Fall camp is over. The first game week is finally here. On Saturday, August 29, the Florida State Seminoles will host New Mexico State at Doak Campbell Stadium for a Week 0 matchup. But who will take the field? Nobody knows; at least, Mike Norvell doesn’t want anyone to.
After going 7-17 the last two seasons, Norvell has already spent all the goodwill he banked during the 13-0 run in 2023. Yet, he’s managed to further alienate, and in many cases further frustrate, a quick-tempered Florida State fanbase by refusing to release a depth chart for a game in which his team is a 30.5-point favorite at home (per FanDuel Sportsbook).
Florida State is not releasing a depth chart ahead of its Week 0 opener against New Mexico State.
— Kolby Crawford (@kolby_crawford) August 24, 2026
Much of the fanbase is past the point of no return with Norvell, and for good reason. Even the administration seems to be in a similar place after an offseason with limited investment as his massive buyout looms. Still, there’s no advantage to be gained by refusing to release a depth chart in a game you’re a huge favorite to win, and there’s significant downside in terms of Norvell’s relationship with the fanbase.
Mike Norvell refusing to release a depth chart is pointless theatre
It’s not just for Week 0 either. In his first game-week press conference of the season, Norvell announced that he will not be releasing depth charts at all during game weeks this season, which is the type of pointless change a hot-seat head coach makes out of desperate overthinking.
This isn’t commonplace for Norvell. It’s not commonplace anywhere in college football. Releasing a depth chart before the season is common practice and hardly provides an advantage for the opponent, if it does at all. It’s especially irrelevant when your first opponent is a Conference USA team you have no business letting hang around.
Norvell has long-since named Ashton Daniels his starting quarterback, and by the time SMU makes its way to Tallahassee for a highly anticipated Week 1 ACC opener, Rhett Lashlee and his staff will have gotten a good look at Florida State’s preferred offensive line group, its running back rotation, and its typical combinations at all levels on defense.
If not, if Norvell has convinced himself that he needs to keep SMU guessing to pull off a win in Week 1, he’ll need to muddle the starting groups so significantly in Week 0 that he forfeits the advantage of playing a Week 0 game to iron out the kinks still leftover from fall camp.
Even Norvell is smart enough not to make that mistake, so this is pure theatre, a pointless statement to the team that everybody’s job is still up for grabs, one you can easily reinforce while still indulging the fanbase with the red meat that is the first depth chart release.
If you’re not trying to hide something, which FSU clearly isn’t because this is going to be the standard practice throughout the year, then what is the point? If “guys know where they are,” as Norvell said, then what is the point? Secrecy for secrecy’s sake?
It’s all theatrical. It’s the dying breath of a head coach out of ideas and on his way out. It won’t help Florida State; it’ll only serve to further alienate the fanbase and the media, which, like it or not, Norvell needs to win back to save his job. Wins would be more effective than releasing a depth chart each week, but those have been hard to come by, so every bit helps.
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