FSU football: Importance of Cory Durden returning in 2020

Final Thoughts

Aside from the obvious of Cory Durden contributing to depth and production along the defensive line.

The other huge story coming out of this is the fact new head coach Mike Norvell has gotten players he didn’t recruit to buy-in to his message of “new age approach with old school values.”

The crazy thing is Norvell is Durden’s third head coach in his time in Tallahassee as he was part of Jimbo Fisher’s final recruiting class in 2017.

There were a number of players that were vocal in their support of interim head coach Odell Haggins to become the permanent head coach while the coaching search was going on and Durden was one of them on social media.

The fact Durden reached out to Coach Norvell on social media was big time. Not only did it announce he’ll be coming back, but it also shows respect for the new coach.

I’m sure Odell Haggins played a part in getting Durden to buy-in as he’s Durden’s position coach. It’s also likely why he was riding so hard for him to get the head coaching gig full-time.

The other thing that likely played a part was Coach Norvell meeting one-on-one with every player on the team over the past week or so. Norvell must have been able to a communicate his vision along with guidance from Odell Haggins.

Haggins has had a number of players recently to return another year to improve their draft stock and Durden could be next.