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Sam Howell (Rivals.com)

It happens every recruiting cycle. An assistant coach at one school leaves to take a job at another school, turning what was a firm commitment from a highly rated prospect into one where the prospect suddenly needs to take a look around to make sure he has chosen the right school. Rivals100 Florida State commit Sam Howell is one of the highest-profile examples of this scenario in the 2019 recruiting class.

Former Florida State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Walt Bell left the Seminoles to take the head coach position at UMass last week but he was instrumental in getting Howell to verbally commit to Florida State back in the spring. The two have a very strong relationship and that bond was the driving force in Howell’s decision to pick the Noles.

Now that Bell is gone, Howell is left with a long list of questions that nobody seems to have the answers to right now. “Sam wants to sign next week,” said Howell’s father, Duke Howell. “He wants to get it over with and sign. I think he would like Florida State to hire their guy, figure out if he's comfortable with that guy and he wants to stick with his commitment. That is a lot on an 18-year-old when you don't know who that guy is that will be hired.” That uncertainty has opened the door for other schools, namely North Carolina and N.C. State, to try to sway Howell away from the Seminoles. Complications with both of those schools, however, are making the situation even more difficult to navigate. “North Carolina is in the same boat (as Florida State),” said the elder Howell. “All things equal, you stick with the one you're committed to. You committed to them for a reason but North Carolina is in the same boat right now. I don't know who they're going to hire. I haven't heard anything about who they’ll hire. I think it really seems like (North Carolina head coach) Mack Brown wants to run (Washington State head coach) Mike Leech's stuff. He went after (North Texas offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Graham) Harrell and I don't know who else he'll go after. (Former Western Kentucky head coach and Notre Dame offensive coordinator) Mike Sanford's name has been thrown around a bit but I'm not sure what will happen. “I would imagine, as soon as they hire an offensive coordinator, North Carolina would want to put him in front of us and on the phone with Sam to see if we're comfortable with the guy,” he said. “They're in the same boat as Florida State. “Sam thinks N.C. State seems the most stable,” he said. “It's going to depend on their numbers now that (former Colorado quarterback commit) Ty Evans has flipped to N.C. State. They haven't ruled out taking two quarterbacks but they might run out of scholarships. I told (N.C. State head coach Dave) Doeren, who is a great guy, to protect himself first and take his quarterback. I said he could sit there and wait for us if he wanted to but Sam isn't ready. He has two schools that need to hire an offensive coordinator and then we're going to have to have that play out.”

"He won't sign without an offensive coordinator being in place. " — Duke Howell, father of Rivals100 FSU QB commit Sam Howell