FSU football: 5 takeaways from Mike Norvell’s first year in Tallahassee

Mike Norvell Can Recruit

Recruiting is the area most people want to criticize, but I’m not sure people understand the obstacles of recruiting without being able to evaluate players in person or have them come on real campus visits.

However, I will say what I saw from the staff before COVID-19 shut everything down was impressive. The staff was able to get recruits on campus almost daily, and the reports from those recruits and coaches that came with them were night and day compared to the past staff.

Also, there’s more to recruiting than getting a bunch of blue-chip players in a class. Mike Norvell has shown he understands how to recruit specifically to roster needs. He addressed QB depth in 2020 by signing two quarterbacks.

Norvell has signed 2-3 legitimate pass rushers in the 2021 recruiting class and the first blue-chip offensive tackle in years.

The staff is also not wasting a ton of resources on players that have no chance of signing. Did I mention how improved the social media presence is under Mike Norvell? It’s light years better.

However, one of the more impressive recruiting feats is understanding he needs experienced players from the transfer portal instead of high school players.

Mike Norvell knows it takes time to develop freshmen, so getting players from the portal can expedite the climb back to respectability, so higher-rated players will show more interest in joining the program.