Florida State finally said "enough is enough" and opted to move forward without coach Mike Norvell in the future. Norvell, who helped push the team towards a 13-1 record in 2023, has lost 22 games since being snubbed from the playoffs. The most recent loss to Clemson extended a current losing streak to three games, which only further caused tension to grow among the fanbase.
Now, Florida State will embark on a difficult coaching search that more than likely will be closely tied to the upcoming athletic director search. The next hire could be the one that ushers in a new era of success, but it could also be the one who continues to set back the program.
There are a lot of great options out there for Florida State, but there are also a few enticing candidates that might fail to improve the program. Here are four candidates that I believe would be bad hires as the next coach of the football team.
1. Georgia DC Glenn Schumann
Alright, I know this one is going to make people mad, but hear me out for a second. Florida State could very well try to hit a home run and take a big swing at a candidate that plenty of other programs will be potentially fighting for. Enter Schumann, who has been a top target for some over the past few cycles, and Florida State might be entering into a situation that needs to be avoided.
There is nothing inherently wrong with Schumann, who has been one of the top coordinators in the country for a while now. The issue is that Florida State cannot afford to spend another season at the bottom of the ACC, and handing over the keys to the program to someone who has not been a head coach before could be tricky.
Florida State desperately needs someone who can hit the ground running and begin turning things around from the start of his tenure. Can Schumann potentially do that? Yes. But, the program needs to be a winner as soon as possible, and taking any kind of risks like giving the job to a first-time head coach is something the program should avoid.
2. UTSA HC Jeff Traylor
Perhaps one of the more well-known potential coaches on the market this season has become Jeff Traylor, whose deep roots in Texas could earn him a new job this upcoming cycle. Traylor is an interesting candidate, but there is a key problem that Florida State needs to avoid, and unfortunately for Traylor, it is an issue he has not been able to overcome.
Traylor dominated in Conference USA, with three conference losses in three seasons with the Roadrunners. The coach oversaw the transition over to the American Conference, and Traylor has lost nine conference games in four seasons. UTSA looks like they are on the right track this year, but Florida State cannot struggle against ACC competition any longer.
Norvell struggled mightily against the ACC both before and after the 2023 season, which in the current playoff landscape puts most teams in a difficult position. Teams cannot afford to struggle against conference competition and still hope to make the playoffs without playing for or winning a conference title. Florida State needs to hire a coach who knows how to win in the ACC, and if the Seminoles cannot improve against conference competition, the chances of truly improving are slim.
3. Memphis HC Charles Huff
If one Memphis head coach didn't work out, another one certainly would find success, right? Huff has become one of the top names in the coaching carousel who could make a jump up to a power conference team this offseason.
The success has certainly been there for Huff, with five straight bowl appearances with Marshall and Southern Miss before joining Memphis. Huff already secured bowl eligibility for the Tigers this season, marking his sixth in as many years, after building a formidable roster through the transfer portal. Huff has bounced around a ton in his career, but a brief stop with Alabama from 2019-2020 saw the coach earn the respect of Nick Saban, which is not an easy thing to do.
There is no doubt that Huff is going to be a sought-after coach during the offseason, but Florida State needs to avoid potentially making the same mistake twice. Huff certainly seems prepared to move on and take another job, but with his winning background and history of frequently moving, Florida State is going to fall into a similar trap that was seen during the Norvell era.
Norvell had an amazing 2023 season that forced Florida State to pay up to avoid losing the coach to another program. If Huff joins the program and turns things around in Year 1, the same situation will likely occur. Last time, the subsequent result was two losing seasons that brought us right up to speed with today's firing of Norvell.
4. New Mexico HC Jason Eck
It certainly would not be the most conventional option for Florida State, but for a program that needs better results right away, nothing is off the table. The search for the next coach will likely go far and wide, and one stop could be in New Mexico, where the Lobos' coach, Jason Eck, has been putting together what appears to be his strongest season with the program.
Eck took his first head coaching job in college football in 2022 with Idaho, and since then, the coach has not looked back. A 7-5 record in his first season with the Vandals is his worst record as a coach, with Eck going on to win 19 games in the next two seasons with the program. Eck made the jump to FBS football last season after being hired by New Mexico, and quickly delivered the first bowl appearance the program has seen since the 2016 season.
On paper, Eck looks like an amazing coach with a very solid track record, but there is one glaring issue that would come with potentially hiring him. Florida State needs to pay a premium just to clear house, with some reports indicating the clean sweep of the staff will cost $68 million. The Seminoles need to get better, but the administration is likely going to hire someone on the cheaper end and give them more resources to work with.
If the season continues to progress as it has for New Mexico, who are currently 6-1, then Eck will be a very expensive hire. The coach hasn't had a losing season yet, and players love to be around him both on the field and in the practice facility. Eck has reiterated a few times now that he wants to turn coaching at New Mexico into a job people want to have, and many programs already tried this past off-season to pry him away.
Florida State would need to pay up in order to land Eck, and that could lead to a bidding war with other programs potentially looking for a coach, like Colorado, who have close ties to the coach. As great as Eck might be, Florida State cannot afford to overpay for the next coach, as it almost certainly will mean less money can be used to build a better roster.
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