Mike Norvell is convinced it's going to be different in 202t5...or at least he's going to try to convince YOU that it's going to be different in 2025.
The FSU football coach did his run through "radio row" at ACC Media Days an hour before he was scheduled to take the podium and talked about the offseason and trying to bounce back from a 2-10 record.
"This is one team, one season".
As usual with Norvell, he put on his promotional hat and did his best to convince those asking that things have changed and will continue to change until the standard is met.
Mike Norvell says that last year, there was a lot more “forced” team building activities. “There was a reason for that.”
— Brendan Sonnone (@BSonnone) July 23, 2025
Feels like he hasn’t had to force leadership to emerge this offseason, that’s a difference from last year he says. pic.twitter.com/V1kCmypPG3
"It's been a long offseason, as you go through new faces, coaches, staff....really just bringing everybody together, continuing to push, elevate the execution of our standard," Norvell said during his local media press conference. "That's been a big focus throughout this offseason. Because the standard can't change, and it won't change."
That might be Norvell's most difficult challenge. He has to convince himself, his team and the fan base that the standard hasn't changed. He has been at FSU for five years and in three of those seasons the Seminoles have had more losses than wins. Going 10-3 in 2022 and 13-1 in 2023 are the standards that the program was used to in the past. Clearly, that's where Norvell wants to be, but can he still get there?
"We've tried to create some challenging circumstances in the offseason," Norvell added. "It's been a great opportunity to see guys come into their own and work to put their stamp and their identity within this team. And you see guys rally around that as well, trying to push our program to where it needs to and deserves to be."
One thing Norvell can lean on is that this season's team isn't last season's team. There are a lot of new faces on the roster, there will be a lot of new starters and there are six new coaches. These were changes that had to be made. Now they have to work, or another change will need to be made.