In an offseason of significant change at Florida State, some of the biggest new pieces are off-field hires in general manager John Garrett and director of football and player acquisition Taylor Edwards. Garrett helped Manny Diaz, an FSU alum, build Duke into an unlikely ACC football champion in December, and a few weeks later he returned to FSU.

After a two-year run where Garrett was a scout on offense in 2022-23, he left for Duke for two seasons. But now he’s back as FSU’s general manager in a big-picture role while working alongside Norvell and Edwards in building the 2026 roster as well as planning for the future. The first few months have been a blur.

"It's been one of the most exhilarating and exciting times for me in all of my years in football,” Garrett told the media on Friday. “To hit the ground running three days before the transfer portal opens to get up to speed on our roster, to get up to speed on the potential transfer board, kudos to coach Norvell and the staff to get me up and running and caught up and to be involved in the decisions to retain players and to bring them in.

“It was awesome. It was urgent, it was exciting, it was a lot of meetings, it was fast-paced, it was thrilling. It was really cool to be a part of the construction of this '26 roster."

There are plenty of new faces. FSU opens spring practice on Monday morning with 50 new players — 24 freshmen, 23 transfers and three JUCO players — on a roster that for the moment is 98 but will expand to 105 with summer arrivals. FSU’s 2026 high school and JUCO class was mostly signed in December, weeks ahead of Garrett’s hire, but his stamp was on the transfer decisions the Seminoles made in January.

In an interview with FSU beat writers, Garrett discusses working with Edwards, why FSU pursued quarterback Ashton Daniels and why they didn’t want to spend big on a quarterback and retaining Mandrell and Darryll Desir.

How limited was the sleep when the portal ramped up on Jan. 2?

Garrett: "You tend to manage that and try to stay consistent with it. I'm not going to be dramatic and say, 'It was these all-nighters' or anything like that. It was nothing like that. It was full days. Taylor Edwards and I joke a little bit that we really didn't even see the outside of the new facility because you're in before it gets light and you're gone when it's dark. It was kind of cool to go 'woah, this is a pretty cool facility from the outside' after it was all kind of done."

Did you know Taylor Edwards before his arrival?

Garrett: "I didn't (know him). I knew of him. He's fantastic. We hit the ground running together. He's bright, articulate, talented and had a lot of insight from being part of that other team (Miami) that he was a part of. He brings a lot to the table with regard to the ability to just plan for roster allocation and retention and also acquisition."

Can you discuss FSU’s pursuit of a quarterback in the transfer portal? (FSU hosted Anthony Colandrea and DJ Lagway before signing Ashton Daniels.)

Garrett: "It was a real interesting and fun evaluation with the quarterbacks. Initially, big picture, you have to decide, 'OK, am I going to be in the market for those guys that are really expensive.' We decided no. We don't need to do that. But we need to bring in a good, quality quarterback of value. His career lends to that. He's a multi-game starter at two places, two Power 4 schools. Really good leadership and character. The vetting that we did to determine that is really important at that position. It's something that we needed here at Florida State. Needed to be the right kind of guy, right kind of leader and certainly a talented enough player.

And then when we brought him in, those things were all validated: leadership, ability, style for our offense. A lot of things were vetted and then validated when he came here. We felt really good about how we got him and the value we placed on him. Really felt like we got good value for his ability and skillset."

What went into the decision not to spend big on a top quarterback?

Garrett: "You have to look at everything. It's the whole roster that you have to put together. The allocation that was already in existence on the team predicated that we have a lot invested in this team and that it wouldn't be wise to go beyond that."

How important was it to retain Mandrell and Darryll Desir?

Garrett: "It was important to just in general retain good players. You can't let good players out of the building. Based upon the evaluation, they're good players at a position that's hard to find guys that are talented enough, big enough and disruptive enough to play for us in our defense. So it became an important thing for us to do.

Overall, I'm pleased with our defensive line. We have a good combination of experience and up-and-coming, talented, inexperienced players that need to prove that they can get on the field. But the way they are moving around and the potential of growth and size as they work in the weight room and train, I think we have a defensive line that's talented but others right there in the hopper, so to speak, ready to earn some playing time."

Thinking about high school recruiting, can you travel to watch prospects? Is it important for a GM to be able to do that?

Garrett: "NCAA rules are that you have to appoint ten people that go out. For us, and forever, it's always been the coaches. So right now, I'm not one of those. Now, that can all change. There's evidence of a lot of teams sending non-coaches out. You just have to submit the list of who that is."

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