How FSU football became the WORST Power Four team nationally in 2024

Bad Culture

It's amazing this part happened in hindsight, considering there are guys on this roster who were at FSU in 2020-21 and know what it's like to get something out of the mud.

Lawrance Toafili, Darius Washington, Maurice Smith, Ja'Khi Douglas, Robert Scott, Joshua Farmer, Kevin Knowles, and Patrick Payton all went through that process.

The team culture in 2022-23 was outstanding, with guys willing to put it all on the line each and every week for a common cause. That hasn't been the case in 2024, and one of the earliest red flags was Shyheim Brown only serving a one game suspension for a speeding and DUI charge.

Another red flag was the stupid penalties and celebrations that were prevelant in the Willie Taggart era.

FSU players getting 15-yard penalties for dumb stuff was the norm when Mike Norvell took over the program. Defensive backs celebrating a receiver not catching a pass(although they were beaten badly on the route) were routine. However, those things disappeared over the past two years. FSU rarely got dumb penalties, and you rarely saw a player making some stupid gesture when they made a play.

That hasn't been the case this year. FSU was getting beat like a drum (28-point deficit) Saturday night against Notre Dame, and veteran player Kevin Knowles celebrated breaking up a pass as the referee threw a flag for defensive pass interference. Malik Benson hadn't done anything all game against North Carolina last week, and finally made a catch and got up flexing as North Carolina was up double-digits.

Patrick Payton has been getting abused all year, and he'll do some sort of celebration in the rare occurrences he makes a play.

Yet, the coaching staff continues to send those players out on the field. Ultimately that falls on Mike Norvell because everything starts with the head guy.