It appears that Florida State is back in the market for a defensive backs coach as TJ Rushing is reportedly joining Texas A&M to coach the secondary.

Football Scoop is reporting that Rushing is leaving FSU for the SEC school, less than a month after he joined the Seminoles’ staff under coach Mike Norvell.

Noles247 reached out to FSU for comment on Rushing’s status with the program but did not hear back immediately from the school. Rushing was at FSU on Sunday, assisting in an official visit weekend that included three-star safety Donovan Kaufman. Rushing, however, did leave on Sunday morning shortly after Kaufman’s visit wrapped up and he was not observed in returning to FSU’s football offices for at least the next several hours as other official visits were ongoing.

Rushing was announced as FSU’s defensive backs coach on Dec. 28. He came to FSU to reunite with Norvell and defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, who was Memphis’ DC in 2019. Rushing worked at Memphis as the Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach from 2018-19.

“I’m excited to announce TJ Rushing as the defensive backs coach here at Florida State University,” Norvell said in a press release when Rushing was hired in December. “Coach Rushing is one of the brightest minds and teachers in college football. His experience as an All-American in college to his playing career in the National Football League has prepared him well to mentor and develop our student-athletes at the highest level. Coach Rushing will bring a tremendous amount of passion and energy to every aspect of the program, not only on the field but also in recruiting the nation’s best and brightest to Florida State.”

The Stanford graduate also has experience coaching DBs at Arizona State and played in the NFL for five seasons.

This creates an opening on FSU's staff in the final weeks leading up to National Signing Day. The silver lining for FSU is that Kaufman is the only defensive back that the Seminoles are aggressively pursuing at this time, creating some flexibility regarding the timeline in filling the position.