FSU football anticipated to promote longtime college football staffer to key role

The Florida State Seminoles are promoting from within to fill an open spot on Mike Norvell's staff.

Sep 26, 2025; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell looks on during a stoppage in play against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Florida State has suffered a pair of departures from head coach Mike Norvell's staff this offseason.

Earlier this month, running backs coach David Johnson (Arkansas) and quarterbacks coach Tony Tokarz (Buffalo) were hired away by other programs. This might've been the plan from the beginning for the Seminoles, as both assistants had contracts that were set to expire in February.

READ MORE: Quarterback with ties to FSU football hitting transfer portal

FSU went outside the building to hire Tulsa's Kam Martin to lead the running backs. That hire has yet to be officially announced.

Norvell is staying inside the program and promoting from within to fill the open quarterbacks coach role.

Florida State Expected To Promote Austin Tucker To Quarterbacks Coach

Austin Tucker (right) and Jashaun Corbin (left) | Austin Tucker/Twitter

First reported by On3's Matt LaSerre, Florida State is anticipated to elevate assistant wide receivers coach Austin Tucker to quarterbacks coach.

Tucker has been on staff in a variety of roles since Norvell was hired by the Seminoles. He assisted wide receivers coach Tim Harris Jr. this season. Tucker spent five seasons as an offensive analyst, working with the running backs for three years and quarterbacks for two years.

From 2023-24, Tucker served with the quarterbacks. In 2023, Florida State went 13-1 and won the ACC Championship as former star signal-caller Jordan Travis developed into the conference player of the year and an NFL Draft pick.

Tucker is one of the Seminoles' strongest off-field recruiters. His efforts on the trail were a primary reason FSU was able to land a commitment from four-star defensive end Keldric Faulk out of Alabama. Faulk ultimately signed with Auburn, but Tucker had them in it until the very end.

A former wide receiver at Arkansas, Tucker had a stint coaching in high school before joining Auburn and Memphis as a graduate assistant. He worked as the wide receivers coach at North Alabama for two seasons prior to being hired by Florida State.

FSU still has offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach Brendan Bognar on staff. Bognar worked closely with the unit this season under the direction of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

Bognar and Malzahn worked together at UCF for two seasons. Bognar was the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at Samford in 2024. He was also a graduate assistant at Troy and had a previous stint at Samford as an analyst.

A walk-on quarterback at Murray State, Bognar worked his way up to team captain and was awarded a scholarship. He graduated from the university in 2019.

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READ MORE: FSU football bracing for departure of key starter to transfer portal

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