Some of the best quarterbacks to ever play college football have done so for the Florida State Seminoles. Jameis Winston, Charlie Ward, and Chris Weinke all went on to win the Heisman as FSU's starting quarterback, but another legendary quarterback wanted to play for the Seminoles.
Texas Longhorns legend Vince Young is from Houston, Texas, but in "The Testimony of Vince Young" documentary on Netflix, he revealed he wanted to play for FSU. Head coach Bobby Bowden wanted him to play for FSU, but not as quarterback.
Instead, they recruited him to play wide receiver, something he admitted hurt.
"I really wanted to go to Florida State," Young said. "I was a big fan of Charlie Ward. He was doing really good as a black quarterback. (High school) Coach
came in, 'You got your letter from Florida State.' You know, I'm going crazy. Unwrapping that thing like it was a bag of chips. They wanted me as a wideout. I was like, 'Nah, I'm not … I don't wanna play no wideout. I wanna play quarterback.' Kinda broke my heart."
He admitted that caused him to reopen his recruitment, which eventually led to him committing to the in-state Longhorns. He was ranked as the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2002 recruiting class, and while it wasn't always smooth, he enjoyed an amazing career at Texas.
Young led them to an 11-1 record and their first-ever Rose Bowl victory as a redshirt sophomore in 2004. They went 12-0 in 2005, beating the USC Trojans 41–38 to win the BCS National Championship. He was sensational in the game, completing 75% of his passes for 267 yards and running for 200 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner on fourth down with 19 seconds left in the game.
Finding out Vince Young grew up loving FSU, wanted to be the next @RealCharlieWard and we recruited him…as a wideout .
— Didier Occident (@DidierOccident) August 26, 2026
I did not need this information in my life.😭 pic.twitter.com/IjZLpfEQ8P
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Vince Young wanted to play at FSU, not Texas
