There is no way around this. With former South Carolina Gamecocks commit Jernard Albright flipping to the Florida State Seminoles on Sunday, this sent shockwaves throughout the recruiting world of major college football. South Carolina has recruited well under Shane Beamer, but to lose a guy to Mike Norvell at this stage of his coaching tenure in Tallahassee is so shocking to say the very least...
247Sports Kolby Crawford was the one to let it be known Albright was flipping over to Florida State.
Per @247Sports Florida State reporter Kolby Crawford, The Seminoles have flipped safety Jernard Albright from South Carolina to FSU.
— Wil Gunter (@WilGunter) June 7, 2026
I don’t know the numbers to back this up, but it feels early commitments are becoming less likely to stick with the modern age of NIL/recruiting.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Albright is the No. 17 player from Georgia, the No. 12 safety in the country, and the No. 169 overall prospect in the 2027 recruiting cycle. He had been committed to South Carolina since Christmas of last year. Albright flipping from South Carolina to Florida State comes on the heels of his official visit to Tallahassee over the weekend. This just cannot happen, y'all.
With Albright living closer to South Carolina than Florida State, it does not make it easier to swallow.
Florida State gets Jernard Albright to flip away from South Carolina
It may be the early stages of putting together a 2027 class, but South Carolina has some work to do to keep pace with the best of the SEC, and in the southeastern geographical footprint. However, this is one of those de-commitments that could sting for even more than a while... While there has been some debate over how hot of a seat Beamer is sitting on, Norvell might already be cooked coming in.
Florida State has not been anything close to a high-quality program over the last few seasons. Ever since Jordan Travis unfortunately broke his leg during cupcake week vs. North Alabama in 2023, FSU football has been nothing short of a disaster. Norvell has not been able to recruit like he should, often preferring to get the players he wants out of the transfer portal. Florida State fans are out of patience.
At this time, South Carolina fans will have to wonder what type of message this de-commitment is sending to everyone else. Florida State may have the better football history, but the last two seasons in Tallahassee have been nothing short of a tire fire. South Carolina may have had a down year a season ago, but it was only one game away from making the College Football Playoff in 2024-25.
Read more: Putting Shane Beamer atop the hot seat rankings is completely detached from reality
Overall, we are only talking about a four-star safety from Georgia going from one neighboring state to another. Savannah may be much closer to Columbia than it is to Tallahassee, but this just may be par for the course in this new age of college recruiting. More and more players will commit one place before flipping to another. All that matters at this stage of the game is when a prospect signs his NLI.
For now, South Carolina fans must be shaking their heads after this very rare victory for Florida State.
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