Noles News Now: FSU adding another blue-chip offensive lineman? Seminoles stop recruiting five-star DB?

Hello everyone, happy Monday — hope you all had a great weekend, welcome in to Noles News Now, the latest in Florida State Seminoles sports, presented by Tomahawk Nation. I’m your host Perry Kostidakis — let’s hop right in. Another big day in FSU recruiting — offensive lineman Lucas Simmons, a blue-chip prospect with legitimate NFL potential, is set to announce his choice of college today at 1 p.m. at a ceremony in Clearwater. Simmons is a Swedish native but isn’t exactly a stranger to the game — his father, Able, is a former Oklahoma Sooners offensive lineman. The Seminoles seem to be the favorite to land the 6-7, 300-pound tackle — not only has offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins managed to continue his impressive streak of getting top talent interest in Tallahassee, but FSU was one of the first schools to offer Simmons prior to his recruitment blowing up — a common theme so far for the Seminoles, one that has either been a key factor in snagging talent or an ironic asterisk as that talent moved on to another program. Our recruiting trio talked about his recruitment on our latest Florida State of Recruiting podcast — I’m sure we’ll hear a bit more about it in the coming days, wink wink. FSU has had an impressive run in the trenches as of late — but got a bit of a Twitter timeline drag on Sunday when Hayes Fawcett, a graphic designer who puts out edits for the majority of the top recruits in the country, shared a quote from top 2024 defensive back Desmond Ricks, who says he wanted to commit to FSU, then they stopped talking to him, and that was that. That naturally stirred up the fanbase, but a little bit more insight showed that maybe, possibly, that post was some strategic planting via a rival school, one that has been seemingly getting more ballsy by the day when it comes to recruiting. Fawcett had several posts before and after that graphic exchanging praise and messages with the Miami Hurricanes staff — which even if there was something fishy going on, the point remains that that quote was blasted out on the social medias, and several high-profile recruits commented on it echoing similar complaints. While it’s not a nail in the coffin situation, it’s one that should have Mike Norvell and staff on high alert, even moreso than they were already heading into a season that has a chance to define his tenure. Outside of that, nothing major in realignment news — though, there is a chance that given the way the rest of the news so far around it has broken, by the time you listen to this, there’s been some shocking new development. Last we left off, we had two major reports — one, from major media outlets reporting the Pac-12 and ACC exploring a potential partnership, the other from a single person who runs a swimming publication that Virginia, UNC, FSU, and Clemson are negotiating to join the SEC, with ESPN willing and ready to void the ACC’s television contract. While bigger news has come from unlikelier sources, and it is almost definitely true that those schools (as well as others in the ACC) are looking for a way out, it’s not exactly good business for ESPN to dissolve the contract that guarantees it a great deal for the next 14 years. The ACC and Pac-12 merger doesn’t solve anything — or help FSU Kalen DeLoach’s next step is crucial for FSU’s defense You can listen to more discussion on that on the Seminole Wrap, where Brian Pellerin and I talk about the latest as well the best move for FSU, or you can share your frustrations at the stupidity that is the PACCt by heading to TomahawkNation.com and reading Juan Montalvo’s analysis of why it is a terrible idea for everybody. Head to TomahawkNation.com now to read up on everything Florida State that’s happened over the last weekend — that’s it for now, thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices