Florida State rarely leaves any stone unturned when it comes to recruiting. Since Jimbo Fisher took over as head coach in 2010, the Seminoles have signed players from 21 different states and have even gone overseas for a couple of prospects. Even though the FSU roster is sprinkled with players from all over the country, a large majority still come from Florida or Georgia.
With eight full signing classes in the books since 2010, we took a detailed look at where Seminole players have been coming from during the Fisher era.
Sunshine State is the primary focus
The numbers show that Jimbo Fisher and his staff won't hesitate to recruit players from any part of the country. Nevertheless, nearly 60 percent of the recruits signed by FSU since 2010 went to high school in the Sunshine State. With 108 in-state prospects signed over the last eight recruiting classes, no state comes close to producing as many Seminole players as Florida -- the next closest is Georgia with 18 signees.
The number of Florida players being recruited is actually trending upward compared to the final Bobby Bowden years. In the five classes prior to Fisher taking over, only 45.3 percent of signed players came from Florida. That represents nearly a 15 percent increase in in-state recruits signed since 2010.
Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell said there's a reason for that.
"Fisher has been involved much more from start to finish with recruits than Bobby Bowden was at the end, and he’s more active on unofficial visits, which shows the local prospects a lot more attention," Farrell told Warchant.com. "I think what’s impressive about the number is that the state of Florida became the place to raid around the time he took over, so he has had to fend off many more power programs than the previous regime did.
"Fifteen percent may not sound like a big increase, but in the most competitive state in the country, it’s a big deal and the only thing I can really point to is Jimbo’s personal involvement in recruiting -- and I’m sure a concerted effort by the entire staff to keep more kids home."
Approximately 62 percent of in-state recruits have come from either central Florida (I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando) or Southeast Florida.
We will have a more detailed recruiting breakdown for Florida coming in a later feature.
Seminoles trending in the Peach State
Through Jimbo Fisher's first seven recruiting classes, Florida State averaged less than two Georgia signees per class. That changed this year when five Peach State players signed with the Seminoles in February. That's the highest percentage of Georgia players in an FSU class since 1999.
Florida State's recent run on Georgia appears to be picking up steam. The 'Noles already have two high school players from the nearby state committed for 2018, and four more for the 2019 class (out of seven commitments).
So why the sudden success in Georgia?
"This is long overdue to me, and I have always been puzzled why a program as highly regarded as FSU couldn’t break through such a talented state with any consistency," Farrell said. "Part of this is because there is a new coach in town (Georgia's Kirby Smart), who is building new relationships in many ways and struggling to keep kids in state, at least in 2018, and another part is that FSU knows how much talent there is in the state and that they need to be major players.
"But it’s not like they haven’t tried before, so I will chalk this up to some excellent early efforts on kids that are paying off and a coaching change. That national title a few years back didn’t hurt, either. A lot of these kids were fans of college football more than recruits back then, and seeing FSU win it all helps."
Pipeline to the DMV
It's not surprising that Florida State recruits well in its home state, or that it is trending positively in nearby Georgia. The most surprising geographic recruiting trend during the Jimbo Fisher era is how well the Seminoles recruit in the so-called "DMV" region (D.C., Maryland and Virginia). A whopping 15 players from the area have signed with FSU over the past eight years.
It's not just the large number of signees that stand out, but the number of high quality recruits that have come from the DMV. Four of the 15 were rated by Rivals.com as five-star prospects, and seven fell within the Rivals100. Also, seven players from the region have been -- or currently are -- full-time starters at Florida State. Josh Ball and/or Jauan Williams could add to that list this fall, as they are the leading contenders to start at left tackle.
"This is an example of seeing an opening and jumping on it," Farrell said of FSU's success in the DMV area. "The talent in Maryland has increased exponentially since around the mid-2000s, and Virginia, which was already strong, has improved in the last six or seven years. FSU sees this, sends their best recruiter to the area and the results have been great.
"It helps that UVA has been down and Virginia Tech fell off a bit in recruiting as Frank Beamer wound down his career, but this is all about amazing effort and a guy named (Odell) Haggins, who has become known as THE NAME in the area. Having followed guys like Ronald Darby and Eddie Goldman very closely amongst others, the difference has been the great recruiting effort of Haggins."
The Seminoles don't appear to be slowing down when it comes to recruiting the DMV area. Maryland native and Rivals100 member A.J. Lytton is already committed for the 2018 recruiting class, and Teradja Mitchell, the No. 1-rated prospect in Virginia, may be on the verge of making a commitment soon.
Black hole in South Carolina
As well as Florida State recruits in the DMV region, which is over a thousand miles from Tallahassee, the 'Noles have fallen short in recruiting South Carolina. Even though the Palmetto State is a little over 300 miles from the Seminoles' home base, FSU has managed to sign just one player from the state since Fisher took over in 2010.
That one player is three-star defensive end Tre Lawson, who signed last February. While the 'Noles were able to beat out the Gamecocks for Lawson's signature, Clemson didn't even offer a scholarship.
So what's the reason behind FSU recruiting so few players out of South Carolina?
"One of the states I think that has been down in recent years has been South Carolina, at least when it comes to depth of talent," noted Farrell. "And many of the top, top kids like Jadeveon Clowney, Marcus Lattimore, Xavier Thomas, etc., have known they were staying in-state from the start. North Carolina is wide open and can be poached, but South Carolina is tough -- not only because of the success of Clemson but the ties the Gamecocks have in-state. It’s not easy to pull kids out of there."
While it's true that South Carolina has never been a major pipeline state for the Seminoles, it wasn't uncommon for FSU to land the occasional prospect during the Bowden era. Between 2004 and 2009, the 'Noles signed five players from the state, including a few high-profile targets like Jamie Robinson, Everett Dawkins and Lawrence Timmons.
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