Florida State and head coach Mike Norvell have to feel great about how things worked out for them at the quarterback position on the 2026 recruiting trail.
The Seminoles lost the commitment of four-star quarterback Brady Smigiel in January. As things usually work in recruiting, though, another school’s misfortune ended up working out to their advantage.
Jaden O’Neal, a 4-star quarterback from Mustang, Oklahoma, looked to be a lock for the Sooners. He committed to Brent Venables and Oklahoma over a year ago and even moved from California to Oklahoma (30 minutes from Norman) to play his senior year of high school ball.
The problem for Oklahoma, at least, is that the Sooners kept pursuing other 2026 quarterbacks. That led to O’Neal ultimately deciding to open things back up, and an official visit he recently took to Tallahassee to see Norvell and the Seminoles paid off for FSU when the four-star QB once again hit the market.
He’s now committed to Florida State’s 2026 class, which is a decision he made over the weekend, not long after decommitting from Oklahoma.
