After Florida State finished with its worst football season since 1974, it's no surprise that Mike Norvell is on the hot seat. Just two years removed from going 13-1, it would seem outlandish to think that Norvell will be fighting for his job in 2025, but it's possible even with a buyout over $60 million after Norvell signed an eight-year contract extension making him the sixth-highest paid coach in the nation.
Norvell, 43, is going into his sixth season with the Seminoles. Three of his first five campaigns have been losing seasons in which the Seminoles failed to reach a bowl game. His best season, a 13-1 campaign in 2023, is more remembered for Jordan Travis' awful injury against North Alabama that basically ended his career, being snubbed for the College Football Playoff after winning their first 13 games and being on the wrong end of a 63-3 stomping at the hands of Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
Athlon Magazine has Norvell on its list of coaches on the hot seat. Another disastrous season would likely be curtains for Norvell despite the huge buyout. The bottom line is FSU football is too big of a brand and too important to Tallahassee's local economy to be losing like it has been for much of the past decade.
Mike Norvell has a warm seat leading up to the 2025 season for Florida State
Norvell, to his credit, tried to smooth over some of the criticism by giving $4.5 million of his salary back, presumably to make up for a shortage of booster money needed to improve the roster. This was rightfully called a 'loser's tax' by Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today, who explained that in today's NIL environment, coaches will be under even more scrutiny to put their money where their mouth is when times go bad to preserve their jobs.
Norvell did make some major staff changes, replacing six coaches and bringing in former Auburn and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator and Tony White as defensive coordinator. The moves have at least brought some good news on the recruiting trail, where FSU currently has a top 10 class after receiving verbal commitments from nearly a dozen players this month.
Florida State has been on fire this month🔥🍢https://t.co/oxbtaktitM pic.twitter.com/WmNgj2C4HF
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) June 24, 2025
The wins in June are nice and will certainly increase fan optimism, but the wins in August, September, October and November will be ones that decide Norvell's future. Getting to a bowl game is expected and going 6-6 or 7-5 might be good enough for a season, but FSU isn't a 7-5 program. The ACC is not a strong conference and there's no reason why FSU shouldn't finish in the Top 4 of the conference every year.
Eventually the standards will have to be met again and if Mike Norvell can't do it, FSU athletic director Mike Alford must find someone that can.