Seth Chestnut
LB
6-1, 210
Glen Saint Mary, FL
Baker County High School

The recruiting adventure for the Class of 2025 has begun for the Florida Atlantic football team, as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Roc Bellantoni drew first blood by gaining the commitment of Seth Chestnut.

"I chose FAU because I felt like I was really wanted here," Chestnut said.

Making his announcement on Sunday afternoon, Chestnut presents himself as a marvelous tackler. He made 312 tackles (178 solo), eight TFL, seven sacks, two pass deflections, and two interceptions throughout his three years with the Baker County Boosters.

The past campaign saw him finish with 133 tackles (81 solo), four TFL, and a career-high six sacks.

His tackling ability is so spectacular that his performances last season ranked him 28th in Florida, fourth in Division 2S, and first in 2S District 5.

He even won Florida Times-Union's latest First Florida Credit Union Athlete of the Week for the 2023-24 high school sports season, covering the week of Nov. 13-18 in the Jacksonville area.

For Chestnut, his decision became easier once he saw the dedicated interest from Bellantoni and the coaching staff.

"Coach Roc Bellantoni was always reaching out to me as well as other coaches, and I really felt welcomed and wanted," he said.

Offered by FAU last year on April 26, he had interest from both WKU and Coastal Carolina among others.

If he maintains his commitment by joining the team next year, Chestnut would be expected to play the role of middle linebacker.

This means that in a three-man front, he will generally play over the guard to the strong side and generally has the responsibility of stopping the inside run, stunting a preset gap, or taking pass coverage on running backs coming out of the backfield.

His junior highlights at Baker County can be seen below:



Rick Henderson contributed to this report.