Should Florida State Worry Its 4-Star Commits Are Visiting SEC Programs?

The recruiting process is a marathon, not a sprint—particularly this early in the process. This is the time of year when it's vital for athletes to weigh all options and take unofficial visits in an effort to make the right decision for their futures.

Even the committed athletes.

Florida State has seen a couple of its 2016 pledges make visits to other programs in recent weeks. To raise any red flags regarding the commits' loyalty to the Seminoles, however, may be a little premature.

After all, this is the time of the year where unofficial visits happen. While commitments seem to happen earlier and earlier in college football recruiting as a whole, few commits sign letters of intent to a program without checking out at least one other option.

Florida State has nine commits. Six are 4-star athletes, and a seventh, quarterback Malik Henry, is a 5-star prospect. But like many other schools nationwide, the Seminoles are dealing with the concern of losing commits to other programs.

Take 4-star defensive end Janarius Robinson, for example. The in-state prospect, who has been committed to Florida State since Sept. 21, recently took in the junior day at Alabama and told Luke Stampini of 247Sports that Florida could get an unofficial visit, as well as Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee.

North Carolina 4-star defensive end Josh Brown, who committed to Florida State the same day as Robinson did, was at Tennessee's junior day over the weekend and told Ryan Callahan of 247Sports he enjoyed his time in Knoxville. Brown picked up a Tennessee offer on Saturday and added that he's considering taking in the Volunteers' spring game.

Brown then told Callahan something that a lot of committed athletes are saying around this time of the recruiting process:

"My commitment is firm," he said, "[but] I'm still taking all my visits."

The Seminoles and coach Jimbo Fisher love to hear the first part. And being so early in the game, they understand the latter. It's the latter, however, that determines this game called recruiting for many coaches.

Who can close the deal? What can a coach do to keep a prize player committed? How does a program compete with programs who are as sexy—if not sexier—from now until next February?

Florida State picked up two 3-star 2016 commits over the weekend in defensive end Keir Thomas and athlete Jamel Cook, as well as a third commit in 2017 running back Zaquandre White during its junior day. These environments are when a program can sell itself best during the offseason—and having multiple commits the same day helps a program's recruiting resume in targeting the next top prospect.

Florida State shouldn't be worried for now about losing any commitments. The Seminoles have nearly a year until the next signing day, which means two things:

No. 1, pledges will consider taking other visits.

No. 2, Florida State coaches have plenty of time to continue selling to prospects why they committed there in the first place.

Damon Sayles is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. All player ratings are courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings. Follow Damon via Twitter: @DamonSayles