Florida State decided to punt on a coaching search rather than jumping onto a crowded 2025 coaching carousel. LSU, Penn State, Auburn, and Florida all had jobs to fill this past offseason, so along with chipping away at Mike Norvell’s eventual buyout, the Seminoles gave themselves a better chance of being the top job on the market if Norvell can’t convince the administration to keep him around.Â
It’ll be an uphill battle for Norvell to win back the affections of the fanbase and the confidence of the decision-makers in Tallahassee, especially considering that the front office was operating on a tight budget when putting together his roster this past offseason.Â
So, whether it happens in Week 2, Week 12, or, when the season comes to an end, in all likelihood, Norvell will be on his way out, and Florida State will be searching for a new head coach. And in case the 2026 FSU season goes off the rails early, here are some other head coach candidates to keep an eye on throughout the year.Â
And not to spoil things, but the list includes more coordinators than it does current head coaches. Last year, with Matt Rhule, Jeff Brohm, Kalani Sitake, and a laundry list of others turning down Penn State, proved that as NIL and the transfer portal have spread talent across the sport, they’ve also made it harder to pry entrenched head coaches away because, oftentimes, they believe they can win at their current job.Â
Group of Six head coaches will still be anxious to make the jump, but among the Power 4, Lane Kiffin really was the exception. Matt Campbell leaving Iowa State was essentially like leaving a G6 job, considering the lack of resources at his disposal in Ames. Florida State hasn’t done much to inspire confidence from a standing P4 head coach, so FSU’s best options will likely either be another hot-shot non-power conference head coach or a top coordinator. Considering the options, and that the G6 was picked pretty clean last year, it’s hard not to lean toward the latter.Â
Buster Faulkner has worked his way through the Southeast and built a reputation as one of the best offensive play-callers in the country. After a stint as Georgia Tech’s OC, he’s finally come as far south as Florida, landing in Gainesville to run the offense for newly hired head coach Jon Sumrall.Â
If Faulkner can take quarterback Aaron Philo with him from Georgia Tech and immediately hit the ground running in the ACC, he’ll be on the short list of coordinators up for head coaching jobs next offseason.Â
Baker’s aggressive style helped lead LSU to one of the biggest defensive turnarounds in the country in 2024, on par with what Corey Hetherman did in Miami last season. But Hetherman had Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor to help things along in Coral Gables. Baker did not have two first-rounders on the edge, and yet, LSU’s defense was a real strength under Baker.Â
Now, Kiffin is keeping Baker to run the defense, and with Kiffin as the play-caller on offense, he’ll have full autonomy once again. If LSU’s defense sustains its success, it could be time for Baker to become a head coach for the first time, and he does have some experience in Florida as Miami’s DC for two years from 2019-20.Â
And who did Baker coach under at Miami half a decade ago? Manny Diaz. Diaz couldn’t pull Miami out of the considerable hole it spent about 15 years digging for itself. It took Mario Cristobal to come in and modernize everything, but as an alum, he had the buy-in from the fans and donor base to do so.Â
Diaz, a Florida State alum, may not get that level of support if he returned to Tallahassee, but it would certainly improve the vibes from the past two years under Norvell. After two years as Penn State’s DC, Diaz landed on his feet at Duke, and last season, he did something Miami has yet to: win the ACC.Â
Diaz isn’t perfect, but he’s clearly improved from the coach he was the first time around and is consistently doing more with less in Durham.Â
After helping to guide Carson Beck on a run to the national championship game, it may finally be time for 48-year-old Shannon Dawson to get a head coaching job, if he can lead Miami’s latest transfer QB Darian Mensah to elite production.Â
A branch off the Dana Holgorsen tree, Dawson has been able to combine air-raid concepts with a ground-and-pound rushing attack to construct one of the best offenses in the country. He’s never run a program before, but with him as the play-caller, FSU would immediately have a top-30 FBS offense, at least. With the right pieces, he’s proven he can take a unit to No. 1, as he did with Cam Ward in 2024 when Miami averaged 3.83 points per drive.Â
Bryant Haines won the Broyles Award as the best coordinator in college football last year, yet he didn’t receive much head coaching buzz during a busy carousel. Part of that is there is still undue apprehension about hiring a coordinator as a head coach, and part is that Indiana gave him a hearty pay raise.Â
Still, if Haines submits another year like last, when he produced the No. 3 defense by point per drive and had an uncanny knack for limiting big plays despite playing base 4-3 personnel into 11-personnel offensive looks, he deserves to be a Power 4 head coach right away.Â
Florida would be unfamiliar territory, but that hasn’t stopped coaches from succeeding before. If you’re a good coach, it shouldn’t matter where they drop you.Â
This is a situation where Florida State may not be able to pry Lashlee away from SMU. He’s tapped into a deep-pocketed donor base and has that program rocking for the first time since it suffered the death penalty. Would the former Miami OC leave to coach Florida State, which has been lagging behind in the NIL era and has not been nearly as competitive in the ACC as SMU for the past two seasons? It’s at least worth making the call.Â
Kenny Dillingham turned down Michigan to stay at Arizona State this offseason. It appears to have been a decision he made with his family in mind, wanting to stay put at his alma mater. However, he has experience at Florida State, coaching under Norvell in 2020-21, and has spent the offseason begging for money to keep the program in College Football Playoff contention.Â
Despite his efforts, Arizona State lost Sam Leavitt this offseason and had to go with Kentucky cast-off Cutter Boley to replace him. FSU isn’t in a much better financial position at the moment, but its ceiling is obviously much higher, especially now that facility and stadium renovations are already finished.
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