Florida State announced Ashton Daniels will be the team’s starting quarterback this fall, a week after spring practice wrapped up in Tallahassee.
Daniels, a 6-foot-2, 233-pound redshirt senior, edged out redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry and will start FSU’s opener against New Mexico State on Aug. 29.
“I’ve really been pleased with what he’s shown, being able to live in the pocket and delivering the ball,” coach Mike Norvell said before the end of the spring. “I think he’s shown growth through the spring on the vertical shots, and he hit a couple (in) the scrimmage the other day that were right where they needed to be. I mean, huge plays that supported big drives.”
The Seminoles have struggled at the quarterback position since Jordan Travis led the team to the ACC title in 2023.
Tommy Castellanos lost his starting job at Boston College in 2024 before transferring to FSU, where he went 5-7 as a starter in 2025. That was an upgrade over DJ Uiagalelei, the former Oregon State and Clemson starter who flopped in 2024 at FSU before an injury sidelined him for the latter half of the season.
Daniels was the third transfer quarterback to visit FSU this winter. The Seminoles first pursued Anthony Colandrea, the 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year, who ended up at Nebraska, and then former Florida quarterback DJ Lagway, who landed at Baylor.
Daniels is 5-18 as a starter (20 games at Stanford and three at Auburn) and has struggled with turnovers, with 22 interceptions and 24 touchdown passes in his career.
Daniels, though, is an effective scrambler. He’s rushed for 702 yards on 97 scrambles, according to TruMedia, and has 1,397 total rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns in his career. Only six active FBS quarterbacks have scrambled for more yards than Daniels.
The Seminoles are expected to be a run-heavy team with Daniels and Texas transfer Quintrevion Wisner at running back, though they do have first-team All-ACC receiver Duce Robinson returning.
FSU’s over/under line for wins in 2026 is 6.5, according to BetMGM.