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

FSU football saw a lot of obstacles in Mike Norvell’s first year.

Mike Norvell has one year and some change under his belt as FSU football head coach. What a first year it has been, as he’s had to deal with some of the craziest circumstances ever.

A pandemic, a roster of players that find trusting coaches difficult, and a roster that’s ultimately less talented than even FSU football fans realize.

Although the season ended with a record of 3-6, I still took away several positives regarding Mike Norvell.

There are still some questions that remain due to the nature of how the season played out, but I think I’ve been able to get a good grasp on what Mike Norvell is capable of at FSU.

A lot of will depend on

I know some people like to say every coach had to deal with COVID-19. That’s true, but every coach wasn’t a new coach that was the third coach of a program since 2017.

Not only that, every coach doesn’t have to deal with the expectations of FSU football fans. Here are five takeaways from Mike Norvell’s first year in Tallahassee.

Mike Norvell Is Usually Candid With Answers

I’m guessing most FSU football fans don’t listen to the post-game or practice interviews with Mike Norvell.

I’ve seen several instances of fans wanting Norvell to tell them what’s going on with the team. The thing is, he tells you exactly what’s happening, all you have to do is listen long enough to pick on small things.

Of course, every coach will give coach speak at different points, and Norvell will do that, especially when discussing injured players.

However, when it comes to giving a true answer regarding his satisfacation with how practice went? There have been several instances where he’s called out the players for not meeting his expectations.

When it comes to players that have left the program? It was easy to tell which players he valued and which players he didn’t.

The players he didn’t value were referred to as players who are no longer with the program. The players that met expectations and decided to go elsewhere were talked about positively.

There’s usually substance in his answers, and I find that refreshing.

His Ability To Adapt His Offense Is Impressive

Mike Norvell’s decision to bring Jordan Travis into the Jacksonville State game is why the Noles won three games in 2020.

If that doesn’t happen, there’s a good chance they don’t win a single game. The remarkable thing is, Jordan Travis missed a lot of fall camp with injuries and got banged up in the Miami game.

However, despite him being limited in the offense, Mike Norvell and Kenny Dillingham were able to build an offense around what he does best.

FSU averaged over 30 points in the games Jordan Travis started on the year, and that’s a figure FSU hasn’t approached since 2016.

I know some people want to imply Norvell can’t make second-half adjustments. That’s not true, FSU’s offense became limited against North Carolina and Notre Dame because Jordan Travis was playing while hurt. He’s not as effective when he can’t use his legs or risk taking a big hit.

When it wasn’t limited because of that, it was penalties in the red zone or placekickers missing routine field goals.

I’m excited to see what this offense will look like with a full off-season to implement and players to receive reps.

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.

Mike Norvell Is Flipping This FSU Roster

FSU football fans that follow the team closely knew there were players on the roster that needed to be purged when Mike Norvell became the head coach.

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If a player has issues with multiple coaching staff, then I think it’s fair to say it’s the player that’s likely the problem.

It didn’t take long for those players to begin revealing themselves, as a couple was dismissed before the summer.

However, it was during the season where we finally began to see players deciding Tallahassee wasn’t the place for them.

Some players were passed on the depth chart, and others opted-out. I know some fans felt the max exodus was a bad thing, but I’m here to tell you it was one of the best things that could have happened for this program.

One thing to note is, none of the players that have left the program are getting attention from any of the elite programs.

That should tell you all you need to know. It doesn’t matter how talented a player is if he’s not pulling in the same direction as everyone else, then he’s going to be a hindrance to the overall goal.

Mike Norvell Is A Fiery Competitor

Mike Norvell brought the fire and brimstone in his introductory press conference when hired.

I remember writing he sounded like a southern preacher giving a sermon that had me ready to run through a wall. He can come off like he doesn’t have fiery competitiveness burning deep inside.

However, some of the reactions we saw from Mike Norvell on the sideline during games answers that question real quick.

I saw him chew players out for receiving dumb penalties in games and others for missing field goals.

However, I think that video is when I was like, we might have a real one here. To make things better, he stayed true to those words as players were pulled from games when not playing well or getting dumb penalties.

The way he handled the nonsense Clemson’s Dabo Swinney was spewing after that game got canceled told you he wasn’t going to take things laying down.

He has some snark in him and even called Swinney on his cell phone(to which Swinney didn’t answer or return the call).

I’m excited to see what Mike Norvell and this staff can do in 2021.