Florida State announces Ashton Daniels as starting quarterback

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

In a change of tune, Florida State football announced that transfer Ashton Daniels would be its starting quarterback to begin the 2026-27 season. The program made the move public with a social media post on Wednesday afternoon.

While Daniels winning the starting job is not a surprise, just last week, head coach Mike Norvell told the local Tallahassee media that he would not name a starting quarterback at the end of spring practice. In the same press conference, the head coach also discussed Malachi Marshall, a JUCO quarterback joining the team in the summer, as another option heading into the year.

“Probably not,” Norvell said when asked if he is comfortable naming a starter last Wednesday. “I’m going to work through that part of it. I think I’ve seen a lot of things that get me excited about being close to an announcement, but I’ve also seen growth in the room and in the way that they’ve played. We’ll decide when we want to announce something. Ultimately, we’re going to come back in fall camp and somebody’s going to go first, and whoever’s not going first is going to be competing to try to beat a guy out.”

However, Norvell and Florida State felt comfortable making the Daniels move official, allowing the team to rally around its third transfer quarterback in its last three seasons ahead of preseason camp. Here was Norvell on Daniels a few days after the third scrimmage:

“Ashton Daniels — for all the things that you watch and see, getting a chance to coach somebody day to day, I’ve really been pleased with what he’s shown in his pocket, being able to live in a pocket and deliver the ball. He’s shown growth through the spring on the vertical shots — he hit a couple in the scrimmage the other day that were right where they needed to be. Huge plays that sparked big drives.”

Daniels spent the first three years of his career at Stanford before transferring to Auburn for the 2025-26 season. With the Tigers, the Buford, Georgia native started three of AU’s final four games of the campaign and made four appearances. After the year, Daniels decided to enter the transfer portal for the second-straight season and came to Tallahassee in what seemed to be a great fit for the Gus Malzahn offense. However, with Malzahn’s retirement and Norvell taking over play-calling duties, the head coach will need to marry his offense with Daniels’ skillset.

Daniels’ bio from Seminoles.com:

BEFORE FSU: Played 37 career games with 23 starts over four seasons at Auburn and Stanford…has thrown for 4,783 yards and 24 touchdowns and added 1,397 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in career…passed for 797 yards and three touchdowns in four games at Auburn in 2025…ran 63 times for 280 yards and two touchdowns…started against Kentucky, No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 10 Alabama…accounted for career-high 442 yards of total offense at Vanderbilt, most for Auburn quarterback since 2014 and third-most in program history…353 passing yards vs. Commodores was most for Tigers quarterback since 2017…recorded season-high 108 rushing yards along with 259 passing yards and one touchdown vs. Alabama…led Auburn to comeback win over Arkansas in team debut…served as team captain against Vanderbilt and Alabama…started 10 of 11 games played at Stanford in 2024…completed 62.7 percent of passes for 1,700 yards and 10 touchdowns and contributed 669 rushing yards with three touchdowns…named ACC Quarterback of the Week after win over Louisville…had three 100-yard rushing games for Cardinal in 2024, including career-high 145 at NC State…added 120 rushing yards vs. TCU and 101 at San Jose State…made 10 starts over 12 games at Stanford in 2023, with career-high 2,247 passing yards and 11 touchdowns to go along with 292 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns…two-time Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 honoree and Manning Award Star of the Week…authored career day in win at Colorado with 396 passing yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions…passed for 367 yards and one touchdown against Washington…completed five of six passes for 39 yards over 10 games as true freshman in 2022…added 156 rushing yards on 25 attempts with three rushing touchdowns…led Buford High to three consecutive state championships and earned game MVP all three times…graduated from Stanford in June 2025 with degree in science, technology and society.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos