I began writing this article over two weeks ago when Florida State sat at 3-3 — not the best vintage FSU, but not bad in comparison to a 2-10 season, with the addition of an Alabama win under our belt. After that horrific loss to Stanford however, I considered just erasing the whole article and not defending Norvell’s name at all.
This piece centers around Coach Mike Norvell’s impact on the Florida State Football program, and “impact” in this case may not be what you think. I don’t want to start off on the wrong note because I love my Seminoles dearly.
However, it goes without saying that they’ve experienced a rollercoaster of highs and lows under Norvell. Some of you are just happy we’ve managed to get more than 2 wins this season, while others are itching for a blank slate.
Who is Mike Norvell, Really?
To understand Norvell and how he has chosen to lead the Seminoles, we must take a step into his past. A former wide receiver at the University of Central Arkansas, Norvell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Tulsa before quickly rising through the ranks.
From 2012 to 2015, he served as offensive coordinator at Arizona State under Todd Graham, where his offenses consistently ranked among the nation’s best. In 2016, at just 34 years old, he became the head coach at the University of Memphis.
This made him the youngest FBS coach at the time. Over four seasons, Norvell led the Tigers to three consecutive division titles, a 12-1 record, and a New Year’s Six bowl appearance in 2019. His explosive, record-breaking offenses made him one of the most sought-after coaches in college football, and ultimately Florida State came calling.
Norvell’s Start in Tallahassee
When Norvell arrived in December 2019, this once proud program was in the midst of some of its darkest days in program history. The Noles were coming off consecutive losing seasons and lacking any sense of stability after years of coaching troubles under Willie Taggart.
From day one, Norvell promised to turn the program around by rebuilding the foundation with the aim of restoring the Seminole pride. The goal was to transform the Noles back into national championship contenders.
While he gave us a glimpse of hope back in 2023, the stars on that undefeated roster have either moved on or are still working their way through the transfer portal.
The Good: Revitalizing the Culture
I will always give credit where credit is due, Norvell certainly gave the Noles a much-needed cultural makeover for his first couple of years. He inherited a broken locker room, low morale, and a team with no sense of identity.
From the moment he arrived, Norvell set out to restore the accountability of the athletes and instill team-first values. His plan: reshape the locker room into a tight-knit unit that believed in a single goal. To achieve this, he introduced the “Keep Climbing” mantra that quickly became a symbol of persistence, progress, and growth no matter the circumstance.
Unfortunately, this now infamous slogan is no longer being hashtagged across Florida State’s social media platforms, as it had been in nearly every post since its release.
Say what you want about the man, but I truly believe Norvell had the Seminole nation believing in something again — even if that something is whether this program will ever be as good as it was under Bobby.
The Bad: Recruiting Struggles
Now, here’s where it all starts to go downhill. One of Norvell’s top weaknesses is his work, or lack thereof, in recruiting and the transfer portal. At a point, his magic in the portal looked more than impressive with FSU’s 2023 transfer class ranking second nationally, and several of our best players came straight from it.
However, if you dig a little deeper, that story gets a bit trickier in recent years. Norvell’s high school classes have averaged about 21st nationally, which is a noticeable drop when you consider that even Jimbo Fisher’s worst recruiting class at Florida State ranked 11th in the country.
Additionally, only around 61% of his top-rated recruits have stayed long-term on the roster. Even more telling, of the 10 Seminoles drafted in 2024, nine were transfers, not signees. This alone shows where Norvell’s weakness lies.
While he is seemingly good at borrowing talent, he is not necessarily great at building it. My brother, along with most of Seminole Twitter, has been saying it for months now…there is a LARGE gap in his recruiting approach.
The Ugly: Past Play Calling Woes
Let’s talk about one of Norvell’s biggest flaws in this program, an area I truly have very few positive words on — his play calling. In 2024, the Noles averaged a whopping 13.3 points per game, ranking 132nd out of 134 FBS teams — numbers that had people ripping their hair out every Saturday.
His offense looked like they’d never risked anything in their lives, with one game featuring an average throw length of -0.1 yards in the first half. Genuinely baffling that in thirty minutes, the Noles managed to throw behind the line of scrimmage.
After too many days of fans screaming at their TV’s, Norvell finally waved the white flag and brought in Gus Malzahn to take over the 2025 play-calling duties as offensive coordinator. Even Norvell has admitted to his poor play calling and stated, “I’ll yell at myself”, which pretty much sums it up.
The Result
Mike Norvell is in the hottest seat in America. His job is hanging on by a thread. His decision-making is less than stellar, to put it nicely. His recruiting could use A LOT of work. Love him or hate him, Mike Norvell is a good man — just not the right fit for a program like Florida State.