Florida State was Chris Parson's dream school growing up.
As he became a varsity star in the state of Texas before moving to Tennessee as a junior, he amassed enough recruiting attention to get on Mike Norvell's radar. The offer came June 10, 2021, and he would be committed to the program publicly by July 22, exactly six weeks later to commemorate his birthday.
Most other programs saw the Brentwood (Tenn.) Ravenwood quarterback prospect as rock solid to the FSU program, especially with it being his childhood dream school. Then his 2021 tape—showing legitimate dual-threat elements including accounting for 42 total touchdowns and more than 3,300 yards from scrimmage—got out.
The New Year came and new scholarship offers in addition to many more programs interested have remained the theme.
Arkansas and Indiana offered January 26. Coaches then hit the road for the spring evaluation period, and more continued to shoot their shots. Mississippi State and SMU, each having offered in May, even got him on campus in the late spring for a visit. They went down just as Florida State began looking for additional passers, and sending out new offers to quarterbacks in the class of 2023 in the process.
It was as if the decision to move on became aligned from prospect to program, with each party taking a step back seemingly simultaneously. Just 10 days shy of the one-year anniversary of the initial FSU commitment, Parson would back off of that pledge on July 12. There hasn't been contact between FSU and the Parson camp since.
"Once I started hearing what new schools had to offer, I had to put things into perspective," Parson told Sports Illustrated.
The 6'1" passer's phone hasn't stopped buzzing since.
New offers are in from Virginia Tech, Cal, Florida A&M and Tennessee State. Ohio State, Penn State, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, TCU and others have been in communication as programs jockey for position to potentially host the fresh-on-the-market passer for one of his three remaining official visit windows.
"I'm open to all opportunities and to listen to what schools have to present," Parson said. "I'm just looking for a good fit for me, somewhere where I know I can thrive, somewhere that excels at the quarterback position. Somewhere where I can be prepared for eventually playing on Sundays."
Now there is no rush for an all-of-a-sudden national commodity in Parson, especially with major prep quarterbacks like Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Dylan Lonergan and Jaden Rashada coming off the board before Parson went public with the de-commitment.
The patience in making the final call is warranted given its importance to a potential career path, something Parson has been fortunate to learn of from many in the shoes he wants to one day align with like Justin Fields, Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and others.
Through mutual trainers and the experience as an Elite 11 Finalist in late June, the rising-senior recruit has picked the brain of some of the top young passers in the sport. Most have urged him to take his time before shutting down the recruiting process for good.
"I have good relationships with those guys, they told me, 'It's your decision to make because it's your future and you're the only one that is going to have to live with it,'" Parson said. "They're knowledge of the situation that I'm in – they can give me the best advice of anybody. They've been through it, they've lived it.
"I'm grateful to have access to those people. I've been surrounded by a real great group of people."
Not only has each been considered one of America's best quarterbacks at just about every level, but each had landmark redirection moments as a prospect.
Fields was committed to Penn State before signing with Georgia (and eventually transferring to Ohio State). Young was on board with USC before flipping to Alabama and Stroud was a late-emerger who would pick Ohio State over Georgia back on Early Signing Day in December 2018. Each had strong changes of course relative to their college destination ahead of certain NFL opportunities.
It's not just the youngest wave of QBs among those Parson is looking to for advice and general communication. A current NFL passer and one of the most notable recent retirees from the sport have also increased communication with him.
Virginia Tech's recent offer has come with waves of new contacts, including that of Michael Vick, perhaps the most known Hokie QB of all time.
"We've been texting and on the phone with each other," Parson said. "I've been talking to him about Virginia Tech as well as people around him who are familiar with Tech. The players they have committed have been reaching out and I am building a relationship with the coaching staff there. They've been pursuing me very hard, I'm very grateful.
"Their defensive coordinator [Chris Marve] was at Florida State last year, so I have a pre-existing relationship with him."
Another program, Mississippi State, has a star recruiter among the mentoring group.
"Dak Prescott actually sent me a video, wishing me a happy birthday, so it's been great," he said. "I met him earlier this year when I was training in Dallas. I went to his camp when I was 11 or 12 years old so to have met him now and for him to send me that video for my birthday, it meant a lot."
Of course conventional approaches are also littered in the national race for Parson's signature come Dec. 14, ahead of an early enrollment at his program of choice in January. Penn State, which had a quarterback committed until Marcus Stokes flipped his commitment to Florida, is among the newer programs in communication.
The Nittany Lions, along with Tech, MSU, Cal and TCU could be among those in best position to secure a future recruiting visit from Parson.
"Their quarterback ended up flipping, so they're looking for a quarterback right now," he said. "I'm building a relationship with them, I've been talking to their OC/QB coach [Mike Yurich] and other coaches on the staff. Their commits are also talking to me, too."
Parson says he is fielding new interest daily at this stage of the recruiting process, but he's also trying to focus on his Ravenwood High School teammates. Fall camp began Sunday and he has eyes on a state championship after a 10-win run in 2021. At least for the short term, it seems, recruiting will become a fluid priority alongside a senior football season.
"This is a very serious point of my life and I have to make a decision that's best for me," Parson said. "I have to focus on the schools that really want me, really value me. I feel like every quarterback, or every person, runs their own race. I'm just trying to find what's best for me.
"When I decommitted, it was like a fresh start for me. I was back at ground zero. Building relationships with new people and catching up with people who recruited me before I committed."
With the growing need for college football programs to take a quarterback in every recruiting cycle and others continuing to court multiple in the same class, Parson could very well be the last Elite 11 quarterback standing from a commitment perspective.
Only Brock Glenn, who could come off the board sooner rather than later having taken all of his visits, sits among the 20 finalists without a known college destination to date.
