Mike Norvell has been very tight-lipped heading into his seventh year at the helm in Tallahassee. He is refusing to release a depth chart all season and didn’t share much about injuries throughout fall camp.
However, during game week preparations ahead of Florida State’s Week 0 matchup against New Mexico State on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium, Norvell followed up a report from Warchant’s Matt LaSerre that four-star freshman wide receiver Devin Carter would likely miss multiple weeks, telling reporters only that he would, “probably be unavailable” for the season opener.
Well, Carter’s father, Dexter, a star running back for the Seminoles from 1986-89 and a first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990 NFL Draft, spoke out on social media Friday night, explaining that the situation was much more serious than that.
Dexter Carter shared his side of the story on Devin Carter's injury, and it's not a good look for Florida State. pic.twitter.com/C97FPbdYCy
— ChopChat.com (@ChopChat_) August 29, 2026
On Saturday, ESPN's Pete Thamel confirmed that Carter is out for Week 0.
Dexter Carter claims Mike Norvell’s staff ignored Devin Carter’s fall camp injuries
According to Dexter Carter, Devin continued to practice through pain of bruised rips, though in a non-contact jersey, when he was hit and suffered a back injury, which corroborates WarChant’s reporting. That’s bad enough, but Dexter also added that after that hit on Aug. 10, Carter continued to practice through extreme pain, which he made the staff aware of, for seven days.
At Dexter’s urging, Devin finally got an X-ray, which revealed: “that he had a completely broken L2 & L3.” Further imagining then revealed that Carter had fractured his L1-L4. As Dexter properly pointed out, Devin was never listed on an injury report, and his injury was never mentioned in an interview, until it was reported by an outside source and Norvell was questioned about it.
Devin Carter’s injury situation raises serious questions
Maybe when Dexter was playing college football in the ‘80s, that type of thing would be commonplace. That doesn’t mean it was okay to jeopardize their long-term health, but it was certainly occurring more frequently.
Now, not only with the increased awareness around the long-term physical damage that football can cause, but also the increased accessibility of medical care in the billion-dollar industry that is college football, it’s entirely unacceptable for a coaching staff to operate this way when a player reports being in serious pain to the point where they aren’t sleeping at night, which Dexter also shared in his post.
Norvell is under serious pressure to win in 2026 after back-to-back losing seasons, and potential mistreatment of players will only add to the scrutiny he’s under. It’s too early to speculate, but it could potentially give Florida State a path to fire him with cause, which could let the school off the hook for his $50 million buyout. Norvell’s contract runs through 2031 after he received an extension following the 2023 season.
Beyond the internal issues, there is also a question of Norvell’s responsibility to be more forthright when disclosing injuries, even in the preseason. The legalization of sports betting in most states and partnerships between college football broadcasters and sportsbooks have given rise to weekly injury reports, which are required by conferences during the season.
Injuries massively affect odds, which is why the NFL has harsh rules around its injury report. Even in the preseason, injuries can have a meaningful impact on betting odds, so access to that information is more important than it has ever been.
Florida State may face no repercussions following this accusation, but there should be an investigation into who knew what when, because Norvell has a responsibility to his players and a responsibility to disclose information if college sports are going to be so closely tied to gambling companies and profit so heavily off sports betting, both directly and indirectly.
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