Florida State sitting in a good position with 2023 DE TJ Searcy

The Seminoles didn't accomplish their goals at defensive end in the last recruiting cycle. While legacy Aaron Hester signed with Florida State, top prospects such as Marvin Jones Jr, Nyjalik Kelly, and Trevion Williams all signed with other schools. Kelly and Williams were both committed to the program at one point while Jones Jr is the son of one of the best linebackers in school history.

That means securing talent at the position will be an even larger focus in the 2023 class. The coaching staff has gotten off to a good start by securing legacy defensive end Lamont Green Jr. and now they're turning their attention to some of the best players in the cycle.

Rising senior defensive end TJ Searcy has been a target for Florida State since he picked up an offer last summer. Searcy was on campus this weekend and had a lot of fun.

“I had a lot of fun at Florida State," Searcy said to NoleGameday's Dustin Lewis. "I learned a lot with coach JP [John Papuchis] throughout the day and I had fun seeing their facilities and their field.”

While Searcy has been to Tallahassee before, this trip allowed him to gather more information about the school. He also got to spend an ample amount of time with defensive ends coach John Papuchis,

“Basically, this visit was to get a lot more information about the school that I didn’t know about before," Searcy said. "Also, I learned a lot about their defense that I didn’t know before, a lot about their scheme.”

Searcy and Papuchis are in contact at least once a week and have been building a close relationship. What personally stands out to Searcy is that Papuchis has defensive coordinator experience and that he gets players to the next level.

“Coach JP definitely seems like a great coach," Searcy said. "He definitely knows what he’s talking about and he’s been a coordinator. A lot of defensive line coaches can’t say that they’ve been coordinators at other schools so that’s just kind of impressive. Then, he also sends a lot of people to the league which is great.”

The Georgia native and his mom sat down with head coach Mike Norvell for a meeting in his office. Norvell told him that it won't always be easy if chooses the Seminoles.

“It was pretty good," Searcy said. "My mom and I went in there. He was just telling me that if I decide to go there that there are gonna be days where I don’t like him and there are going to be days where it’s tough. I was just like ‘yes sir’."

One part of the visit that caught his eye was watching film with coach Papuchis. The veteran defensive ends coach was able to show him a few moves that he didn't know about coming into the trip.

“I probably would say my favorite part was watching film with coach JP," Searcy said. "I was learning a lot of new stuff that I didn’t know before, like stunts you can do to trick the offensive linemen.”

The Upson-Lee High School product is a highly sought-after prospect across the country. The Seminoles and South Carolina are two schools that have already offered who are very interested in him.

“I would definitely say Florida State," Searcy said. "South Carolina and then schools who haven’t offered that are showing a lot of interest are Clemson and Auburn. I have a scheduled visit to Clemson on March 5 and I’ll be at Tennessee on March 4.”

After this visit, where does Florida State stand in Searcy's recruitment?

“They’re definitely high on my list right now after this visit.”

The 6-foot-5 1/4 and 254-pound defensive end will visit Tennessee and Clemson in March. He also plans to make it back to Tallahassee at some point but hasn't set a date yet. It's still too early for Searcy to consider a timeline as he explores all of his options.

Stick with NoleGameday for more on Searcy throughout his senior year.

What's next for the Florida State Seminoles? Join thousands for FREE to not miss out on any breaking news or recruiting latest by clicking this link or texting our number (850) 616-8661!

Follow Dustin Lewis on Twitter

Follow NoleGameday on Twitter and Facebook

Add us as a preferred source on Google