FSU football officially hires Taylor Edwards for front office leadership role

Florida State has hired Taylor Edwards as director of football and player acquisition, head coach Mike Norvell announced Thursday.

Edwards will hold a prominent role in Florida State's new operations model for football that places a premium on efficiency and collaboration in player evaluation, scouting, recruitment and retention. He will work closely with deputy athletics director and general manager of player personnel John Garrett and Norvell in a leadership role.

"Taylor is an experienced, proven leader who has shown he understands the qualities necessary to build successful teams," Norvell said. "He has experience in the SEC, within the state of Florida and throughout our region. I'm excited to have him in this important role in our new player personnel structure. He will be a vital piece of our player personnel office while leading our strategies in the recruiting process, player acquisition and retention."

Edwards has 13 years of collegiate personnel experience and most recently was the director of football management and personnel at Miami in 2025, helping build a roster that has advanced to the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff. He also has served in personnel or recruiting director roles at South Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, UAB and Samford as well as spending one season at Alabama.

"I'm extremely excited for this opportunity to join Florida State football and this wonderful staff led by Coach Norvell," Edwards said. "I'm thankful for this next chapter at such a storied program with strong, aligned leadership throughout. We all share an eagerness to get started building the next winning team at Florida State."

From 2021-24, Edwards was South Carolina's director of player personnel. He led efforts to assemble rosters that won 29 games and qualified for three bowl games. The 2024 team won nine games, including four wins over ranked opponents in November, to earn the program's most wins in a season since 2017 and reach nine wins for only the eighth time in program history. Three Gamecocks earned FWAA All-America honors, and a school-record three players made the FWAA Freshman All-America team.

Edwards was the director of recruiting and personnel at Maryland for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, where his second recruiting class was ranked No. 18 in the country. Prior to his time at Maryland, he was Arkansas' director of recruiting and personnel in 2018 and brought a consensus top-25 recruiting class to Fayetteville. He spent the 2017 season at Alabama as a player personnel assistant when the Crimson Tide won the national championship.

He began his career as a personnel and operations assistant at Jacksonville State in 2013 before one season as UAB's director of recruiting. He then spent two years as director of player personnel at Samford.

Edwards earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Montevallo in 2011 and completed his master's degree in sport and fitness administration from Troy in 2013.

Taylor Edwards Career Timeline

2026- Florida State Director of Football and Player Acquisition

2025 Miami Director of Football Management and Personnel

2021-24 South Carolina Director of Player Personnel

2019-20 Maryland Director of Recruiting and Personnel

2018 Arkansas Director of Recruiting and Personnel

2017 Alabama Player Personnel Assistant

2015-16 Samford Director of Player Personnel

2014 UAB Director of Recruiting

2013 Jacksonville State Personnel and Recruiting Operations Assistant

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