Florida State Re-Offers 6-foot-6 Seminole Legacy

The Seminoles are working to keep the massive prospect in the family.

Michael Ionata/Twitter

Rebuilding Florida State's offensive line is arguably the biggest priority in Tallahassee this offseason. The Seminoles hit the NCAA Transfer Portal alongside the high school ranks to upgrade the room and brought Herb Hand with Gus Malzahn to lead the unit into 2025, and beyond.

Hand is already doing his part to address the present and future of the offensive line. On Wednesday, the new position coach re-extended a scholarship offer to 2026 offensive lineman Michael Ionata. The rising senior is a Seminole legacy who holds offers from programs such as Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, and USF.

Ionata is the son of former FSU offensive lineman Joey Ionata, who played for the Seminoles from 1984-88. Ionata was a full-time starter during his final two years with the program and was an AP All-American honorable mention in 1988. The younger Ionata also has an older brother, Joseph Ionata, who signed with Alabama in 2023.

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The Florida native was the starting left tackle on a Calvary Christian High School team that went 6-3 last fall. Ionata already has good size at 6-foot-6, 290 pounds and he's athletic enough to get up to the second level. Once he gets his hands on opposing defenders, they're more than likely going on the ground.

Ionata was on campus three times last year, including in June when he was originally offered by Florida State after his performance at a camp. Ionata returned in October to watch the Seminoles fall short to Clemson in Doak Campbell Stadium. It would be big to get him back on campus in the near future to spend more time with Hand and the new staff.

He's not yet ranked in the 2026 class according to 247Sports.

Florida State holds six verbal commitments in its 2026 class which ranks No. 7 in the country. The Seminoles recently landed a pledge from three-star offensive lineman Xavier Payne.

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