They come from disparate backgrounds these 2017 Florida State defensive back signees.
There’s the legacy recruit, whose father was a three-year starter for Florida State in the early 2000s.
There’s the former South Carolina commitment who flipped to the Seminoles just 10 days before National Signing Day, and there’s the safety from Daytona Beach who committed nearly a year earlier and never wavered.
Then there’s potential diamond in the rough -- the small-school athlete who was a virtual unknown in recruiting circles before Florida State’s coaches discovered him while watching a teammate’s highlights.
Their backstories are unique, but to hear FSU defensive coordinator Charles Kelly tell it, the Seminoles’ four new defensive backs are more similar than they are different.
“They’re very tall, long, athletic,” Kelly said. “That’s one thing that we stress here. … The neat thing about all of these guys in the secondary is they can play multiple positions. And that makes you more valuable to our team.”
Defensive back was FSU’s greatest area of need in this recruiting cycle, and the Seminoles appear to have satisfied their appetite. They landed a trio of Rivals100 defensive backs -- Stanford Samuels III, Hamsah Nasirildeen and Cyrus Fagan -- as well as three-star Ontaria Wilson.
Samuels and Fagan are both already on campus as early enrollees, which means they will get a head start on their careers during spring practice. Nasirildeen and Wilson will enroll this summer.
Here's a look at FSU's four newest defensive backs.
