Florida State honors veteran Seminole with prestigious jersey number

Florida State's roster and sidelines will look vastly different when they take the field this season, with transfers, newcomers, staff changes, and players who have gone on to the NFL. The Seminoles entered the spring with 32 newcomers, including 19 transfers and 13 true freshmen. With the influx of incoming players, the standouts and seniority from last season allowed some players to move up in the roster number hierarchy.

Single-digit numbers are considered prestigious and are reserved for team leaders or star players. Florida State head coach Mike Norvell takes a lot of symbolism and pride in the number on the back each member of his squad marches out on the field with on the back of their jerseys.

Redshirt junior defensive lineman Daniel Lyons will be entering his fourth season with the 'Noles after joining #Tribe22 as a three-star recruit out of Miami, Florida. He redshirted his first season and slowly moved up the ranks in a defensive line unit laced heavy with NFL talent. He was part of the 2023 ACC Championship team, which featured players such as 2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse and finalist Braden Fiske.

With spring ball over, heading into fall camp and coming off of his best season in 2024, Lyons will now don No. 5, which defensive lineman Joshua Farmer wore last season, and Verse the season before.

Lyons played in all 12 games as a reserve defensive lineman, recording 25 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, and one pass breakup.