October 30, 2025

The Quiet Architect Behind Florida State Football | Florida State GM Darrick Yray

41 minutes

In this episode of Next Up with Adam Breneman, presented by Teamworks, Florida State General Manager of Personnel Darrick Yray joins Adam to break down how a modern college program actually builds a roster from high school recruiting vs. the portal, to retention as strategy, to culture built through competition. He shares the lesson he’s learned from Mike Norvell’s consistency, why comparing NIL/revenue sharing to the NFL is “lazy,” and the single trait he refuses to compromise: “Do you love football?”

We also get into war stories of big recruiting wins like Luke Musgrave, evaluating players like that still sting Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and how evaluation has evolved from DVDs to data dashboards without losing the human read on character. If you’re a coach, recruiting staffer, or player trying to understand what actually moves the needle in 2025 roster construction, this one is a masterclass.

This conversation is part of a larger look, presented by our partners at Teamworks at how NFL-style general managers are changing college football. Their end-to-end solution, Teamworks GM, is purpose-built for this new era.

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Intro

1:31 - Darrick’s journey to Florida State GM

2:50 - West Coast Football vs East Coast Football

4:16 - Evaluating players: On and off the field

6:07 - Day to Day as Florida State’s GM

8:24 - Internal roster evaluation

9:31 - Roster construction

11:35 - Lessons from Mike Norvell

12:58 - Building culture in transfer portal era

14:59 - Favorite recruiting win

16:41 - Biggest recruiting loss

20:20 - Revenue sharing at Florida State

22:30 - Roster retention

25:05- Changes needed in CFB

26:42 - The power of Teamworks and analytics

30:48 - Evaluation success at Florida State

32:26 - Non-negotiable as a talent evaluator

33:49 - Advice to young people in sports

35:22 - Florida State’s season since beating Alabama

36:17 - CFB in 3 years

38:31 - Single transfer portal window

On Next Up, college football analyst Adam Breneman sits down with the most influential names in college sports and lets them tell their stories unfiltered, direct to the fans.

Next Up is a Front Office Sports Network show featuring candid, open, and honest conversations with the most impactful figures in college sports including head coaches, athletes, athletic directors, commissioners, entrepreneurs, media personalities, agents, and executives shaping the business of college sports.

Adam is a former All-American, Penn State alum and media personality. Front Office Sports is the leading multi-platform media and news organization covering the intersection of sports, business and culture.

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By Front Office Sports

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