FSU football head coach Mike Norvell put in a lot of work in his eight months on the job. Here are three observations from the ninth month.
FSU football coach Mike Norvell wasted no time hitting the ground running in his first few 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.
He’s already dealt with having to dismiss a player from the program in the spring and took ownership of a mistake when he was held accountable by Marvin Wilson.
The way he and the coaching staff have handled the COVID-19 pandemic has been impressive and organized as best as it could have been with players transitioning from home back to Tallahassee.
The players and coaches have been exposed to the media after practices more than any time I can recall, which has been outstanding to get a feel for this program.
I think most FSU football fans have seen enough feel confident Mike Norvell can get this program turned around, but some are taking a wait and see approach too. Recruiting concerns seem to be there with fans despite the limitations placed on this staff due to the pandemic.
However, they are within striking distance of a top 15 class with a chance to show an improved product on the field in less than two weeks.
Norvell has accomplished a lot in his first eight months on the job. Here are my top three observations from August with Mike Norvell.
Holding Players Accountable
The coronavirus pandemic is something no college football coach has had to deal with in history so, at least they are all on an even playing field in that regard.
Mike Norvell and staff have done a good job of establishing expectations and holding those players accountable.
A prime example was when former five-star running back Khalan Laborn was dismissed from the program near the beginning of the month. There were no mumblings from players on the team, although Laborn went to social media weeks later to voice his displeasure.
The situation with Warren Thompson was handled well a Mike Norvell was clear in his communication with Thompson and D.J. Matthews.
That situation was a good sign the team is willing to buy-in to Mike Norvell’s vision, not to mention the need to keep things in-house as a family.
That’s why the team trip to Georgia a couple of weeks ago seemed to be so powerful, with players expressing their thoughts on social media about how great the experiment was.
Rewarding Hardworking Players
I’ve written recently how Mike Norvell seems to speak more candidly about things that the last two previous coaches. Some coaches have “keywords” they like to goto to describe how a player is doing.
Norvell usually goes with he is pleased with the progress he’s seeing, but there’s still a lot of work to do.
One thing we saw Mike Norvell do is award scholarships to two walk-on players in Deonte Sheffield and Wyatt Rector.
Sheffield was a part of Jimbo Fisher’s final recruiting class in 2017 and promised a scholarship in spring 2018. Of course, Fisher was long gone to Texas A&M by the time the spring rolled around, which left that agreement up on the air.
However, Sheffield has continued to put in the work and has always been one of FSU’s biggest ambassadors on social media. Rector joined the program last year as a walk-on and has been known as a hard worker and has changed positions in hopes of seeing meaningful snaps in 2020.
As a former walk-on, Norvell understands the importance of rewarding players for putting in the work.
Mike Norvell Demands Intensity and Physicality
One of the consistent themes for this program has been Mike Norvell challenging his players to bring the required level of intensity and physicality to practice every day.
It’s something I’ve noted several times over the past few years. I can only think of maybe two games where FSU flat out dominated a team physically, although there was a talent disparity.
Another issue was allowing teams to punch them in the mouth first nearly every game before they’d realize they were in a fight.
This issue is where the emphasis on special teams will be a difference-maker. The kickoff is an opportunity to bring the intensity and set the tone for the entire game.
That was one thing I noticed when watching Mike Norvell coached teams last year. They were physical and intense, which made them more than competitive when playing against teams with more overall talent.
What do you think happens when you take one of the most talented teams in the conference and get them to play hard every play?
A whole lot of wins.
I’ve been pleased with how Mike Norvell has handled himself since taking over in December. Aside from a couple of instances, he’s performed about as well as one could have hoped for considering the circumstances. However, it won’t mean a thing if the Noles go out and lose against Georgia Tech in the first game. We’re less than two weeks until kickoff, and we’ll find out soon enough!