The on-again, off-again saga of Deondre Francois at Florida State has officially come to an end.
In a surprise announcement on Super Bowl Sunday, the Seminoles announced that their one-time starting quarterback has been dismissed from the team.
“Last night, I informed Deondre Francois that he is no longer a member of the Florida State football program,” head coach Willie Taggart said in a statement. “As we build a new culture and foundation for FSU Football, we have high expectations for all of our student-athletes and we will not shy away from those high standards of conduct. We are moving forward as a program.”
While there were no news reports indicating the reason for the signal-caller’s departure, those in the Sunshine state didn’t need long to find a likely reason for his quick exit from the program.
The dismissal of Francois came on the same day (yesterday) that Francois’s girlfriend posted video on Instagram that included audio of a fight between a couple. The male voice threatens to beat the woman, and you can hear what sounds like someone being struck.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) February 3, 2019
Francois burst onto the scene for FSU, winning ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 2016 and looking like the next big-time quarterback for the program after Jameis Winston’s departure not long before. However Francois suffered a season-ending knee injury against Alabama to open the 2017 campaign and never quite got back to the level he was early on while dealing with a number of coaching changes. Back in December he explored both transferring out of Tallahassee and potentially even declaring for the NFL draft but eventually returned to FSU for what was supposed to be his final season.
Off the field concerns have also been a big part of Francois story with the ‘Noles and probably contributed to Taggart’s quick dismissal at the first sign of any potential issues. The quarterback was suspected by police of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute back in April of 2018 and this isn’t the first time he has been connected to domestic violence either after he was ultimately cleared in an incident last January.
The breaking news that @FSUFootball dismissed QB Deondre Francois is not shocking to anyone that spent any amount of time around the program the past few years. Domestic assault charges aside, I cannot recall scouting a QB with more football character red flags than Francois.
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 3, 2019
The news likely hands the starting job under center at FSU in 2019 to quarterback James Blackman, who was reportedly considering a transfer last month but seems to be sticking around the program.