Mike Norvell is done with the talking.
FSU football training camp opened today and there will not be a lot of media access, so expect news that is released to be tightly guarded, but one thing to keep an eye on is camp competition. It's something that Norvell wanted to put an emphasis on in the offseason, and he hopes that iron will sharpen as the Seminoles get ready for the season opener against Alabama.
More defensive linemen and FSU coach Mike Norvell arriving for the start of preseason camp. pic.twitter.com/hd9ZeJ6EoC
— Warchant.com (@Warchant) July 30, 2025
Norvelll met with the local media on Tuesday and said that competition has been a key part of the offseason conditioning period, spring workouts and will take center stage in training camp.
"Everything had a focus on competition," Norvell said. "Whether it was back in the winter program...tour of duty....we ended with a competition. I wanted to see guys, with all eyes on them, where they would go, want it would look like, you know, when it's 1-on-1, somebody's gonna win and somebody's gonna lose.
"No one ever wants to face disappointment with those opportunities, but I also got to see the response," Norvell continued. "I got to see the edge that was brought when things were good for somebody and at times whenever it wasn't."
Mike Norvell opens the fall camp presser by saying there's one key focus.
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) July 29, 2025
"Work to establish each side of the ball. A lot of competition.
There's one shot. One opportunity." pic.twitter.com/L2TCxISoD2
The main thing I take out of that quote is the response. Too many times last season, it looked like FSU just gave up on the field. The players let one bad play spiral into another and within a few series it appeared that they mentally checked out. Bad things are going to happen throughout the course of a game and this team has to be able to bear down and be tougher when the situation demands it.
And that wasn't just on the field; Norvell and his staff looked overmatched and confused by what was going on. Whatever motivational tactics they were using didn't register with that group of players and by the middle point of the season, it looked like Norvell had run out of answers.
The beauty is, this is a new day and a new team. We might not know much until August 30, but it's clear that Norvell is treating this season with a different approach. It's his belief that an increased focus on competition will bring about more urgency and mental toughness. In a season with a lot of toss-up games, that could be the difference between wins and losses.