Warchant 3-2-1: Assessing the spring transfer portal window for Florida State

The NCAA transfer portal was open for the past two weeks, and as best we can tell, it ended with a whimper from a Florida State perspective.

There was a flurry of activity late last week, with players like Mycah Pittman, Travis Jay and Omarion Cooper deciding to take the plunge, and others at least considering departures. But after Jay’s announcement on Saturday, there apparently was no other activity before the portal closed at midnight on Sunday — at least as far as we can tell.

Now that the dust is beginning to settle, it’s time for a Warchant 3-2-1 to make sense of it all with three observations, two questions and one prediction.

Three things we’ve learned

1 — Be grateful Florida State’s roster is attractive again

Sweating out the last 15 days wasn’t pleasant for many Florida State football fans. Some days were sweatier than others (We’re looking at you, Mr. Farmer!), but the whole two weeks was a bit of a white-knuckle ride.

In the end, even though the Seminoles lost some quality players, it wasn’t nearly as painful as it could have been. We’ll take a greater accounting of the departures later in this column, but what this entire exercise showed us more than anything is how far Florida State’s roster has come in these last couple of years.

For the first time since the portal came into existence, FSU was more concerned with keeping its talented players in place than it was looking for new additions. Yes, the Seminoles will be seeking to add a few new pieces in the coming weeks and months, but their No. 1 goal has been protecting what they already have. That process started in December with the emergence of The Battle’s End collective, and it continued through the weekend.

That’s a much different situation than in 2021 and 2022, when Florida State was in full-time acquisition mode, and very few major programs would have even been interested in FSU’s players. Back then, many of the Seminoles’ transfer portal exports ended up at schools like Florida Atlantic, Marshall and FAMU.

This time around, many of the destinations have been Power 5 programs. And if the whispers we heard over the last couple of weeks are true, several other Seminoles were tempted by potential NIL opportunities — and/or the potential for greater playing time — at other national powers but decided to stay put.

While that’s not fun for anyone wearing garnet and gold to think about — it’s much more enjoyable to be the hunters than the hunted — there should be some level of appreciation for the newfound standing of this program. Other schools weren’t just trying to lure some of Florida State’s top players, they were going after backups and younger players who are still in the early stages of their careers.

That says a lot about the respect for what FSU is doing when it comes to identifying and developing players, and it also speaks to the Seminoles’ improved depth across the board.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Florida State players who showed any potential had to be rushed into the starting lineup, even if they were far from ready for those assignments. Now, the Seminoles have players who are attractive to other Power 5 schools that are barely on the two-deep.

That’s remarkable. And it’s worth celebrating … especially now that the portal window has come to a close.

2 — More evidence the portal will remain essential to Florida State formula

There was a great deal of hand-wringing throughout the FSU fan base when the Seminoles signed just 17 high school players in December and February and finished with a recruiting class barely ranked in the top 20.

As excited as fans were about bringing in potential star transfers like Jaheim Bell and Braden Fiske and Fentrell Cypress, there was concern among some that Florida State was mortgaging its future by continuing to look for quick-fixes in the transfer portal and not building for the long haul through high school recruiting.

“The transfer portal is not sustainable,” a great many FSU fans lamented on social media and our message boards.

Well, that may be true, to some degree. College coaches shouldn’t bank on being able to fill every major need through the portal every offseason. At some point, you’re not going to pull a Jared Verse or a Jermaine Johnson to step in as a Day 1 starter at defensive end.

But it would be just as big of a mistake to move far away from the portal and focus nearly all of your efforts on high school recruiting. As we saw last week during the Joshua Farmer saga, there is an inherent risk these days with developing high school players — especially at positions where a couple of years of seasoning is needed before they make substantial contributions.

If Farmer had stayed in the transfer portal and moved on to another school, Florida State would have received very little production from more than two years of investment. All of the training from defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins. All of the efforts from Josh Storms and the Seminoles’ strength and conditioning staff. All out the window.

With transfers, you don’t have as much concern about that happening. Yes, you could see a veteran player like Mycah Pittman come for one season and bounce as a potential grad transfer. But when it comes to return on investment, I don’t think you can ask much more than bringing a player to Tallahassee in January, working with him for eight months, and then having him be a starting wide receiver and punt returner. That’s a solid win.

And because of the NCAA’s one-time transfer policy, the vast majority of those players will not leave after one or two seasons. They are going to finish their careers at their new school — like Verse, Jordan Travis, Fabien Lovett and so many others.

Now I will say this: Because Florida State’s program is in a much better place than it was two or three years ago — and high school recruiting is becoming much more fruitful — I do believe the Seminoles can begin to reduce their heavy dependency on the portal for talent acquisition. But I don’t think it’s going to be a major shift.

I think we saw more balance this offseason than the year before, and I believe Norvell and his staff are closing in on a sweet spot of combining the portal with high school recruiting. And I don’t believe it will ever be weighted too heavily on one side or the other.

3 — Corey Fuller proving to be very valuable asset

Of all the new positions Norvell has added to his staff over the last year or two, the one that has perhaps generated the least attention from the media has been Director of Football Relations Corey Fuller. Not because Fuller isn’t well-known — he obviously is, as a former Florida State and NFL star — but because his position doesn’t have a clear and direct impact on the roster or the Seminoles’ play on the field.

With Darrick Yray, Florida State’s general manager of personnel, for example, it’s obvious that he is involved in recruiting and talent evaluation and acquisition. With Ryan Bartow, FSU’s director of high school relations, it’s clear that he plays a pivotal role in high school recruiting.

But Fuller’s position, as director of football relations, is more of a catch-all. And as the name suggests, the big focus is on relationships.

Well, Fuller’s impact in that area might never have been felt more than it was this past week when Farmer went into the transfer portal on Thursday morning and then jumped back out later that evening.

No one on the Florida State staff is closer to Farmer and fellow defensive lineman Darrell Jackson than Fuller. He coached them both in high school and has known them for years.

So if you assumed that Fuller played a major role in smoothing over that situation — not only advising Farmer throughout the process but explaining to him that leaving could be a major mistake — I believe you would be correct. That’s not to minimize the impact Norvell, Haggins and others had on the situation, but those are coaches. Fuller is more like family.

Their relationships go back to when Farmer and Jackson played for him at Gadsden County High, or even longer. And their staying put is a big deal.

If Farmer had gone through with his decision to leave, it would have been a hit to Florida State’s depth at defensive tackle. If Jackson had ended up following his close friend, which was a bit of a concern, the Seminoles would have been dealt a very painful blow.

I’m not suggesting that Fuller single-handedly saved the day, but his efforts were significant. And his presence could pay off in a big way again this week, when the Seminoles host UAB safety transfer Jaylen Key for an official visit.

Key not only played for Fuller in high school, but he played for him at two schools — Gadsden County and Tallahassee Godby. So Florida State could find themselves in very good shape with one of the nation’s top portal prospects at a huge position of need, in large thanks to Corey Fuller.

If the Seminoles do indeed land Key, over Alabama and several other SEC schools, it will be another positive sign of the impact Fuller is making on his alma mater.

Two questions we’re asking

1 — How has Florida State fared overall this portal cycle?

If you’re reading this, you’re well aware of the transfers Florida State brought in back in December and January. And you’re likely excited about what guys like Jaheim Bell, Jeremiah Byers, Fentrell Cypress, Braden Fiske and all the others can do for this program.

Many of them will start in 2023, and it’s a safe bet that virtually all of them will contribute.

But you might also be asking what all the Seminoles lost this offseason through the portal. It can be difficult to keep track of the out door when we typically pay closer attention to the new arrivals.

Well, going back to the roster from the Florida game in late November, Florida State has seen 22 players enter the transfer portal from last year’s team. Twenty-two.

The run started with Sam McCall shortly after that game, and it ran through Travis Jay on Saturday.

I’m not going to run through every name right here — we likely will do that in a follow-up article — but I can tell you for a fact that only four of those 22 had a chance to start this season: running back Treshaun Ward, defensive end Derrick McLendon, and wide receivers Malik McClain and Mycah Pittman.

In reality, I’m not entirely sure any of them would have been starters in 2023. But those four have been starters in the past and would have at least been in contention to grab those jobs in August (assuming Pittman was fully recovered from hip surgery).

But when it comes to the other 18, only a handful would have had an opportunity to even be contributors this fall. The majority were guys who were signed either by former coach Willie Taggart or in Norvell’s rushed first recruiting class, and were languishing lower on the depth chart.

When you consider the level of talent Florida State has brought in this offseason, and offset it against those departures, it’s almost staggering how much the Seminoles have benefited once again through the portal.

2 — Will all of this ever feel normal?

As you can tell from the tone of this column, I think Florida State’s coaching and scouting departments have performed quite well when it comes to shaping this roster.

But I also understand why many FSU fans were disheartened last week when a home-grown player like Farmer spent over two days flirting with the transfer portal, and other guys like Pittman and Omarion “Duke” Cooper left when they were expected to be a big part of the team next fall.

This college version of free agency, combined — and often intertwined — with Name, Image and Likeness deals, puts the sport in an entirely different light. A light that still feels very uncomfortable for college football traditionalists, and even for some hard-core fans who want their teams to win by any means necessary.

Since all of this started a few years ago, I believed we would get used to it over time. And I think to some degree many of us have. But the reality is this evolutionary period is not close to complete. College administrators are still hoping Congress will get involved in the creation of national NIL standards, and we still have to see whether college athletes eventually become classified as employees.

There are a great many questions still to be answered, which means the uncertainty isn’t ending any time soon.

What we do know for sure is that the college football we grew up on will never return. Here’s hoping we get to a place soon where the new normal actually feels … normal.

ONE PREDICTION — Unintended consequences will be felt down the road

College athletes are entering the transfer portal for all sorts of reasons. Some seek more playing time, or they don’t like their coaching staffs. Others are seeing better NIL opportunities. Many are moving up to better programs to improve their chances of playing professionally.

But there’s one drawback to all of this shuffling that I wonder if athletes are considering — especially the athletes who are leaving their schools for potential NIL deals.

One of the many benefits to being an athlete at a school like Florida State is the long-reaching connections that can pay dividends for years and years down the road. Especially for the players who don’t get opportunities to play in the NBA or NFL … you know, like more than 90 percent of them.

Job offers. Investment opportunities. An alumni network that provides guidance and support in so many areas. The benefits are immense.

It’s why coaches at FSU and other schools like to say choosing a college is a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision. And for the most part, I think that’s true.

Yes, there are some former players who become embittered because they believe their universities used them during their playing days and then moved on to the next crop of athletes to do the same. But in most cases, there are benefits that extend for years, if not decades.

And it’s not just the stars who get that treatment. I know of many former walk-ons who got first jobs — sometimes really great first jobs — at least in part because they wore than garnet-and-gold uniform on game days.

But I wonder whether those opportunities will still be there for the players who stayed for two or three years at one school and then hopped into the portal.

And if they aren’t available at the first school, will there be there at the second — if the player only spends one year there, and if it’s in a different region of the country?

I’m not suggesting that players should forgo chasing their dreams because it might damage their post-football job prospects down the line. But I do believe in the line about college being a 40-year decision, and I think those opportunities could be thrown away pretty quickly.

If it happens, it happens. But it would be a shame if it’s entirely for an NIL deal that will only yield a short-term windfall.

And in some of these situations, I believe that is the case.

Contact Warchant managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com and follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter.

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

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