FSU football: Top 3 April observations with Mike Norvell

FSU football coach Mike Norvell wasted no time hitting the ground running once the 2020 season came to an end.

The Noles hit the recruiting trail hard, particularly the transfer portal, and signed several players who’ll play immediately in 2021.

The thought process is those experienced players will help the Noles bridge the gap and not rely on freshmen developing while allowing the Noles to be more competitive on the field at positions of weakness.

That makes the program more attractive to 2022, 2023, and 2024 players because the product on the field should improve, while playing time will be plenty as those transfers exit after a year or two.

The programs seems to be going in the right direction, completing spring camp with no major hiccups and players spending lots of time developing their talents.

That didn’t happen last spring as the Noles only completed three practices and one in pads before everything shut down due to the pandemic.

Every month seems to unveil new observations and long-term vision for the Mike Norvell era. Let’s take a look at three observations from the month of April.

Spring Game Atmosphere

One thing that’s stood out in April was the atmosphere surround the spring game. There were a lot of unknowns regarding the event due to the pandemic.

Tickets didn’t become available until about a month before the event. Tallahassee isn’t the easiest place to get to, but a few thousand fans showed up despite the forecast for extreme weather that Saturday.

However, more importantly, Mike Norvell used the event to get nearly 100 recruits to Tallahassee during the NCAA recruiting dead period.

These were unofficial visits, and the recruits couldn’t meet with the coaching staff and had to get to Tallahassee on their own.

Some folks came away disappointed there were not three or four  commitments that weekend, but that visit will go a long way into creating relationships with players from the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes and beyond.

The spring game is a glorified scrimmage, but I thought the entire event was a home run with all things considered.

Football Operations Building/NIL/Football Camps

FSU rode the momentum from the spring game into launching details about the FSU Apex program. The Noles were the first college football program to launch a comprehensive plan regarding the Naming Imaging and Likeness Bill.

FSU has been behind on such things in the past, but to see them get out in front for a change was a welcome sight.

A few days later, the Football Operations Building renderings came to light and seemed to get the fan base energized about what’s to come for the players and the program.

The youth football camps are a touch of genius as they will allow the coaching staff to canvas the entire state of Florida and continue building the relationships they need to succeed.

Not only do I have to give Mike Norvell credit, but I have to give credit to the FSU administration for having all of these things lined up and ready to go.

Recruiting

It’s funny because recruiting was one of the areas most folks were most concerned about under Mike Norvell. However, there is a method to how Mike Norvell and the staff goes about it.

They lost an excellent recruit in Nyjalik Kelly, but the positive to take away is it shows the staff can evaluate talent. He was a three-star until he committed to FSU and began to get exposure at camps.

However, they made up for the loss with the addition of four-star quarterback AJ Duffy Wednesday evening.

Duffy is the highest-rated QB recruit to commit since Deondre Francois, and Duffy is a much better prospect with a higher upside. He’s the type of quarterback that can play early and show recruits the full arsenal of Mike Norvell’s offense.

Duffy’s commitment should entice other high-quality players to join the 2022 recruiting class as well. The recruiting dead period will end June 1st, so it’ll be interesting to see who the coaches get on campus and their camps.