FSU Football: Process of Mike Norvell hire nothing but disappointing

FSU football has hired the newest head coach for the program – but after all the drama over the last five weeks, there isn’t a whole lot to cheer about.

For the 11th time since the program was founded starting with the 1947 season, the FSU football team has a full time head coach – a process that started over a month ago after the previous head leader, Willie Taggart, was canned just 21 games into a tenure that will forever divide the fanbase in garnet and gold.

The search was one that was – well, embarrassing might be the best word. It’s not that I am taking a shot at new head coach Mike Norvell, who comes into the program after four seasons as head coach of the Memphis Tigers that includes two seasons of 10 wins or more in the last three years and three straight trips to the conference title game, winning this Saturday for the first time.

In fact, the disappointment has nothing to do with Norvell at all – and everything to do with the way this thing was handled by FSU leadership…namely, such leadership as school president John Trasher, athletics director David Coburn and boosters leader Andy Miller.

Florida State Seminoles Football

From the time Taggart was fired one day after a 27-10 loss by FSU football to rival Miami for the third straight season, the process to replace him as been an utter joke. It’s a joke because we as fans, alumni and boosters were promised a head coach within days, not over a month.

Namely, the big buzz from those living in the past and rooting for the Seminoles was that former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops was going to take the job – except for the tiny little fact that he already had a job coaching the XFL’s Dallas Renegades and constantly said he wasn’t going to take a job.

After that, we were told a coach was going to be hired during the bye week in November – a move that led to names being mentioned at that time like Penn State’s James Franklin, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and even Washington State’s Mike Leach all getting more money…to stay at their current schools.

All while no coach has been hired, Thrasher is sending out mass emails to boosters – I got mine, laughed and deleted it – asking for a massive donation in order to hire assistants and build the program again. Essentially, we’re acting like we have the budget of FIU or FAU but want to be the same program we were during the dynasty era of the 1990s or even the recent mini-one.

Look, I will be the first person to admit that I am not a huge fan of the hire of Norvell – mostly because it seems like, at 38, he’s going to use the FSU football job as a stepping stone to getting back to his home state of Texas someday – but as a dedicated alum and booster of the school, I am going to support him and hope I am wrong and he’s the next Bobby Bowden.

At the same time, I will admit to being disappointed based off all the hype that was brought by the trio of “leaders” running the show – the same way they blew up the hire of Taggart at the start just to show him the door less than two seasons in.