BREAKING: Florida State Seminoles land UCF transfer linebacker

The Seminoles land a key player at a position of need.

Florida State continued to have success in the transfer portal on Tuesday as the Seminoles landed a key player at a position of need. 

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Former UCF linebacker Tatum Bethune entered the portal on Friday. It took him less than a week to make the decision to continue his collegiate career in Tallahassee.

When Bethune made his plans to transfer from the Knights public last week, Florida State was one of the presumed favorites. He has multiple ties to the Seminoles through linebacker's coach and co-defensive coordinator, Randy Shannon, and defensive analyst Sabbath Joseph. Shannon was Bethune's defensive coordinator and linebacker's coach for two years at UCF. Joseph was his defensive coordinator and linebacker's coach from 2016-19 when Bethune starred at Miami Central High School.

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Those relationships made it easier for the Florida native to decide to stay in-state for his final two seasons of eligibility. Bethune led UCF with 108 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, and a forced fumble in 2021 while starting all 11 games he appeared in. He had five games with ten or more tackles, including 18 total stops against USF and 17 against East Carolina. At the end of the season, Bethune was named Honorable Mention All-ACC by the league's coaches.

A season ago, Bethune played in 10 games with five starts. He recorded 57 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and a pick. As a true freshman in 2019, Bethune was one of UCF's top reserves at linebacker. 

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This is pretty big news for Florida State, to say the least. The Seminoles only had six scholarship linebackers prior to Bethune's commitment. That said, all three starters from 2021, Amari Gainer, DJ Lundy, and Kalen DeLoach will be returning to the team. Bethune will be competing this spring to take one of their spots.

It's possible that the coaching staff looks for an additional linebacker via the portal or the remaining unsigned high school prospects. However, that remains to be seen. 

Stick with NoleGameday for the latest on Florida State's pursuit in the transfer portal.

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