Mike Norvell's decision to fire and hire new coaches already paying dividends

Once FSU football lost a couple of games in the 2024 season, it was apparent changes were needed. I never thought FSU would have finished the season 2-10.

However, the losses on the recruiting trail ultimately let me know Mike Norvell would have to make multiple coaching changes once the season concluded.

Check the date, as I posted that after FSU had lost its second high-ranking 2025 blue-chip commitment in as many days.

The way FSU looked on the field in those first two weeks allowed the old narratives the previous staff fought hard to overcome to re-surface.

There was no way Mike Norvell and that staff would recruit at the level they needed to after a 0-2 start, much less a 2-10 finish.

Mike Norvell announced that both coordinators and the receivers coach would not return after the Notre Dame game, which let everyone know coaching changes were happening. Norvell announced Randy Shannon wouldn't return after the season concluded. Norvell eventually made six hires: Gus Malzahn, Herb Hand, Tony White, Terrance Knighton, Evan Cooper, and Tim Harris Jr.

Those hires helped FSU close strong during the Early Signing Period, with nearly a 60 percent blue-chip ratio among the 2025 high school class. FSU had one of the top transfer portal classes in the Winter Portal window.

Neither of those would have happened had those coaching changes not been made. However, the caliber of high school players the coaching staff got on campus this month let us know FSU has the potential for a top 2026 high school recruiting class. FSU getting top players on campus to sell the new vision is all we can ask at this point.

Ultimately, FSU must win on the field to have any shot to land or keep the players they already have committed. This new staff has already created the sense that FSU is different, with the new hires, and it's already paying dividends because other schools can't use those old narratives against FSU anymore.