With fall camp less than a week away and the countdown to Florida State’s season opener vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide under the 40-day mark, head coach Mike Norvell took to the podium today in Charlotte as part of the 2025 ACC Kickoff.
The annual event offers the widespread media’s first introduction to the new edition of each conference member with Florida State bringing quarterback Tommy Castellanos, defensive lineman Darrell Jackson Jr., defensive back Earl Little Jr. and offensive lineman Richie
Leonard IV.
"I want them to be pissed off. To go be their best every single day. It's not about last year ... it's about this season."
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) July 23, 2025
Mike Norvell bringing the energy at media days @FSUfootball pic.twitter.com/QtPTgocAZ1
If there’s one thing that Norvell looked to emphasize, it’s the difference between this year and last. With a new-look team and coaching staff hoping to erase memories of a lackluster last season, Norvell said the emphasis on prepping for the season has included “desperation.”
“It has been about bringing that daily edge, that desperation to go win on a daily basis, and in everything that we do, whether it is in the weight room, whether it was on the field, meeting room, in the classroom. We wanted that sense of competition, and we wanted every day to see guys that are willing to rise to the challenge to be their best.”
“When you look through the past few years, we’ve accomplished some great things. We’ve experienced the highest of highs and we’ve also found ourselves in a valley. We’ve faced some disappointments.
But every part of it has come back to our response. This team and this season that’s ahead, I’ve got great expectations. I’ve got a lot of confidence because I’ve watched the work, because I’ve seen the investment.”
He further addressed it when asked about comparing the mentality of this year’s team against last’s, saying: “I don’t want a team full of sidekicks. I want guys that are willing to grasp it, to hold it, to push it, to step for it and to go be it, and that’s what’s needed, and that’s what I believe I’m seeing within this football team.”
“When you come to Florida State, you’d better embrace the highest of expectations, because it’s what I have, it’s what our program has. There is a standard of what it needs to look like, and I’ve got to uphold it and so does everybody else a part of our team; players, coaches, every single one of us.”
The full transcript, via ASAP Sports, can be seen below.
2025 ACC Kickoff: Florida State head coach Mike Norvell transcript
MIKE NORVELL: Well, it’s great to be here today. Obviously with Media Day comes just one day closer to the kickoff to this season and all things that are ahead. So proud of our football team for the work that they’ve poured in throughout this off-season, from the winter program to spring practice, going through our tour of duty, the summer workouts, and coming up to report next Tuesday and back on the practice field one week from today. They’ve done a remarkable job, and the investment into each other, into pushing, to hit and to reestablish that championship mentality and expectation that we have here at Florida State and uphold the standard of what it is to be a Seminole.
We’ve got four remarkable young men that are here with me today that have done a wonderful job throughout this off-season of being great leaders, of being — the willingness to be the example of what we want it to look like on a daily basis, and excited for the expectation for all things that are ahead this season.
As we’re going into this off-season, it has been about bringing that daily edge, that desperation to go win on a daily basis, and in everything that we do, whether it is in the weight room, whether it was on the field, meeting room, in the classroom. We wanted that sense of competition, and we wanted every day to see guys that are willing to rise to the challenge to be their best.
This football team has done it. Whatever we put in front of them, whether it was academically coming off — our spring semester we had the best team GPA ever in program history. They answered the call when it came to what we wanted them to do academically or in the weight room or tour of duty. We challenged them at new levels that was probably some of the hardest workouts that we’ve had, and to see those guys embrace that literally with a smile on their face, knowing there was an opportunity to compete, to go get better, to see the newcomers, the guys that have been a part of the program, to see them all work together, to be able to set the foundation for what this football team is going to be, because all that we have is the season that’s ahead.
When you look through the past few years, we’ve accomplished some great things. We’ve experienced the highest of highs and we’ve also found ourselves in a valley. We’ve faced some disappointments.
But every part of it has come back to our response. This team and this season that’s ahead, I’ve got great expectations. I’ve got a lot of confidence because I’ve watched the work, because I’ve seen the investment. I’m really proud and grateful for the coaches and the new leaders that we have within our coaching staff. Being able to have two of the best coordinators in college football, a couple of the best football minds that this game has.
Coach Malzahn and Coach White have done a wonderful job pouring into our players, being able to establish a foundation throughout the course of the spring and be able to build concepts and a plan in place that are built for the great playmakers that we have.
We’re excited for all things that are ahead. It’s an exciting time in Tallahassee. We’ve got a great kickoff here August 30th with Alabama coming into town, and this football team, it is hungry, and it is bringing that daily edge in all things that we’re doing.
There’s a lot of wonderful things around our program. We have a newly renovated Doak Campbell Stadium, which we’re so excited to be able to be at, at full capacity. Our football-only facility that we’ll be moving into this fall. I do want to take a moment to thank our administration, starting with President McCullough, his leadership, his vision, his continued push, our AD Michael Alford, our board of trustees. We have an incredible group. Our Chairman of the Board, Peter Collins, and the work that they have pushed to continue to elevate our program in this new day of college athletics. I’m just so grateful for the support that we have and the investments that have been made from all of our boosters and everything that we’re doing.
There are great days ahead here in Tallahassee and with this Florida State football program, and just excited to get back out on that field here this next week and everything that’s in front of us.
Q. Coach, the enthusiasm that you have in your voice, I got excited. I almost laced up my helmet to go play for you. How excited are you, even though you didn’t have the season that you projected that you would have liked to have had last year? How excited are you about this team, and what should the fans be excited about from this football team?
MIKE NORVELL: I’m extremely excited. I’m excited because of the characteristics that I’ve seen from this team. From the newcomers that have joined, from all the players that have returned, because every one of them said yes to the expectation.
You don’t come to Florida State unless you’re willing to embrace the greatest of expectations, because there is a standard, and every day that standard has to show up. As we’ve sat there coming off a year that was a disappointing season, we had some real conversations. Ultimately, it wasn’t for everybody. The sacrifice, the investment, the work, the challenge, the confidence that had to be developed, because every team and every player that stands in front of you are going to tell you how confident they are. But for that confidence to be real, it has to be earned. There has to be the work. There has to be the truest belief of being able to embrace that in all things that makes up who you are.
That’s what gives me excitement for this year, because I’ve watched a football team of guys that have said yes. They’re not just saying it with their voice, they’re saying it with their action.
We’ve got some wonderfully talented players. But even with all of them, none of them have hit their final stage. All of them are continued growth in progress. They’re embracing that journey. They’re embracing the opportunity.
To see them come together, to see that excitement within the position groups, the side of ball and collectively as a football team and just to see how much they enjoy who they’re getting to do it with, that gets me fired up.
All of it sounds good. Now we get to go get it done on the field. But I’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence because of that work.
Q. I just want to ask you, you talk often about the climb, and that’s been the mantra of Florida State football since you’ve been the head coach there. It may have seemed like last — as you were recruiting getting players in, you had a certain kind of mentality that you were looking for in players, and you talked about the desperation that they always had, and you always recruited to that. Did it feel last year that maybe that was the missing element to the team, was that desperation, that sense of we refuse to lose? And what gives you the confidence that you have that mentality this season?
MIKE NORVELL: Well, you know, you talk about the climb, and we all have a desired destination. Everybody wants to get to the top. We’ve seen that. A couple years ago, we got to lift the trophy. Most people talk about it; we’ve seen it. We know what that looks like.
But on the flip side of it, when you’re climbing a mountain, there might be some times where you slip and where you stumble. But the most important step along the journey is the next one. People that are willing — regardless of the circumstance, regardless of what you find yourself in, that you’re willing to take the step to go be your best, to put everything that you have in — I don’t want a team full of sidekicks. I want guys that are willing to grasp it, to hold it, to push it, to step for it and to go be it, and that’s what’s needed, and that’s what I believe I’m seeing within this football team.
Once again, we start fall camp next Wednesday, and I want them to be pissed off to go be their best every single day. It’s not about last year. It’s not about anything that they’ve done up to this point in their career. It’s about this season with each day and every step that’s in front of us to go put it on display for what you want to be. Don’t talk about it; let’s go do it. I feel the confidence within the team because once again, I see their work. I believe in who they are. I believe in the journeys that they’ve had. No player on our team has had a seamless, perfect journey. There’s been ups and downs for every one of them.
But when they come, whether it was the recruiting process, whether it was the opportunity to come back and to be a part of what this team is going to be, I wanted guys that were on the edge of their seat ready to go attack that work.
I can’t wait for fall camp because I’m going to challenge them every single day in everything they do, physically, mentally, relationally, all parts of it, because that’s what the season is going to hold. As we’ve seen that at an elite level, we also know — we know how hard it is to win a game, to win a play, to win a rep; obviously what it takes for a season.
But I believe in the group of guys that we have that have come together. In today’s age of college athletics, everybody has a choice because it’s easy to leave. It’s hard to stay, and it’s hard to say yes when you know the expectations that are going to be put in front of you. When you come to Florida State, you’d better embrace the highest of expectations, because it’s what I have, it’s what our program has. There is a standard of what it needs to look like, and I’ve got to uphold it and so does everybody else a part of our team; players, coaches, every single one of us.
I believe in what it’s going to be, and I’m excited to get back on that practice field as we build as we continue to climb to August 30th for our first opportunity to go put on display what this team has the potential to be.
Q. I want to ask you about Gus Malzahn. You bring him in as offensive coordinator. He’s a guy that’s got a ton of experience as a play caller. Obviously he’s led a team to a National Championship game. Can you talk about what that experience at that high level does for the program, and was that something that you really sought after whenever you shuffled the coaching staff?
MIKE NORVELL: I mean, having the opportunity to have Coach Malzahn come and be a part of our staff, it was special. It’s somebody that I’ve had a 20-year relationship with. All the respect in the world for the man, just the coach. He’s somebody that infuses confidence in everybody around him because he knows what he wants to do. He knows what he wants it to look like. It’s the belief that he’s able to pour into others, for what it takes on that journey.
You talk about the perspective; he does. He’s been a very successful head football coach. The last time he was an offensive coordinator he did win a National Championship. To make the choice and decision he made to come to Florida State, I mean, that is the purpose. That is the reason.
We have an opportunity here to really do something special, and I think that his focus is there on the offensive side of the ball, and he’s one of the best that have ever done it.
But he also brings perspective as a big picture, to continue to challenge every element within the organization, just to push to be the best, to be able to accomplish and do some of the things that he’s been able to do on his journey and what we all aspire to be.
Q. Just talk about you personally as a coach this year, because you have all these great coaches around you to help you to get better and get back to where Florida State was two years ago. Talk about having them in the room and you have new ears to help you get everything ready to go.
MIKE NORVELL: For us, as we all go through this, this career, as players, coaches, everybody involved, it’s who you get to do it with. That’s what makes the journey special. I’ve been blessed throughout my coaching career to be around a lot of wonderful coaches, and I believe this is a special staff. To be able to pour into them, to be able to help support them, to challenge them, for them to do the same for each other and for myself, it does make a great dynamic.
It’s one that I don’t take for granted, and every day that I come to work, I want to be able to provide that and I want to be able to receive that.
That’s where for me, as I reflect and I see, hey, with where things are within college football, within our team, our program, it’s one of the elements of the season I’m really excited about because I’m not sitting in just one side of the ball or to have one focus as much as what I have in the past. I get to continue to invest into them. I’ve had probably more one-on-one conversations with our players than at any point of going into my 10th season of being a head coach, and that’s what I do it for. I want to see these guys fulfill all I know they can be, and the challenges out there for a student-athlete right now are greater than it’s ever been. There’s great rewards when it comes to that, but there’s also unbelievable dynamics that they have to work through, and to be able to meet them where they are, to be able to continue to push them, to continue to help them understand all that they can be, more than just a jersey number, more than just the position. The teammate that they can be for this program and for the guys they get to do it with, that’s what makes the journey worth it.
So I am grateful for the coaches that I’m getting to be a part of. I’m excited about some of the flexibility that I get to do in my job on a day-to-day basis, and just to be able to pour in and invest in the wonderful players I get to coach.
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