TAMPA — It’s easy to see the headliners of Florida State football’s success through the transfer portal. Eight of coach Mike Norvell’s portal pickups were drafted last month, including three of the top 40 picks (Jared Verse, Keon Coleman and Braden Fiske).
But the real reason why Norvell deserves his reputation as a transfer portal king runs deeper.
He and his Seminoles rarely miss.
FSU signed 12 transfers before last season. Nine were either starters or major contributors. A 10th, Justin Cryer, played in every game, and another, Darrell Jackson, was ineligible but is expected to be a starter this fall. Most of the misses in Norvell’s 2022 transfer class were because of injuries, not misevaluations.
Norvell attributes his staff’s high hit rate to “knowing what we’re looking for.”
“We’re trying to build a team,” Norvell said.
That sounds obvious, but it isn’t, as Norvell explained Sunday afternoon before a stop in the Seminole Boosters Tour at the JW Marriott Tampa Water Street.
Norvell doesn’t see roster management as pure talent acquisition.
“There’s plenty of programs that have talent within it that might not find on-the-field success because there’s (only) individual sparks of talent,” Norvell said.
True success comes when those individual sparks of talent complement each other.
Part of that is finding players with skillsets that connect without necessarily overlapping. Norvell would have been fine at running back without adding Jaylin Lucas from Indiana. But the Seminoles lost one of the nation’s most explosive backs (Trey Benson) and top returners (Coleman) to the draft. The roster had a void for dynamic, versatile playmakers.
“We feel like we’ve got some really good young ones that are going to have an opportunity to grow and develop and compete for that,” Norvell said.
But if they’re not ready this fall, Lucas’ 2,000 career all-purpose yards show he will be.
The other complementary component is equally important but much harder to see. Position groups have chemistry that comes from spending so much time together. The best coaches know how to cultivate and monitor it.
Norvell doesn’t have to search hard to show what it looks like. Defensive end Patrick Payton redshirted in 2021 as a raw talent, then got to spend two years working alongside and opposite Verse.
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“It gave him somebody who’s older, somebody that they could play off of,” Norvell said. “I think you’re always looking for what’s going to be that right fit in that room.”
Verse, clearly, was the right fit for FSU, judging by his two seasons as an all-ACC performer. And if Payton blooms into an All-American this season, Verse’s mentorship will be one reason why.
Verse is Norvell’s biggest transfer success after rising from Albany to one of the nation’s top defensive players. He also represents another overlooked part of Norvell’s portal prowess: He stayed multiple years.
Seven of last cycle’s 12 transfers are back for Year 2 at FSU. Lakewood High alumnus Deuce Spann is in his third season.
The continuity doesn’t only matter with the roster. An intact coaching staff means every assistant knows the ins and outs of his position group and what works in Norvell’s program. That much stability helps eliminate one layer of risk in an inherently uncertain process.
“We want to be able to make sure that if there is a need in an area or there’s something that can come and make our football team better and if it’s coming from a transfer — you have to be right,” Norvell said. “You better dang sure have a great sense of confidence in it.”
And few, if any, coaching staffs in the country should have as much confidence as Norvell’s ’Noles.
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Matt Baker is a sports reporter covering college sports and recruiting. Reach him at mbaker@tampabay.com.
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