Their team has dropped off across the board since 2023, not just at QB. They never recruited H.S. well. They hit on transfers at a really high rate for a year or so, but didn't have the core/depth behind them. Not to mention the landscape for acquiring transfers has continued to evolve and has left them behind. Now they can't acquire talent either through the portal or H.S. recruiting and they get buried deeper and deeper with every passing cycle of player acquisition. Would they have won a few more games had they had a better QB last season, I guess maybe. The issue is the years of incompetence and failure in the area of talent acquisition that leaves them in no position to acquire a better QB. In fact, it's only getting worse as A. Daniels is likely not even as good as Catellanos. They're getting the QBs they deserve and the results that go with it.
Top 5 HS Recruits - Florida State
2023
1) .9874 Hykeem Williams (WR)
2) .9460 Lucas Simmons (OL)
3) .9228 Blake Nichelson (LB)
4) .9228 Keith Sampson (DT)
5) .9117 Lamont Green (DE)
2024
1) .9748 Charles Lester III (CB)
2) .9718 Luke Kromenhoek (QB)
3) .9547 Cai Bates (CB)
4) .9523 Kameron Davis (HB)
5) .9518 Landen Thomas (TE)
2025
1) .9622 Ousmane Kromah (HB)
2) .9566 Kevin Wynn (DT)
3) .9500 James Williams (DE)
4) .9288 Jatvan Boggs (WR)
4) .9202 LaJesse Harrold (DE)
2026
1) .9730 Chauney Kennon (CB)
2) .9442 Izayla Williams (LB)
3) .9322 Earnest Rankins (DE)
4) .9232 Xavier Tiller (TE)
5) .9222 Jason Lopez (WR)
One thing that stands out is that their offensive line recruiting at the HS level isn't anywhere close on paper to Miami's:
Florida State HS Recruits - Offensive Line
2023
.9460 Lucas Simmons
.8578 Andre Otto
2024
.9239 Jonathan Daniels
.8985 Manasse Itete
.8769 Tye Hylton
.8622 Jayden Todd
2025
.8945 Mario Nash Jr.
.8916 Chastan Brown
.8681 Sean Poret
.8589 Chavez Thompson
2026
.8789 Nikau Hepi
.8744 Jakobe Green
.8656 Donald Akhibi
.8578 Michael Ionata
.8500 Steven Moore
Compare that to Miami's offensive line recruiting in the same period
Miami HS Recruits - Offensive Line
2023
.9962 Francis Mauigoa
.9898 Samson Okunloa
.8825 Tommy Kinsler
.8608 Frankie Tinlau
2024
.8761 Deryc Plazz
.8644 Juan Minaya
.8304 Nino Francavilla
2025
.9437 Seuseu Alofaituli
.8994 Max Buchanan
.8656 Demetrius Campbell
.8589 Jaden Wilkerson
2026
.9989 Jackson Cantwell
.9288 Ben Congdon
.9026 Joel Ervin
.8756 Canon Pickett
.8733 Rhys Woodrow
.8733 JJ Sparks
So, net high school offensive line recruit tally:
Florida State: 0 five stars, 4 four stars, 11 three stars
Miami: 3 five stars. 4 four stars, 10 three stars
And for the 2027 class, Miami has two 4 star offensive line commitments. Florida State has no commitments - blue chip or otherwise.