Jacksonville native Desirrio Riles ready to be difference maker at FSU

Third in a four-part series, Faces of Football 2026, featuring intriguing college and high school players and coaches.

Desirrio Riles felt the nerves racing to his brain earlier this month before a Florida State practice at Doak Campbell Stadium.

This was Florida State, the team he rooted for as a kid growing up in Jacksonville.

This was the garnet and gold, the colors his favorite players Kelvin Benjamin and Dalvin Cook wore back in the day.

And this The Doak, a place he had only truly experienced from television.

“It was crazy running out of the tunnel for the scrimmage,” Riles told me earlier this month. “I felt some jitters.”

Imagine how Riles will feel on Aug. 29 when he runs out of that same tunnel for an actual game (FSU’s opener against New

Mexico State).

Riles will have the best kind of nerves and jitters because his dream will be coming true. A University Christian alum, Riles played three years at East Carolina before transferring to Florida State and is expected to be the starting tight end.

“You see a guy who really is a natural play-maker,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said.

The Seminoles will need players like Riles to rise up and play supporting — or maybe even occasionally starring — roles on an offense that has a terrific receiver in Duce Robinson (FSU’s only first-team preseason All-ACC selection) and promising running back Ousmane Kromah and receiver Micahi Danzy.

Riles did bit of everything at UC

The practice earlier this month on the UNF campus was closed to the media, but Riles was all smiles — he seemed to be all smiles during most of our interview — in providing a report. His mom, two younger brothers and a friend were among the invited guests.

“I had to put on a show for them,” Riles said.

Details, please.

“Scored twice,” he said. “Bunch of catches.”

Riles did a bunch of everything at University Christian during a 50-game prep career. He threw for 2,803 yards and 27 touchdowns. He ran for 304 times for 1,261 yards and 24 touchdowns. And he had 15 sacks.

But the pass-catching potential was on display in his final high school game, a 34-29 state semifinal loss to Clearwater Catholic in December 2022. Riles had four catches for 129 yards.

“My best all-round (high school) game,” he said.

Riles knew a full-time position change was in the offing for college and joined East Carolina in 2023 as a tight end/three-star recruit. There was a learning curve. He caught nine catches in 229 snaps as a freshman and eight passes (two touchdowns) in 340 snaps as a sophomore.

Riles broke out with six catches for 49 yards in last year’s season opener at N.C. State and finished with 28 catches for 362 yards and two touchdowns.

Does he miss playing quarterback?

“I do every once in a while,” he said. “But my journey is now at tight end. But (playing quarterback) has helped me a lot in understanding the coverages and the leverage of defensive backs and safeties.”

Riles hoped a solid junior season at East Carolina would present Power 4 opportunities.

He was right.

Counted on to be all-around TE

The portal process was swift for Riles.

Entered portal: Dec. 29.

Visited Florida State: Jan. 4.

Committed to Florida State: Jan. 6, after visiting Ole Miss.

“(FSU) being a home team, they had some coaches I talked to when I was in high school,” Riles said. “It felt great (to be recruited by FSU). When they reached out to me, it felt like the best thing in the world to me. The culture and standard at Florida State, I wanted to be a part of that brotherhood.”

Said Norvell: “Watching him (at East Carolina), we saw a guy who had great production, but also had huge potential for more and not just talking about him as a receiver, but the things he’s able to do in the run game as a blocker.”

Rounding out his name was atop Riles’ to-do list when he joined the FSU program. All-around tight ends stay on the field.

“(The focus) was manly my blocking and getting my footwork better and not be one-dimensional,” he said. “I want to be able to do everything in the offense: Block, run after the catch, make plays down the field.”

At a listed 6-foot-3 (that may be underselling him) and 235 pounds (ditto), Riles has the build to be an effective blocker, which will allow him to be more involved in the passing game. Chip a defensive end and head downfield.

“That’s what you’ve seen from spring practice and into the fall,” Norvell said of Riles’ blocking. “He’s making that a part of his game and when you add to that (the fact that) he’s a really impressive athlete who can do things on the perimeter, it’s exciting.”

Exciting for Riles will be finishing his college career helping his “home team,” break a two-year bowl drought (combined 7-17 record). His internal expectations are high.

“Do my best and try and put on a show,” he said.

Coming Friday: The Bolles School, a state runner-up last year, is led by two highly-recruited juniors in running back Xander Edwards and edge rusher Asher Ghioto.

Contact O’Halloran at [e-mail] or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays (4-7 p.m.).

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville native Desirrio Riles ready to be difference maker at FSU