FSU football: Top 5 February observations with Mike Norvell

FSU football head coach Mike Norvell put in a lot of work his two months on the job. Here are five observations from the third month.

FSU football coach Mike Norvell wasted no time hitting the ground running in his first two months on the job.

He was able to hire most of his coaching staff while working to make the Early Signing Period the best in FSU football history.

Coach Norvell was able to sign two prep quarterbacks, which addressed a need that hadn’t been met since Jimbo Fisher was head coach.

They signed 17 of their 18 commitments early and had eight of those players enroll in the spring semester, which will be huge for their development.

I can’t think of any negatives as he seemed to execute his first 30 days on the job to perfection with the hand he was dealt with.

However, there were still questions about how he’d handle everything that comes with being the head coach at FSU.

It’s his first power five coaching job, and can he handle consistently recruiting at this level? What about players buying into his vision for the program?

I think the answer is quickly coming to fruition as Norvell has accomplished a lot in his first three months on the job. Here are my top five observations from February with Mike Norvell.

Quick Reaction To AJ Lytton Situation

One of the biggest challenges for any new head coach is getting prospetive recruits to see and believe in your vision for the program.

However, more importantly, the coach needs to get the players he inherits from the previous coaching staff to buy-in to his vision too.

Enter the situation with former top 50 recruit and blue-chip defensive back AJ Lytton who was the second-highest rated commit in the 2018 recruiting class.

Lytton’s a talented player who likely could have seen some playing time this season, but wasn’t getting with the program at workouts. Despite not having the best APR score, Mike Norvell wasted no time removing him from the program.

It was a great way to show the rest of the team that not buying into what it takes to accomplish what he vision entails will have you without a spot on the roster.

That’s accountability, having expectations, and making sure they are consistently met while giving a severe consequence if they’re not.

Coaches Believe In Mike Norvell

I hit on this last month and wrote when Mike Norvell announced his coaching staff to the media.

He allowed each of his new hires to speak with the media and answer whatever questions came their way. The majority of the questions revolved around how the hiring process went.

Why did they want to coach at Florida State? It boiled down to two main themes with almost all of their answers.

FSU is one of the best places to coach in the country. The prestige and history of the program are second to none. The second reason was to work for Mike Norvell.

Mike Norvell recently granted permission for his coaches to do individual interviews with 247’s On The Bench podcast.

They each last about 25-30 minutes and have provided some valuable insight into their role and expansion on the reasons why they chose to come to FSU football and work for Mike Norvell.

It’s like they are all speaking the same language, and there’s a clear organization among the coaches when it comes to executing the plan to get back to national prominence.

Ability To Close on National Signing Day

This was a big one, and an area some people were concerned about because the majority of the targets were three-star players. Coach Norvell and staff have done an amazing job of identifying what the recruiting needs of the roster are and pursuing players to fit those needs.

They were able to address a need at offensive tackle by flipping Robert Scott from Ole Miss. The staff got out in front of the Malachi Wideman situation and signed former Tennessee commit Darion Williamson to help fill that need at wide receiver.

They also got in late with DJ Lundy and got him to sign over Virginia Tech. I believe Lundy is one of the most underrated players they signed.

TJ Davis is another player they signed who’s underrated that meets a big position of need at pass rusher. Sidney Williams is another player that meets a need a safety in the secondary.

There wasn’t a big jump in the rankings, but the staff did about as well as they could, considering all the blue-chip players remaining had already signed or committed elsewhere.

Good Start To 2021 Recruiting

This area is one of the more refreshing things I’m learning about Mike Norvell. He seems to be incredibly prepared, being more proactive than reactive when it comes to recruiting.

The coaching staff had most of the 2020 class locked up on National Signing Day and began to focus on the 2021 class and beyond.

They offered 30 players alone in February and have offered 231 players in the 2021 recruiting cycle.

Florida has offered 221 players with Miami offering 209 players in the 2021 recruiting class thus far. What’s the significance?

Mike Norvell is coming off a transitional class and was a bit behind the curve on the 2021 recruiting class because he had to finish up 2020.

However, Norvell signing 17 of the 18 commitments during the Early Signing Period allowed the staff to move onto 2021 quicker than the previous staff who were not able to get as many commits to sign early.

The Noles already five commits for 2021 and I’d venture to say four of those five will be rated four-star recruits once the rankings are fully updated. The great thing is they already have key pieces in place with Luke Altmyer committed at QB and top 100 player and legacy linebacker Branden Jennings.

Strength and Conditioning Buy-In

One thing I like about the new strength and conditioning staff is how they show the work the team is putting in consistently.

Check it:

One thing you notice is the 1% mantra or “Work” mantra in almost everything the team does. I know the AJ Lytton situation happened, but that was handled expeditiously, and it appears everyone is on the straight on narrow thus far.

This team needs to develop in this area as it’s been lacking for quite some time. So far I like what I’m seeing.