FSU missed out on three high-school linebacker prospects last week, calling into question Shannon’s fit.
While Florida State Seminoles football has been hot on the recruiting trail over the last month, there’s been a major lack of momentum targeting the linebacker position.
After wrapping up his official visit in Tallahassee, 4-star linebacker Tavion Wallace announced that Florida State was the leader in his recruitment. A week and a half later, he stunned the recruiting world, pledging his services to Arkansas as FSU missed out on the top player on their high school linebacker board.
To add insult to injury linebacker Gavin Nix, who played at IMG and grew up in Florida dreaming of attending FSU, chose Miami over the Seminoles while linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who was once projected as a member of #Tribe25, decided to stay home and play for Washington.
All three flops happened in three days, bringing renewed scrutiny to the performance of co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Randy Shannon on the trail. Having joined the Florida State staff in 2021 as a defensive analyst, he was elevated to his current role in 2022 and played a major part in the Seminoles’ defensive resurgence both in the development of the linebacker room and in game-planning.
With defensive coordinator Adam Fuller on the field, Shannon ranked the highest of defensive coaches in the box last season, and he orchestrated plenty of halftime adjustments with his bird’s eye view.
What does the tape say about Shannon’s coaching success over the last three years? And does his success there outweigh his missteps on the recruiting end of things?
Let’s take a look.
Recruiting
The lack of numbers is cause for concern, but losing vital recruiting battles drives everyone up a wall.
Shannon’s first year on staff saw him earn the pledge of just one linebacker — three-star Omar Graham Jr., who in his first full season in Tallahassee last year logged 23 tackles, including 2.0 for loss, and one quarterback hurry. FSU went back and forth with the Hurricanes for the services of Wesley Bissainthe, and the Miami Central prospect made an official visit to Tallahassee. The Noles lost out on him, and Bissainthe started ten games, finished fifth in tackles for Miami last season, and projects to be their starting linebacker in two months.
In the 2023 cycle, the Seminoles completely whiffed on 5-star linebacker Raylen Wilson, who went to Lincoln High School in Tallahassee. He never made it on campus for an official visit, and last season earned SEC all-freshman team, receiving playing time on Georgia’s defense.
On the flip side, he landed consensus 4-star Blake Nichelson from California, FSU’s highest-ranked linebacker signee since 2016 — though many credit Nichelson’s commitment to general manager of personnel Darrick Yray, whose previously established relationship with the now-sophomore linebacker helped sway him to Tallahassee. Three-stars DeMarco Ward and Dylan Brown-Turner were also part of the class, though the latter has already transferred out of Tallahassee and to UTEP.
Last season, Shannon landed only two prospects as part of FSU’s 2024 class, three-star Jayden Parrish and three-star Timir Hickman-Collins, who flashed during spring practice.
So far in the incoming class, Ethan Pritchard is the only linebacker verbally pledged to Florida State.
The lack of high school recruiting and development forces Norvell to play catchup in the transfer portal. FSU brought in Justin Cryer last season as well as Tatum Bethune in Shannon’s first year — Cryer saw the field in 13 games as a true freshman, logging 12 tackles, while Bethune was at the forefront of Florida State’s resurgence over the past two seasons — and the Seminoles took two in the most recent portal cycle with the additions of Shawn Murphy and Cam Riley in the spring.
Coaching
While the trail has left plenty to be desired, Shannon has made lemonade out of lemons more often than not. He helped develop Bethune and Kalen DeLoach into all-conference players, placing them on the inside track of landing on an NFL roster. After returning to Tallahassee following a brief Boulder detour and proving the staff’s trust in him with a dominant spring, DJ Lundy appears to be on the same path.
After losing his glue guys in Bethune and DeLoach, this season will be his most critical. On paper (more specifically, through recruiting rankings), this is the most talented linebacking core Florida State has fielded in years. Riley, tried and tested in the SEC, recorded over 100 tackles with Auburn in 2023. Murphy never put it all together at Alabama, but 247Sports rated him as a top 75 prospect (and the (No. 6 linebacker) coming out of high school. Nichelson and Graham Jr. face prove-it seasons, with their experience in the defensive system valuable for a team that lacks starting experience.
The Florida State defense remarkably changed since Shannon took over as co-defensive coordinator in 2022. According to FSU stats and information, the Seminoles finished the year 15th in yards allowed, 14th in average yards per play, and Norvell’s team doubled their win total in one season. Last year, his defense created the fourth most sacks, had the 17th fewest points per game allowed, and gave up one touchdown in the final 11 quarters of the regular season and ACC championship combined.
The advanced analytics back up the stats. Florida State’s defensive rating per game in 2021 averaged 69.4 per game, according to PFF; in 2022, 71.5, and last season, FSU reached its highest mark with 73.9 and never earned a grade below 60, which is average. Along with Fuller, Shannon instilled a consistency on the defensive side of the ball that the Seminoles lacked during the Willie Taggart years and Norvell’s first season and a half. Focusing on the players, DJ Lundy received a grade of 77 or higher in three of the final four regular season games in 2023, proving that his players improved as Shannon’s coaching continued.
With 31 years of experience, including defensive coordinator stops at three other Power 4 universities, Shannon understands the nuances of football games, and the results prove it. His halftime adjustments worked, as opposing offenses scored the country’s seventh fewest points on average in the second half.
On-field success has a way of overcoming any leftover frustration from missteps on the recruiting trail — but only for so long. College football is about identifying, recruiting, and developing talent, and a successful campaign from his position group and the defense as a whole would do plenty to validate his spot on the staff.
The heat on Shannon has never been hotter — when misfires on the recruiting trail become more and more frequent, it’s hard to point out the signs of player development as appeasement, especially in the offseason when there’s no visual proof of that production.
While there’s been a raising of the floor through coaching, for FSU to actually stack up against the power players in its quest to return to national championship-winning football, coming out on top in high-profile prep battles makes a difference.
This season, both on and off the field, Randy Shannon must prove he is still the right man for the job. Should he make up ground on the trail and continue his track record of success on the coaching side, he’ll do well in alleviating concerns. A slide backward, though, combined with more disappointment on the recruiting end, expect the scrutiny to swell up to a boiling point.
