Seminoles finish with highest average star rating
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By landing more five-star recruits than any other team in the country, Florida State managed to finish National Signing Day with Rivals' No. 3-ranked recruiting class and rack up the highest average star rating of any team in the country.
And the Seminoles did it despite signing fewer prospects than any other team in the top 10.
Headlining the class are a quintet of five-stars - defensive backs Derwin James and Tarvarus McFadden, wide receiver George Campbell, running back Jacques Patrick and defensive end Josh Sweat - and 10 four-stars.
With FSU's remaining five signees being three-star prospects, that gives the Seminoles an average star rating of 4.0.
Southern Cal and Alabama, which finished No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the team rankings, each finished with an average star rating of 3.96. No other team in the country finished with a star rating of 3.8 or higher.
Equally important, according to head coach Jimbo Fisher, the Seminoles landed at least one player at every position, and more than one at most.
"We filled every need of every position," Fisher said. "And that's rare that you do that."
The Seminoles now have finished with top-10 signing classes in each year since Fisher took the reins of FSU's program in January 2010. This No. 3-ranked class is the highest-rated group since the No. 2 class of 2011, which was Fisher's first full recruiting cycle as head coach.
While urging fans and media to be cautious about over-hyping the recruits, Fisher also acknowledged that several of the signees will hit the field as early as this fall.
"I think you'll see quite a few of them contribute, just like you did this year," Fisher said. "I think that's the nature of college football today. I think that's just the nature of the beast and the way the game is going. These kids are much more ready to come in to college at an earlier age than they've ever been.
"So it'll be very interesting to watch them go. But I'm very pleased, very happy with them and excited to have this class."
Because most of the class was secured early in the recruiting process, Florida State didn't see many signing day surprises. The only real drama among the signees revolved around quarterback Deondre Francois and defensive back Marcus Lewis.
Francois, a four-star prospect who received a late push from rival Florida, ended up sticking with his commitment to give the Seminoles two four-star signal-callers (along with early enrollee De'Andre Johnson).
FSU wasn't as fortunate with other signing-day decisions. Defensive lineman Terry Beckner Jr. (Missouri), defensive end Shelton Johnson (Michigan) and cornerback Iman Marshall (USC) were all blue-chip recruits who listed FSU as one of their finalists before signing with other schools.
But Fisher said he wasn't bothered by finishing with just 20 signees (21 including 2014 signee Ethan Frith, who took a greyshirt before enrolling in January). He said the extra spots will be rolled over into next year's class, which was expected to be small because of the Seminoles' low number of seniors.
Fisher said he also doesn't foresee any academic casualties.
"I think academically we're all in great shape," Fisher said. "We expect every guy to qualify, to be in the class."