Florida State coach Mike Norvell's helicopter recruiting tour reaches Texas high school football programs

Uncommitted Skyline 4-star Elijah Barnes, national power DeSoto receive visits from high-profile college coach

The Mike Norvell helicopter tour continues. 

After visiting a string of high school football programs by helicopter in the Tampa, Florida area last week, the Florida State head coach has taken his chopper antics to the Lone Star State.

Norvell visited at least two Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex powerhouses on Monday.

First, he took a picture at Skyline High School in Dallas with uncommitted four-star linebacker Elijah Barnes, the nation's No. 7 linebacker in the class of 2025 (Rivals).

Norvell also paid a visit to defending Texas 6A Division II state champion DeSoto, the No. 2 ranked team in the country (SBLive/SI). The DeSoto's official twitter account shared photos of head coach and athletic director Claude Mathis and Norvell.

DeSoto's three power five prospects in the class of 2024 are all signed, but the Eagles also boast four power five prospects in 2025: uncommitted four-star running back Deondrae Riden, the nation's No. 7 running back (Rivals), SMU-committed four-star receiver Daylon Singleton, Purdue-committed three-star linebacker Keylan Abrams and hulking offensive lineman Byron Washington, who is also uncommitted.

Riden released a top 10 list in September and Florida State was not among the finalists. 

He holds 36 offers, with recent ones coming from the likes of Washington and Syracuse, visited Texas Jan. 20 and has a visit to Texas A&M set for Feb. 3.

After overcoming an injury early in the season, he had his second consecutive 1,000-yard rushing year, accumulating 1,044 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games to help the Eagles repeat as state champions.

Florida State, which is coming off of a 13-1 season that ended in a blowout loss in the Orange Bowl, has the nation's No. 14 rated class of 2025 (247 Sports) with four commits — all in-state prospects.

Deondrae Riden Jr.'s monster outing leads DeSoto back to Texas high school football title: 'They unleashed me'

Skyline was also visited by coaches from Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas Tech, USC, Missouri and Pitt last week.

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx

Lead photo by DeSoto Football (@FootballDeSoto)


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Andy Buhler, SBLive Sports
ANDY BUHLER, SBLIVE SPORTS

Andy Buhler is a Regional Editor of Texas and the national breaking news desk. He brings more than five years of experience covering high school sports across the state of Washington and beyond, where he covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason served on state tournament seeding committees. He works on the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a degree from Gonzaga and is based out of Portland, Oregon.