Following the departure of Tony Tokarz for the offensive coordinator role at Buffalo, Florida State has decided to promote Austin Tucker to coach quarterbacks.
The news was reported by both Warchant and
Noles247, with Noles247 also reporting that offensive analyst Brendan Bognar will be promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach.
Tucker has spent six seasons in Tallahassee, primarily as an offensive analyst (running backs and quarterbacks) before becoming assistant wide receivers coach last season under Tim Harris, Jr. Prior to FSU, he coached wide receivers for North Alabama and was a graduate student under Mike Norvell at Memphis in 2017 and a graduate student under Gus Malzahn at Auburn in 2016.
At first glance, this would appear to be a hire based on loyalty rather than coaching experience. Tucker has never coached quarterbacks as a position coach and only has two seasons as a positional assistant coach. He has helped with on-campus recruiting and is often cited by signees as someone they developed a relationship with, so it will be interesting to see how that translates into a much more demanding recruiting role moving forward.
From his FSU bio:
Austin Tucker is in his sixth season at Florida State in 2025 and his first as the assistant wide receivers coach. He spent the previous five seasons as an analyst for the Seminoles.
Tucker, who originally worked with FSU head coach Mike Norvell as part of his staff at Memphis in 2017, is one of six coaches who have been with Norvell for all five of his seasons at Florida State. Tucker worked with the running backs for his first three seasons before moving to assist the quarterbacks prior to the 2023 season. That year, Florida State completed a 13-0 regular season and won the program’s first ACC championship since 2014 behind ACC Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Travis. Travis was one of only two players nationally with at least 20 touchdown passes and two or fewer interceptions, and he led the ACC with a pass efficiency rating of 154.5 and an average of 8.51 yards per pass attempt. He became the first player to lead the ACC in pass efficiency in back-to-back seasons since Trevor Lawrence, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Tucker joined the FSU staff after two seasons as wide receivers coach at North Alabama. In his first season with the Lions, he led a group that included four freshmen who combined to make 145 receptions for 1,861 yards and 14 touchdowns. In his second season, the quartet combined for 153 receptions, 2,475 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Prior to his time at UNA, Tucker was a graduate assistant at Memphis in 2017 and Auburn in 2016. He also spent time as an offensive coordinator at Shiloh Christian School and Hewitt-Trussville High School.
Tucker was a wide receiver at Arkansas from 2007-11, helping the Razorbacks to a 21-5 record with appearances in the Sugar Bowl and the Cotton Bowl over his final two seasons. He earned his bachelor’s degree in P-12 kinesiology from Arkansas in 2011.
