Syracuse flips 4-star safety Tedarius Hughes from Florida State

Miami Northwestern (Fla.) four-star safety Tedarius Hughes is taking his talents to the Northeast next season.

After committing to Florida State back in early July 2024, Hughes has flipped his commitment to Syracuse a month before National Signing Day, he told Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett. The Orange got him on campus for an official visit over the summer, but the ‘Noles were able to keep him in the fold.

He continued to visit other schools this fall, including Syracuse, Miami and Nebraska. And with the struggles on the field for FSU this season and uncertainty around head coach Mike Norvell’s future, he opted to jump in with Fran Brown and their ACC rivals.

The flip is a significant loss for Florida State; Hughes was the program’s fourth longest-tenured commitment and one of 12 blue-chippers in the class. It’s even more important for Brown, whose Syracuse class came into the day ranked No. 29 nationally and is now hovering just outside the top-25 of the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.

Hughes is the fifth blue-chip commitment this cycle for the Orange — and the fourth from the state of Florida.

Orange building one of their best-ever classes under Fran Brown

He joins a group that includes top-40 prospect and high school teammate Calvin Russell, four-star wideout Amare Gough, and blue-chip edge rushers Jarius Rodgers and Kamron Wilson, another Miami-area standout.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Hughes is the No. 362 overall prospect in the 2026 class, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services. He also checks in as the nation’s No. 32 safety and No. 51 recruit in the Sunshine State.

His decommitment is the eighth of the cycle for the Seminoles, though two of those — four-star linebacker Izayia Williams and blue-chip wideout Devin Carter — ultimately flipped back to FSU this summer. Norvell and Co. also picked up a pair of commitments in the past two days, as three-star safety Daylen Green and three-star EDGE Chris Carbin both joined the class.