Florida State has been a roller coaster ride under head football coach Mike Norvell, who will be entering his seventh season in Tallahassee. After the 5-7 disaster in 2025, the administration elected to bring him back for next year, where some fans did not like the thought of that.
Nonetheless, it is time to put up or shut up for Coach Norvell, as Florida State wants to return to its winning ways. The arch-rival Miami Hurricanes came from irrelevance for the past twenty years, so this makes individuals confident that Florida State can do much of the same.
Norvell's squad has not been the same since a 23-4 combined record in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The Seminoles are now scratching and crawling to obtain bowl eligibility.
Florida State quarterback transfer Ashton Daniels is humbled about an opportunity for 2026
Florida State has not had much success at quarterback since the great Jordan Travis. The veteran suffered the season-ending injury against North Alabama in 2023, and it ruined his last opportunity to win meaningful games with the Seminoles.
It has been musical chairs at quarterback for Florida State, where they have tried their luck in the transfer portal, grabbing DJ Uiagalelei, Thomas Castellanos, and even McKenzie Milton (in 2021). There are doubts that Mike Norvell can win without Jordan Travis in Tallahassee.
However, this offseason, the coaching staff threw numbers at the problem at quarterback by picking up Ashton Daniels, Malachi Marshall (JUCO), and Dean DeNobile. The expectation was that offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn would be responsible for calling plays, but with his unexpected retirement, it raises a question about the pecking order of signal-callers.
Former Stanford and Auburn Ashton Daniels met with the media on Wednesday afternoon, where he was asked if he was feeling confident that he could be the starter for 2026.
New #FSU QB Ashton Daniels does not expect the starting QB to be handed to him. He looks forward to competing and earning the starting job. Something that he has been doing through out his football career.#NoleFam #FSUTwitter pic.twitter.com/LghJ99cJmD
— Peter Holland Jr (@_Da_pistol) February 4, 2026
Daniels was likely going to be the starter for the Auburn Tigers in 2026 if they didn't bring in former South Florida head coach Alex Golesh. While the veteran has flaws as a quarterback, his dual-threat ability stands out as something that the coaching staff can use in the offense.
The new quarterback took the high road in answering the question, where he mentioned that he just wanted to compete for the starting job and nothing was given. We saw Thomas Castellanos be very outspoken, even about the opponent Alabama (nothing wrong with being confident), but it seems like Daniels wants his actions to speak louder than words.
Overall, the signal-caller is entering his fifth year of college football, and he hasn't been special. For Coach Norvell to stay in Tallahassee, he will have to have the quarterback position be dynamic, with whoever that player will be.