Florida State names Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels its starting QB

Ashton Daniels has been named Florida State’s starting quarterback.

The school said Tuesday that the former Auburn and Stanford QB would be the team’s Week 1 starter against New Mexico State. Daniels came to Tallahassee in the offseason after spending one season with the Tigers.

Daniels appeared in four games for Auburn in 2025 and was 68-of-119 passing for 797 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions while rushing 63 times for 280 yards and two scores.

After appearing in three games ahead of the final two weeks of the season, Auburn sat Daniels against FCS opponent Mercer in the penultimate week of the season. That allowed him to start against Alabama in the season finale while still being able to keep his redshirt since he only appeared in four games.

Daniels was competing with redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry to be Florida State’s starter.

Before coming to Auburn, Daniels appeared in 33 games across three seasons at Stanford. He played a significant role as a sophomore and a junior with the Cardinal and was 366-of-602 passing for 3,986 yards and 21 TDs with 20 touchdowns in his Stanford career. He also rushed 282 times for 1,117 yards and nine scores.

The 2026 season looks to be a pivotal one for Florida State and coach Mike Norvell. Last season started fantastically for FSU with a Week 1 win over Alabama. But the Seminoles lost four straight games after a 3-0 start and then lost three of their last four to fail to make a bowl game for the second straight season.

FSU announced at the end of the season that Norvell would be retained for a seventh season. However, FSU is only 38-34 in his six seasons, and 24 of those wins came across the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.