FSU Recruiting Rules Sunshine State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State might have beaten state rivals Florida and Miami on both the field and recruiting trail, but Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher isn't one to gloat -- at least publicly. In fact, it's not even certain if Fisher, who can spin yarns at a mile-a-minute pace, exhaled during Wednesday's National Signing Day.

The ink was barely dry on Fisher's nationally acclaimed class and it appeared his focus had already shifted.

"I hope that we evaluated well," Fisher said Wednesday afternoon, explaining his three-tier approach to success.

"It's recruiting, player development and coaching. We got the ones we wanted. Now, we have to develop players, and then we have to get them on the field and put them in position to make plays and coach them so they can perform between those white lines and in that stadium. These are the guys we wanted, and we feel very good. Now we go into player development. Then we will go into coaching when they get here."

Fisher proved in his first season that his formula works. The Seminoles won 10 games for the first time since 2003, clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title and put a bow on the package with a Chick-fil-A Bowl win over South Carolina.

However, Fisher never looks over his shoulder, repeatedly saying it never gets better than it is right now. National Signing Day proved to be the perfect snapshot. Fisher's class remained in the Top 5 of the rankings throughout the day and took the top position in ESPN and Scout.com's lists.

"Everyone says we're No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. That wasn't what was important to me. We got the guys we went after, that we evaluated and the guys we thought we needed for this team and organization to move forward."
-- Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher "Everyone says we're No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. That wasn't what was important to me," Fisher said. "We got the guys we went after, that we evaluated and the guys we thought we needed for this team and organization to move forward."

FSU inked 29 signees, including the top-ranked running back (James Wilder, Jr.), tight end (Nick O'Leary) and one of the highest-rated safeties (Karlos Williams). The class also featured two late additions in Lake City, Fla., defensive tackle Tim Jernigan and Fort Lauderdale offensive guard Austin Barron and has eight early enrollees, including two junior college transfers with high rankings.

FSU lost out on Tony Steward of Pedro Menendez High in St. Augustine, Fla., considered the nation's top linebacker, when he selected Clemson over the Seminoles in an announcement shown on ESPNU. Fisher said he doesn't take such decisions personally.

"He made a choice what's best for him and we wish him (the best)," Fisher said. "I really appreciate getting to know him. I think he's a quality young man, a great guy and he will have a heckuva career at Clemson. And he will be a heckuva guy to play against. He will do very well."

While Fisher has developed a reputation for fast starts in recruiting -- many in his class committed early -- he also had extra time to widen the gap against his state rivals on the race to the finish line due to coaching changes.

Will Muschamp's 18-player class at UF was punctuated by two significant, last-minute additions in receiver Ja'Juan Story and cornerback Marcus Roberson. The Gators' class was ranked eighth by ESPN.

"We did a nice job to maintain what we had," Muschamp said.

"My idea was to recruit the board that was available. I added some evaluations here and there for what we wanted to do. But in order for us to have a full recruiting class and a full year of evaluations in recruited, I opted not to just offer scholarships to sign people. I wanted to make sure these guys could compete at a championship level on and off the field at Florida, and that was what was important to me in this process."

Miami's Al Golden also admitted to challenges presented by the short recruiting window. Rivals.com and Scout.com ranked the Hurricanes' class of 16 players at No. 33. UM still hopes to sign a quarterback, and that news may come Friday. Palm Beach Dwyer quarterback Jacoby Brissett will make his announcement during halftime of his basketball game. Brissett is said to be deciding between UM and Wisconsin.

"It was definitely a challenge," Golden said.

"We had three dead periods in our first 30 days. We started with three commitments and we ended up with 16 or 17 and I've been told we've jumped 50 spots (in the team rankings) so I'm very proud of my staff and proud of these young men that are joining the Hurricanes."

While Fisher may have won the recent battles over UF and UM, he realizes that it can change in a hurry. And Fisher's not even certain how much those wins impact recruits' thinking.

"Kids are more interested today on how can I play immediately, where can I fit in and who can help me get to where I want to go," Fisher said. "I think that applies more than us beating Miami or us beating Florida. That's our society.

"Instant gratification right now."