FSU football is still trying to find its identity in the Mike Norvell era. Let’s discuss AJ Lytton being dismissed from the program.
FSU football head coach Mike Norvell made it clear a little over a week ago. The coaches and players would be evaluated daily to see if they are meeting the standard and his vision for the program.
According to multiple reports, junior defensive back AJ Lytton has been “removed” from the program, though he was seen participating in the “Tour of Duty” workout about a week ago.
There have not been many details to leak from what happened, but hearing the word “removed” lets you know something went down.
It’s not like it was reported Lytton decided to put his name in the transfer portal. The way a few of the players reacted on social media implied there was some sort of event, but we’ll get to their reaction soon enough.
The former four-star recruit was the No. 50 ranked player overall and No. 7 ranked cornerback in the nation in the 2018 recruiting cycle.
However, he never established himself as a starter and played backup duty in 22 games with 28 tackles, one interception and one fumble forced.
The good news is his dismissal comes at one of the deepest and most talented positions on the team. There was a good chance he was never going to be a starter in 2020 or 2021.
Let’s look at how his dismissal impacts things moving forward.
Player Reaction
When the news broke Lytton was no longer with the program, a couple of players on the team went to social media to comment. I had a few takeaways from that.
One observation was players seemed “surprised” the move took place, or either they learned the same way we all did from reading online.
If the latter was the case, I have no problem with that. However, I did have a problem with one player posting and deleting a comment shortly thereafter.
It’s not the first time the player has gone to social media with comments that should have been kept in-house.
At least he was smart enough to not leave the comment up, but it’s more evidence of players not fully understanding what it means to abide by the standard and respecting it.
I wrote last week the “Tour of Duty” was designed to see who wanted to be there and put in the work required to meet the new standard. I also wrote I wouldn’t be surprised to see more players leave the program after spring was over.
Well, here’s the first of what could be a few or several departures. Either way, it’s a process that must take place if this program is to move forward to where we all want it to go.
At the very least, the removal of Lytton signals Mike Norvell is not here to play games and is serious about holding players accountable.
Setting Expectations
A program like FSU football can get talented players and has talented players. AJ Lytton was the second-highest-rated player in the 2018 recruiting class.
Mike Norvell is letting all the players know nobody is more important than the team with this move. It’s one of the early tests he’s facing as head coach, and it reminds me of a job I had shortly after graduating college.
There’s always a honeymoon phase with any new job, and I was working with some juvenile delinquents.
It took about two months, and those kids used that time to try and figure me out, see what my boundaries were and how serious they had to take me.
I had to set what my expectations were and hold them accountable when they didn’t meet them.
Mind you, those kids were not much younger than the players on this football team. Those kids were not able to adapt to my way of doing things instantly, and neither will the players with Mike Norvell.
Some FSU football fans saw the news and felt it was a bad thing to see Lytton removed. I can understand the sentiment, but it’s a positive and could be a turning point in players fully buying-in or exiting the program.