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What do you think of the company Kin now that they are a jersey sponsor for the next 4 years?
🏹 Welcome to The Chief Brief! 🏹
Good morning, Seminole!
Two days out from SMU, volleyball pulled off a five-set upset over a ranked opponent, FSU officially signed its first-ever jersey patch sponsor, and Norvell broke down specific matchups for Monday night, including one involving a former Seminole now lining up for the Mustangs. There's also a detailed look at how these two rosters were actually built, the first injury report of the weekend, and a recruiting visitor list that keeps growing.
Here's everything before Labor Day.
📋 In Today’s Chief Brief:
🏐 Volleyball's Five-Set Thriller 🏐 - A ranked win and a program milestone in Nashville.
💵 FSU Signs Historic Jersey Patch Deal 💵 - Kin Insurance becomes the first-ever brand on Seminole jerseys.
🔍 Norvell's SMU Scouting Report 🔍 - Jennings, tight ends and a new defensive play-caller.
🔥 "I Love This Stage" 🔥 - Norvell and FSU ready for the spotlight.
🏗️ How Was SMU's Roster Actually Built? 🏗️ - A detailed comparison of two very different roster-building models.
🏥 First Availability Report 🏥 - Who's in, who's out for Monday night.
🧭 Recruiting: The Full Weekend Visitor List 🧭 - Commits, flip targets and a five-star headliner descending on Tallahassee.
🏅 Around the Athletic Department 🏅 - Tennis's fall schedule and two Seminoles headed to the Walker Cup.
Let’s dive in. 🍢.
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FSU picked up its biggest win of the young season Friday night, clawing back from a two-set deficit to stun a ranked opponent.
🔥 Filimaua Takes Over Late
Senior Kyleene Filimaua delivered a season-best 23 kills and 16 digs for her second double-double of the season, closing out the match with back-to-back kills in the decisive fifth set.
Sophomore Nenu Kpea set a career high with 17 kills on .536 hitting, while freshman Sofia Moss added a new career-best 14 kills as four Seminoles reached double figures.
📈 A Program Milestone
The win was FSU's first five-set victory since beating Notre Dame last November and its first win over a ranked opponent since taking down then-No. 15 North Carolina in the same month.
FSU stays in Nashville to face host Lipscomb Saturday to close out the LUV Invitational.
Why It Matters: Rallying from 2-1 down against a ranked opponent on the road is exactly the kind of resilience new head coach Lindsay Allman wants to see this early in her tenure, and it's a signature win for a program looking to build real postseason momentum. 🍢
FSU football will debut a new look Monday night, becoming the latest program to add a jersey patch sponsor as the revenue-sharing era reshapes college athletics.
🤝 What the Deal Covers
Kin, a Florida-based home and auto insurance provider, becomes the first brand ever to appear on FSU jerseys, with the patch debuting against SMU on Monday before rolling out across 17 additional Seminole sports.
The four-year partnership was facilitated by Legends Global, with athletic director Michael Alford calling it a natural fit given Kin's Florida roots and FSU's Risk Management and Insurance program, one of the top-ranked in the country.
Why It Matters: Jersey patches are becoming standard practice across college athletics as programs chase every possible revenue stream in the post-House settlement era, and FSU landing a four-year, 18-sport deal shows just how aggressively the athletic department is pursuing new money. 🍢
Norvell broke down several specific matchups that will shape Monday night, including one storyline involving a familiar face on the other sideline.
🎯 Continuity Cuts Both Ways
Norvell said Kevin Jennings' third season as a starter gives Rhett Lashlee confidence in what he can ask of him, but it also gives FSU's staff a deeper film library to find weaknesses. "You've got to make sure that you play into the strengths of what your guys can do," Norvell said.
SMU brought in transfer tight ends Theo Melin Ohrstrom and Randy Pittman Jr. to replace two departed starters, with Pittman notably spending last season catching 23 passes for FSU before transferring out. Norvell called the room "very versatile" and expects heavy use of 12-personnel.
🆕 A New Voice Calling SMU's Defense
SMU promoted co-defensive coordinator Maurice Crum Jr. after Scott Symons left for the Dallas Cowboys, and Norvell acknowledged the uncertainty that comes with facing a new play-caller. "You don't know what he liked or didn't like, things that will carry over," he said.
Why It Matters: A former Seminole lining up for the other team and a defensive coordinator making his SMU play-calling debut both add layers of unpredictability to a game that already carries enormous weight for both programs. 🍢
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Norvell closed out his final media session before Monday night making clear his team has embraced the moment rather than shrunk from it.
🎙️ A Coach Who's Been Here Before
Norvell pointed to a string of standalone marquee games throughout his tenure, from Notre Dame in 2021 to LSU in 2022 and 2023 to last season's Alabama opener, calling Monday's SMU game "another big game at the beginning of the year" that he genuinely enjoys.
He called SMU a "championship-caliber" opponent given its recent playoff appearance and roster depth, adding, "It's going to be a big challenge for us, and we're excited for it."
🔊 Simulating the Environment
FSU has been pumping in artificial crowd noise during defensive third-down reps this week specifically to prepare for communication breakdowns like the ones that hurt the Seminoles against New Mexico State.
Norvell said the altered practice schedule, built around a Monday kickoff, has produced an "impressive mindset" from his players this week. "I like what I'm seeing," he said.
Why It Matters: Confidence and preparation are one thing, but Monday will be the actual test of whether FSU's third-down communication issues were fixed with simulated crowd noise or whether the real thing exposes the same problems all over again. 🍢
A detailed breakdown of both rosters reveals two very different paths to becoming ACC contenders, one of which FSU is still trying to complete.
📊 Two Different Models
247Sports ranks FSU's roster 21st nationally in high school recruiting evaluations against SMU's 31st, with FSU landing 31 four-star-or-better prospects to SMU's 23, yet Lashlee has still built a 31-10 record over three seasons largely through the transfer portal.
SMU has signed only nine four-star high school prospects under Lashlee, relying instead on 101 total transfers since 2022, more than half of them from Texas, the state Lashlee calls the best high school talent producer in the country.
⚖️ The Starting Lineup Gap
Only 27.3 percent of SMU's Monday night starters were originally signed and developed in-house, compared to 45.8 percent of FSU's starters, meaning the Mustangs are an even more transfer-dependent roster than FSU's.
Nine of SMU's transfers arrived this offseason alone, including four-star pieces like Alabama receiver transfer Jalen Hale and Texas A&M products PJ Williams and Jayvon Thomas, all Texas natives Lashlee brought back home.
Why It Matters: Both programs are built more on the portal than high school development at this point, but SMU's specific formula, hoarding Texas talent through transfers rather than recruiting it out of high school, has produced sustained ACC success that FSU is still chasing. 🍢
Both programs released their initial injury designations Friday night ahead of Monday's kickoff.
🚫 FSU's Out List
Wide receiver Devin Carter, cornerback Chuck Kennon, safety Karson Hobbs and safety Jordan Crutchfield are all listed out, while tight end Gavin Markey is doubtful.
Wide receiver Tae'Shaun Gelsey and defensive back K.J. Kirkland are both questionable, though several key contributors, including Bradyn Welch-Joiner, Darryll Desir and Quindarrius Jones, are already probable.
🐴 SMU's Own Absences
The Mustangs will be without three running backs, Link Rhodes, Christian Rhodes and EJ Kelly, along with starting offensive lineman Abel Hoopii and two linebackers.
Safety Ahmaad Moses, whose eligibility situation has been in legal limbo, is listed as merely questionable, a notable sign for SMU's defense given he led the team in tackles and interceptions last season.
Why It Matters: FSU's secondary is dealing with real thin depth heading into a game against one of the country's most explosive passing offenses, while SMU could still get its best defensive playmaker on the field despite the offseason uncertainty around his eligibility. 🍢
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FSU's Monday night showcase has grown into one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the year, with dozens of prospects across three classes expected in Tallahassee.
🎯 Commits Returning and Flip Targets Multiplying
FSU's top two 2027 commits, safety Ta'Shawn Poole and defensive lineman Sam LeJeune, are both expected back on campus, along with quarterback pledge Logan Flaherty and edge commit Jaxon Holly, making his second straight trip.
The flip board has grown beyond Errol Demontagnac and Theo Wilson to include Florida cornerback commit Kamarion Johnson and Alabama cornerback pledge Darrius White, both Peach State prospects FSU recruited before their commitments elsewhere.
⭐ A Deep 2028 Board
Five-star edge rusher Kameron McGee, 247Sports' No. 1 overall prospect in the 2028 class, headlines the visitor list as FSU competes with Georgia, Miami, Oregon and Notre Dame for his services.
Quarterback Chandler Dyson, tackles Nation Farmer and Nijal Thigpen, tight end King Fuller and defensive lineman Prince Che, making his second straight visit, round out a loaded group of offered targets.
Five-star wing Moussa Kamissoko's visit to FSU last weekend reportedly "did a nice job of setting a standard" for the rest of his official visits, according to national recruiting sources.
Four-star forward Ahmed Nur rearranged his schedule to visit Tallahassee this weekend instead of previously planned trips to Washington and Texas.
Why It Matters: Hosting this many commits, flip targets and new names in one weekend is a rare recruiting opportunity, and how FSU performs Monday night will directly shape the momentum the staff carries into the most important stretch of the fall evaluation period. 🍢
🏅 Around the Athletic Department 🏅
Tennis released its fall schedule, and two FSU golfers are set to represent Great Britain and Ireland on one of the sport's biggest amateur stages.
FSU opens its fall season hosting the UTR Pro Fall Slam September 7-13, with senior Eva Shaw, ranked No. 62 nationally, looking to build on last year's NCAA Individual Championship appearance.
The freshman class, ranked No. 9 nationally, is led by five-star signee JoAnna Kennedy, who enters ranked No. 8 among all incoming freshmen.
Tyler Weaver and Jack Whaley will represent Great Britain and Ireland at the Walker Cup this weekend at Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland, with Weaver looking to help GB&I win for the first time since 2015.
Whaley makes his Walker Cup debut after becoming just the third Englishman ever to win the U.S. Amateur, a run that pushed him to No. 45 in the world amateur rankings.
Why It Matters: FSU sending two golfers to represent an entire side in one of amateur golf's premier events is a testament to the program's depth, and both will be worth tracking as the Seminoles look ahead to their own fall season. 🍢
And that’s a wrap!
Thanks for riding with us today, Seminole!
Two days out, and the anticipation is building fast. Watch for how the secondary handles its depth questions, keep an eye on the recruits packing Doak Campbell, and get ready for a Monday night that could shape the rest of FSU's season.
Go Noles,
– The Chief Briefers
