Nole Gameday

Ex-FSU Offensive Coordinator Played Pivotal Role in Five-Star OL's Flip to LSU

The former Seminole commit said Alex Atkins was the sole reason he chose FSU in the first place.

Tommy Mire

Solomon Thomas/Twitter
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After reeling off a 2-10 season in 2024 the Florida State Seminoles went through a major coaching overhaul by firing offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, and wide receivers coach Ron Dugans.

The 'Noles currently have the 18th-ranked recruiting class heading into 2025 and there were some major shakeups in #Tribe25. Florida State was left holding onto the short end of the stick with 5-star offensive guard Solomon Thomas when he made a last-second decision to switch his commitment on Early Signing Day and chose LSU over the Seminoles.

It appears that Florida State's former OC had a hand in Thomas' decision to seek greener pastures in Louisiana as he told Rivals on Sunday that amongst other things, Atkin's good word about the Tigers' coaching staff had a major role in his commitment.

READ MORE: Linebacker Transfer From ACC Program To Visit Florida State

"I went to a practice, and I asked my ex-coach at Florida State about the offensive line coach at LSU, and he was like, 'He's a great dude on and off the field," Thomas said. "'He will take care of you beyond the football aspect of it,’ and that's always been a guy that I wanted to play for."

He would go on to say that Atkins had direct involvement in Florida State losing their top-commit which has happened four years in a row.

Although stinging an already riled fan base, Solomon committed to Florida State and Atkins together, so it wasn't surprising for him to make the move. He was very outspoken about Atkins' dismissal when it happened and described the former FSU offensive line coach as a father figure to him.

"Atkins became almost like a father figure to me. A father figure, a friend, somebody that I could talk the Bible about, and there was nobody really to replace him or somebody I could see replacing him at Florida State because I was there for him," Thomas continued. "And any other interview that I've ever done, I've always talked about how Atkins was the reason I wanted to be at Florida State, and he was the reason I started to like Florida State in the first place.”

Florida State has since hired Gus Malzahn to take over the offense and Herb Hand to coach the offensive line. Alongside Norvell, the 'Noles have brought in four sought-after offensive line transfers. Wake Forest' Luke Petitbon, Vanderbilt's Gunnar Hansen, Ole Miss' Micah Pettus, and UCF's Adrian Medley have all signed on with the 'Noles. FSU currently has the No. 7 transfer class in the country.

READ MORE: 6-foot-7 Offensive Tackle Xavier Payne Commits To Florida State

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• Florida State Lands Productive Western Kentucky Defensive End

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Tommy Mire
TOMMY MIRE

Tommy Mire joined NoleGameday in 2023 as a writer and editor. He initially worked as lead voice at SBNation's Tomahawk Nation and contributes to football, NFL and recruiting coverage. Connect with Tommy on Twitter at @TommyM3III

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