FSU football: 6 takeaways from Mike Norvell’s third year in Tallahassee

Mike Norvell has three years under his belt as FSU football head coach. What’s the old saying about the third time being a charm?

I went into the 2022 season more bullish than most, predicting FSU to win eight games, with an outside shot at nine wins in a bowl game.

They got nine regular season wins and the 10th win in their bowl game over Oklahoma. My bullish expectations were surpassed, so I know the FSU administrators and Seminole Boosters were ecstatic.

FSU is 15-6 since starting the 2021 season 0-4, and all six losses have been by 10 points or less. This year was pivotal, and one I said Mike Norvell wouldn’t back down from the challenge since he got his team to respond after a terrible start last season.

However, all this team does is respond nowadays. They respond in games, and during the season after a three-game losing streak.

In a season that saw changes at Clemson, Florida, and Miami, Mike Norvell looks to have FSU football on the cusp of rising back to the top of the ACC and competing for championships.

Who would have thought it would happen that fast after last season? Here are my five takeaways from Mike Norvell’s third year in Tallahassee.

Michael Alford as AD Helped Changed Everything

I mentioned the potential impact of hiring Michael Alford as Athletic Director a year ago. The void at the position for nearly a decade hampered FSU athletics, and Alford began making contributions nearly immediately.

He beefed up Mike Norvell’s support staff to make it competitive with teams like Clemson. Mike Norvell made several hires in the spring that helped play a role in FSU’s success on the field this season.

That goes all the way to FSU’s digital creative team, which has evolved from a running joke into one of the best in the nation.

FSU’s NIL game was nonexistent when Alford became Athletic Director, and Rising Spear finally launched in early April at the spring game. It wasn’t good enough to attract elite recruits because it was so late in the 2023 recruiting cycle when it launched but has continued to improve.

FSU football had a new locker room unveiled before the season, which all the players and recruits love.

Not to mention, FSU football broke ground on their football-only facility a couple of weeks ago. All these things have played a role in FSU’s success this season and are laying the groundwork for great years ahead.

Healthy Team Culture

Culture is a buzzword we’ve thrown around with this FSU football program over the past few years. It began near the end of the Jimbo Fisher era and carried over with Willie Taggart.

The team culture wasn’t where it needed to be, with little to no accountability. Most of all, players were not holding one another accountable, but that has changed over the past two years. It has carried onto the field and is one of the main reasons FSU has remained competitive in every game since 2021.

The team doesn’t fold at the first hint of adversity like it used to, and the players play for one another with unmatched passion. Players that entered the transfer portal were still practicing with the team leading up to the bowl game.

Players that could or might enter the NFL Draft decided to play in the bowl game. However, the moment near the end of the bowl game with Jazston Turnetine is the epitome of good team culture:

Turnetine was the last player to earn a scholarship after joining the team during the summer from the transfer portal. He has been at FSU for less than six months but became an important part of the team’s success this year when other offensive linemen went down with injuries.

The way his teammates rallied around him at this moment sent chills down my spine. Of course, they went on to win the game to cap off an amazing season.

FSU Is Best Team In Florida

It has been a long time since we could utter those words. FSU beat Miami by three points and lost to Florida by three points in 2021.

Miami and Florida hired new coaches and got pumped up by the media because of it. Clueless media placed Miami in the top 20 preseason, and everyone had Florida ahead of FSU, which was understandable since they beat FSU last year without a head coach.

However, FSU destroyed Miami and took care of business against Florida in a thrilling game to end the regular season. It’s the first time FSU football can claim state champions since the 2016 season.

Miami didn’t make a bowl game and Florida lost their bowl game 30-3, while FSU beat a talented Oklahoma team.

The handful of UCF fans that chirped early in the season has been shut up with their collapse late in the season and bowl loss against Duke. There’s no question FSU football is the best team in the state going into the 2023 season.

They signed some talented high schoolers and have the No. 1 transfer portal, class. The latter will make an impact next season.

High School Recruiting Is Improving

I wrote about the past two recruiting classes here in the last week. The strategy to thread the needle between talented but realistic high schoolers and the transfer portal has worked to near perfection for Mike Norvell.

FSU isn’t finishing with the top 10 recruiting classes because they are taking smaller high school classes, and recruiting sites have not figured out how to properly rank transfer portal players into the overall rankings.

However, when we look at the per-player average for high school players, it’s gotten better every season with Mike Norvell. This 2023 recruiting class is at its highest per-player average, 89.95.

The 2020 recruiting class, a transition class, had a per-player average of 87.96. FSU already has more than double the amount of 2024 commits than they had this time last year with 2023. Also, the per-player average for those players is 90.67.

The 2024 recruiting class will be the first that Mike Norvell and staff can sell after a 10-win season, and beating Miami and Florida. The FSU football product can finally sell itself, and that should pay of in spades for 2024 high school recruiting.

Defense Needs Portal Help The Same Way Offense Got It Last Year

Do you remember how bad the offense was in 2021, at times? The wide receivers were among the worst in the ACC, and the team averaged fewer than 28 points per game.

FSU didn’t sign any high school wide receivers in the 2022 recruiting class and lost top running back Jashaun Corbin to the NFL. What did FSU do to fix that problem(aside from Jordan Travis developing into a top QB)?

They signed four wide receivers from the transfer portal and Trey Benson(though criticized at the time). They also went heavy on the offensive line. Johnny Wilson, Mycah Pittman, Trey Benson, and D’Mitri Emmanuel made All-ACC, and the FSU offense became elite, averaging 36 ppg in 2022.

Well, that’s the type of help the FSU defense needs going into the 2023 season. They need help at defensive tackle(already have two transfer commits), and in the secondary.

FSU is actively pursuing some of the top players in the transfer portal, who could have the same effect on the defense that the offensive transfer portal guys had on the offense this season.

FSU Is Back Among Top Programs

The goal over the past two years was to get FSU football back to respectability and win the games they should win. Mission accomplished, although they faltered against the likes of Wake Forest and NC State, that was more self-inflicted wounds and lack of depth at key positions.

The coaching staff is working to address those issues through the transfer portal and is off to a great start. FSU will likely finish the season ranked near No. 10 nationally and will likely begin the season around the same ranking in 2023.

However, that ranking isn’t hollow like most preseason gibberish. FSU ranks in the same area in nearly all opponent-adjusted advanced metrics. They also return nearly every player from this year’s team, along with the impact players they’ll bring from the transfer portal.

The 2023 schedule looks favorable, and FSU should be betting favorites in nearly every game. IF they take care of business as most expect, there is no reason they shouldn’t compete for the ACC Championship, with a chance to make the College Football Playoff.

FSU has committed to playing big-boy football again, and now it’s time to show it on the field in 2023.