Is Mike Norvell relying on mercenaries to help FSU have a bounce back season? Josh Newberg thinks so.
Newberg, the current studio host for On3/Rivals actually crossed company lines to do a podcast with Trey Rowland of 247Sports. Before joining On3/Rivals, Newberg was a prominent face at 247Sports and handled a ton of content for the FSU site.
The conversation, which is absolutely NSFW, digs deep into Newberg's thoughts on the last couple of years of FSU football. Newberg is an FSU alum and isn't afraid to have strong opinions about the direction of the program, even at the risk of upsetting some in the FSU football office.
The hiring of GM Darrick Yray from Oregon State.
— Josh Newberg (@josh_newberg) September 14, 2024
That will be the looked at as the turning point of the Mike Norvell tenure at FSU, when it's all done. https://t.co/hAMpXkddqt
Newberg discusses the program's struggle to recruit the QB position and other questionable decisions. But the fun really begins when Newberg talks about the offseason moves Norvell made after the disastrous 2-10 season.
"So what they did was they went out and got some mercenary coaches," Newberg said. "They sold them on the idea....that this is [messed] up, can you come in and fix it," Newberg said. "And if you do come in and fix it you'll probably get a better job elsewhere."
"We're in a situation where Florida State hired a bunch of mercenaries, between Thomas Castellanos, this new coaching staff...I mean everybody has their own motives," Newberg continued. "But if you can get the motives to align."
Newberg correctly points out that the best staff changes are proactive and not done out of desperation. By making the moves after a 2-10 year, Norvell took some decisions out of his hands. He protected the coaches he wanted to keep (David Johnson, Patrick Surtain, Tony Tokarz, Chris Thomsen and John Papuchis) and had to concede control to the new coordinators with the other hirings.
That explains why Gus Malzahn brought Herb Hand and Tim Harris with him from UCF and Tony White brought Terrance Knighton and Evan Cooper with him from Nebraska.
Newberg almost describes this as an all-or-nothing risk from Norvell with the understanding that win-or-lose, this could be a one-and-done situation in Tallahassee. And if this experiment turns out to be successful, it might be his greatest coaching job yet.