In partnership with
Forwarded this email from a friend? Subscribe at the button below
Yesterday’s Poll Results
Today’s Poll
Would you welcome a Jimbo Fisher return to FSU in any capacity?
🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹
Happy Sunday, Seminole!
Karlos May's decision landed, and it didn't go FSU's way, but the class that did land, headlined by Ta'Shawn Poole, has FSU's own commits fired up. There's also a promising 2028 EDGE trending toward FSU, word that Jimbo Fisher isn't done coaching, a deep midseason MLB check-in, and the first signing bonuses from FSU's draft class rolling in.
📋 In Today's Chief Brief:
❌ Karlos May Picks Ohio State, FSU Falls Short Again in the Trenches ❌ — A tough result after a real push from Terrance Knighton.
🔥 FSU's Recruiting Class Is Fired Up About Landing Poole 🔥 — The committed group is already selling the class to itself.
👀 FSU the Clear Favorite for 2028 EDGE Meshi Dobson 👀 — A reclassification and a commitment could both be coming soon.
🤔 Jimbo Fisher Says He's Open to a Coaching Return 🤔 — FSU's last title-winning coach still misses the sideline.
⭐ Midseason Check-In: 11 Former Seminoles Are in the Majors Right Now ⭐ — An All-Star, a few rookies, and a couple of names working through injuries.
💰 Signing Bonuses Start Rolling In for FSU's Draft Class 💰 — One over-slot deal says a lot about a decision already made.
💭 FSU's Biggest Recruiting What-Ifs of the Norvell Era 💭 — Three signing-day flips that could have changed everything.
🏆 Ranking FSU's Best-Ever Games: 30-21 🏆 — A tour through three different eras of FSU football.
📝 Sunday Notebook 📝 — Summer League wraps up in Vegas.
Let's dive in. 🍢
1000s Of People Are Building Their Own App With Ai. Are You?
Every tool you're paying for right now was built by someone who's never done your job. They guessed at what you needed, wrapped it in a subscription, and now you're locked in - paying monthly for software that's 80% of what you actually want.
That other 20%? It's costing you time, workarounds, and money every single week.
Justin Burns figured out how to close that gap. He builds the exact tool he needs using AI - no code, no developers, no waiting. And this July 22-24, he's showing you how to do the same thing, live, in three days.
The event is free. The app you walk away with is yours.
Grab your seat for the Apps Built With AI Summit and stop paying for software that almost works.
Register free here — replays available for all who sign up.
The decision many saw coming played out Saturday: FSU's four-star defensive line target chose Ohio State, extending the program's rough stretch on the offensive and defensive line recruiting trail.
📋 The Decision
May picked the Buckeyes over FSU, Auburn and Georgia, a result that tracked with the intel all week pointing to Ohio State as the favorite. FSU visited hard, brought him to campus twice, and DL coach Terrance Knighton built a real relationship, but it wasn't enough to close.
Knighton isn't a stranger to late flips, having already pulled Tylon Lee, LaJesse Harrold and Jaemin Pinckney away from other programs since arriving, and the staff will keep an eye on May in case FSU's season creates an opening to flip him later in the cycle.
Why It Matters: FSU's defensive front already has four solid commits, but missing on a top-135 national prospect after a real push stings, especially with the offensive line still sitting at zero for the cycle. 🍢
Ta'Shawn Poole's commitment didn't just move the needle for FSU fans. His future teammates couldn't contain their excitement either.
🗣️ The Reactions
Fellow Georgia native Jaxon Holly said he started screaming when he heard the news, while safety commit Jemari Foreman, until last week the class's only defensive back, texted that the trio of himself, Poole and Za'Kari Johnson makes this the best defensive back class FSU's had in years. Linebacker CJ Ohuabunwa put it bluntly, saying people better watch out.
Quarterback commit Logan Flaherty kept his reaction to two words, welcoming Poole home on social media, while defensive linemen Eric Vaulx Jr. and Sam LeJeune both said the pledge gives the front seven another real piece to build around.
📈 The Ranking Bump
FSU's class jumped to No. 29 nationally in the Rivals Industry Rating (up to 6th in the ACC) with Poole's addition, and six of FSU's 15 commits are now considered blue-chip prospects.
Why It Matters: Recruit-to-recruit excitement is a real recruiting tool. When committed players start selling the class to each other, it tends to snowball, and FSU's staff will happily let this group do some of that work for them. 🍢
One of South Florida's top pass rushers could make two big decisions soon, and FSU is in the driver's seat for both.
📋 The Situation
Dobson, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound Cypress Bay product who put up 72 tackles and 14 sacks as a sophomore, is strongly considering reclassifying up to the 2027 class and says a call on that is coming soon. He named FSU, Syracuse and Miami as the three schools to watch if he commits shortly after.
Dobson said FSU has been recruiting him especially hard and that the program was one of his childhood favorites growing up. 247Sports logged a Crystal Ball prediction in FSU's favor, calling the Seminoles the clear leader.
Why It Matters: Dobson would be the second Cypress Bay reclassification prospect FSU has landed this summer after Za'Kari Johnson, continuing a real pipeline into that South Florida program. 🍢
Gold Without the Games. Faith-Driven. Fully Transparent.
Most gold companies profit from your confusion. True Gold Republic was built differently. America's only Christian precious metals firm, with transparent pricing, zero hidden fees, and a written guarantee. Get your free 2026 kit and see the difference.
FSU's last national championship coach hasn't ruled out getting back on a sideline, three years after his messy Texas A&M exit.
🗣️ What He Said
Fisher told The Athletic he misses the relationships, the recruiting and the competition of coaching, and said he believes he could still recruit at a high level even with NIL and revenue sharing reshaping the sport since he last coached in 2023. He'd prefer another head coaching job but said he'd also consider an offensive coordinator role in college or the NFL for the right situation.
Fisher went 83-23 at FSU with three straight ACC titles and the 2013 national championship before leaving for Texas A&M in 2017, a move that never came close to matching his Tallahassee success.
Why It Matters: Fisher isn't walking back through FSU's door anytime soon, but his comments are a reminder of how much the program's ceiling changed under him, and how far it's fallen since. 🍢
FSU's pro pipeline is as deep as ever, headlined by an All-Star selection and a rookie class already making an impact.
🌟 The Standouts
Parker Messick represented FSU at the All-Star Game and has been outstanding for Cleveland, a 2.73 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 19 starts, matching his ERA across his first 151.2 career innings. Reliever Luke Weaver has been just as sharp for the Mets (2.03 ERA, 43 strikeouts in 40 innings), and Tyler Holton continues to anchor Detroit's bullpen with a career 2.71 ERA across parts of five seasons.
Three Seminoles debuted in the majors this season: Jack Anderson and Shane Drohan both broke through in April, with Drohan turning in a strong rookie year for Milwaukee (3.09 ERA in 70 innings), while CJ Van Eyk debuted for Toronto just before the All-Star break with two scoreless innings.
⚠️ The Struggles
Cal Raleigh is working back from injury and hitting just .167 since returning in mid-June, while Cole Sands has barely pitched all season while battling his own injury. Cam Smith and Taylor Walls are both producing modestly in everyday roles for Houston and Tampa Bay.
Why It Matters: Eleven active big leaguers in one summer is a serious number for any program, and it's the same pipeline Link Jarrett is now restocking with this year's record draft class. 🍢
FSU's 10 draftees have started putting pen to paper, and the numbers tell their own story about how teams valued each player.
💵 The Numbers So Far
Myles Bailey signed with the Cubs for $1.9 million, nearly $800,000 over his draft slot, a clear sign teams still trust the power even after his season-ending ankle injury. Landon Thome signed with the White Sox for $2.497 million, about $400,000 under slot, while Trey Beard signed with the Marlins for $493,000, just under his slot value.
Six more picks, including second-rounder Wes Mendes, hadn't announced signings as of this weekend. Teams have until July 27 to get deals done before players can return to school instead.
Why It Matters: Bailey's over-slot deal all but confirms he's turning pro, while the rest of the signings will determine exactly how much rebuilding Link Jarrett's staff has ahead of it this fall. 🍢
Go from AI overwhelmed to AI savvy professional
AI will eliminate 300 million jobs in the next 5 years.
Yours doesn't have to be one of them.
Here's how to future-proof your career:
Join the Superhuman AI newsletter - read by 1M+ professionals
Learn AI skills in 3 mins a day
Become the AI expert on your team
Chopchat's Josh Yourish revisited three recruiting battles Norvell lost, each one a real what-if for how differently his tenure could have gone.
📋 The Three
Travis Hunter committed to FSU for 21 months before flipping to Jackson State on signing day 2021, then went on to win the 2024 Heisman as a two-way star. K.J. Bolden flipped from FSU to Georgia on signing day 2023 and is now a key piece of Kirby Smart's defense, while Keldric Faulk flipped to Auburn in 2023 and became a 2026 first-round NFL pick.
Why It Matters: Yourish's larger point is that Norvell never established himself as an elite high school recruiter, which left FSU overly dependent on the transfer portal. These three signing-day losses are the clearest individual examples of that pattern. 🍢
The countdown rolled into its next set of ten, and this stretch is loaded with signature moments across eras.
🎬 The Highlights
The stretch includes the 2014 no-catch finish over Notre Dame that preserved FSU's 29-game win streak (No. 30), the 2023 season-opening blowout of LSU that had FSU looking like a national title contender (No. 29), and Bobby Bowden's storybook final game, a Gator Bowl win over West Virginia (No. 27).
Also featured: the 1993 win over No. 3 Miami that propelled FSU to its first national title (No. 26), the 1994 Sugar Bowl comeback completing the Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter against Florida (No. 23), and the 1987 Fiesta Bowl comeback over Nebraska that launched FSU's 14-year run of top-five finishes (No. 24).
Why It Matters: This stretch of the list is basically a tour through FSU's golden eras under three different coaches. A nice reminder of the standard the current staff is chasing. 🍢
📝🏀 Sunday Notebook 🏀📝
One quick note from Vegas as Summer League wraps up.
John Butler Jr. had his best game of the week, 10 points on perfect 3-of-3 shooting for the Bucks. Chauncey Wiggins added six points for Boston, and Lajae Jones and the Warriors advanced to Sunday's championship game against Memphis after a narrow win over the Lakers, where Robert McCray V didn't play.
Why It Matters: Jones getting extra games on the biggest Summer League stage is exactly the kind of extended look that can matter for a fringe roster spot. 🍢
And that’s a wrap!
Thanks for making The Chief Brief part of your Sunday.
Lajae Jones and the Warriors play for the Summer League title tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, and MLB's signing deadline looms Monday, July 27 for FSU's remaining draft picks. We'll keep tracking both.
