FSU football: Noles trending in the right direction during fall camp?
By Kelvin Hunt
FSU football head coach Mike Norvell spoke with the media after Monday’s practice and dished on a few topics.
One of the things I’ve taken away from fall camp has been how positive Mike Norvell has been with the team’s progress.
I think he understands they have a long way to go before they can compete with the elite teams in the country. However, there hasn’t been a day where he’s mentioned the effort from the players hasn’t been there or their energy wasn’t good. It’s a fine line between optimistoc and unrealistic expectations, and he must choose words wisely.
One word used frequently is “competition” on the practice fields. I’m also noticing several of the highly-rated players from a couple of years ago seem to be emerging in fall camp.
Players like Akeem Dent, Travis Jay, Kalen DeLoach, and DJ Lundy were a few Mike Norvell brought up in the press conference below:
Practice is where the changes begin to occur when a team looks to ascend from mediocrity. It’s all about those practice habits because they transfer to the game.
There are all types of practice quotes out there. “Practice doesn’t make perfect, but perfect practice does.” There’s the Jimbo Fisher special, “Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong.”
Accountability is big as well, and Norvell talks about how he challenges his players each practice.
Is this the beginning of FSU football turning the corner, or purely coach speak from Mike Norvell? I’ve watched many of his interviews, and I feel like I’ve got a good read on when it’s coach speak.
I genuinely believe he thinks the team will be an improved version over last year’s team. The biggest question mark is, can the team sustain a level of quality play for 60 minutes?
This facet is important, especially since several young players will receive a lot of snaps in 2021. However, the energy has been consistent with each practice. I’ve been waiting for the customary post-practice rant about how the energy hasn’t been there, or Mike Norvell was disappointed with how practice went.
He continues to communicate he’s pleased with where they are as a program. It’ll be interesting to see if that message changes as they get deeper into fall camp.