Florida State football had a disastrous 2024 campaign where it had a 2-10 record. The standard was not met, and the head football coach Mike Norvell knew this.
Norvell had been classified as one of the top coaches in all of college football. Many individuals thought that the program was ascending to new heights after concluding with a 10-3 record in 2022 and a 13-1 record in 2023. Not too bad, considering that the Seminoles suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of FCS opponent Jacksonville State on the final play of the game in 2021.
Could 2024 just be an outlier?
It is quite possible. However, there is no time to lose for Norvell as he knows that Florida State football is meant to compete for conference and national championships. After all, this is the place that Bobby Bowden built.
Florida State is doing its best to navigate out of the ACC and insert itself into the Big Ten or SEC while also trying to find a level of consistency in the win column. That can be a tough task.
However, Norvell seems to have quiet confidence in himself to get this turned around as he went out and hired a new group of coaches for the staff. Out of the six new additions, I am most intrigued by former UCF head football coach Gus Malzahn being the offensive coordinator.
Florida State's offense was one of the worst in college football last season, but Norvell was regarded as one of the top minds on that side of the football. It seemed like there were times when the game plan didn't gel with the skill sets that they had on the roster.
It was time for a new set of eyes in that department. It made sense for him to hire Malzahn since he had previous coaching experience with him while Norvell was at Tulsa. Given that the familiarity was there and it was someone that he trusted to run the offense, it was a no-brainer decision.
With the Malzahn hiring, this allows Norvell not to hyper-focus on the offensive game planning and he can be a guiding voice through every aspect of the team (in a CEO role). Many of the college football coaches around the country serve in that capacity, and I am intrigued to see how Norvell handles that responsibility with 2025 being such a dire season for Florida State.