments and frustrations related to Florida State over the past decade or more.

In the late 2000s, Bowden brought Carter back to be his running backs coach. And Carter served in that role for three years, then had to watch as the coaching legend was forced to retire following the 2009 season.

Carter was let go when Jimbo Fisher took over as head coach in 2010, but that wasn’t what bothered him most. It was that Bowden didn’t get to leave on his own terms.

“The first three years after coaching, I didn’t come back,” Carter said.

Things didn’t get much better from there. When his oldest son, Dexter Carter Jr., was coming out of Jacksonville Bolles as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2015, Dexter Sr. says Fisher promised the young receiver that he would get an offer from Florida State.

By the time the Carters realized that promise was not going to be fulfilled, other schools who had previously offered — TCU, Wisconsin, Louisville and others — filled up their classes, and Dexter Jr. would end up going to Georgia Southern. It’s something that still eats at Dexter Sr. today.

And then there’s his own personal disappointment.

As much as Carter loves Florida State, he’s not shy about saying he belongs in the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame.

During his four years as a Seminole, Carter racked up 3,260 all-purpose yards. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry, averaged more than 20 receptions each of his final three seasons, returned kicks and also was a member of the FSU track team.

While his rushing statistics alone might not merit enshrinement, Carter points to the fact that he split carries with Sammie Smith for three of those years; they would both go on to be first-round NFL draft picks.

“Back then, it was about the impact you had on games,” Carter said. “And especially Miami, the impact was great.”

Indeed, as a freshman, he broke off a 90-yard touchdown return against the Hurricanes. He had over 100 all-purpose yards against Miami as a sophomore, caught four passes for 44 yards as a junior, then delivered a brilliant performance in his final game against the ‘Canes. He rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

While Carter is beginning to believe he will never get the Hall of Fame call, he insists he would never steer Devin away from the garnet and gold.

“I didn’t tell Devin I didn’t want him to go to Florida State,” Carter said. “I didn’t tell him I wanted him to. I didn’t say anything.”

What the loving father and demanding coach did do was make sure Devin understood what opportunities were available to him, and helped him shape the criteria that would go into his college decision.

He advised Devin to look for a program that produces NFL receivers, one that is going to be successful on the field, and with a head coach who holds his players to a high standard.

Three or four years ago, Florida State might not have met any of those requirements. But the Carters have begun to see the Seminoles’ transformation under Norvell.

“There’s a man in position that has shown that he is doing the right things, to put the program in the right direction,” Dexter Carter said. “And he is holding those players accountable.”

Florida State won 10 games in 2022, and the Seminoles are expected to start 2023 in the top 10 — or even top 5 — of preseason polls. And having seen the development of Johnny Wilson and other FSU receivers in recent years, the Carters believe WRs coach Ron Dugans will soon have more NFL receivers on his resume.

It also helps that Florida State recruiting is going very well following last year’s success. In the 2024 class, the Seminoles already have commitments from one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Luke Kromenhoek, an elite running back in Kameron Davis, and a slew of four-star receivers.

When Dexter Carter Sr. signed with Florida State in 1986, it was the very beginning of the Seminole Dynasty.

Nearly 40 years later, he again sees bright days ahead — even if the events in between haven’t always been to his liking.

“We want to win,” Dexter Sr. said. “And we think it’s about time that the ACC championship comes back to Tallahassee. And we’ve got to get through Clemson to do it. So that’s that next big step.”

*ALSO SEE: Additional comments from Dexter Carter Sr. about Devin’s recruitment and skill set.

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.