CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With roughly 50 new players each football season, a result of graduation and eligibility but also roster turnover via the transfer portal, there’s a constant search at Florida State for players with experience and production. There’s also a constant need for leadership.
Watching FSU’s struggles the last two seasons, it’s wrong to make a blanket statement. The Seminoles have had leaders, arguably more so in 2025 than on a shaky 2024 team where the team sorely missed big voices like Jordan Travis and Jared Verse.
There are rightfully questions about the Seminoles in 2026. Was Ashton Daniels the right choice at quarterback? Will a new-look line give him time and the running backs lanes to run? Will the defense improve against the run and take strides in year 2 under Tony White?
The core question revolves around leadership, whether FSU has enough on offense and defense to help the team navigate the challenges this fall — and a schedule that is viewed as among the toughest in the ACC. But when Duce Robinson announced his return, he gave the Seminoles not just a playmaker but a mentor to younger receivers and a leader in the locker room.
“This football team has Duce's DNA around it,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “That's one of the greatest compliments I can give a player. The driving force for him is for this program to go be what we all expect it to be.”
Norvell has praised Robinson throughout the offseason, but most of the comments have reflected how he acts off the field and not improvements as a pass catcher after a 1,000-yard season (in which he also had some notable drops) or as a perimeter blocker. It’s been how hard the coaches are pushing him.
“He's our best returning player and for that guy to also be the hardest worker, that guy to be able to challenge himself,” Norvell said. “When you talk about coaching somebody hard, we coach Duce hard, and his embrace to that (is) wanting more.”
Norvell didn’t go through a full list of players that he views as leaders, but he hit on some key players. And among his points is that this roster, with roughly half of a 105-man roster filled with transfers or high school prospects, does include a number of players who have come up through the program.
“Just about every position group has some key contributors that have been here for multiple years that have come through the high school ranks that have got a chance to grow and develop through highs and lows,” Norvell said. “Just to be able to build upon those experiences to go be the best that we can be for the season.”
Those range from Daniel Lyons, a defensive tackle who committed to FSU in July 2021 and saw the program begin to rise in 2022 and ‘23. He’s also been part of the low points the last two seasons.
“Daniel Lyons has been through it all. You feel him within this football team,” Norvell said.
From Norvell to players like Daniels, benefits of the new football building have helped create the bonds. Daniels talked on Wednesday about arriving at the building at 6 a.m. and not wanting to leave because it had all of the amenities to learn and help in recovery after practices and scrimmages.
Norvell says he sees the players putting in the time on the field or in the new virtual reality room and walk through room.
“When the moment calls for it, your best needs to be there and that's what we've really tried to challenge,” Norvell said. “But also seeing guys take that ownership. Whether it's receivers that are coming in and spending extra time getting on a jugs machine or guys going and spending extra time in the meeting. That's what I've loved.
“Walking to the facility, you see our players' presence and you know they understand the challenge of what it needs to be but only they get to answer — was that their best?” Norvell said. “And that has to be the constant push.”
It’s a push that FSU’s leaders have made throughout the offseason. And it’s one they’ll have to make daily through the wins and losses this fall.
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