Before Florida State dropped its third consecutive game in ACC play to Clemson on Saturday, Oct. 31, a banner flew over Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida, urging Seminoles leadership to fire coach Mike Norvell.
The banner, which misspelled Norvell's name and also included FSU's Board of Trustees chair Peter Collins, drew the attention of Dabo Swinney. The Tigers coach didn't hold back when he shared his thoughts about it in his postgame news conference.
"What I saw above the stadium was embarrassing. It was an embarrassment. Florida State's better than that. That's not good for these kids." Swinney said. "Listen, hey, I get it, man. Everybody's got contracts and
all this type of stuff, but man, that bothered me. They didn't even spell his name right. They didn't even have the freaking R in the name. I mean, it's just disrespectful."
Here’s Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s full quote ripping the people who flew a “Fire Mike Novell” sign over FSU’s football stadium pregame. He brought this up unprompted, calling it “embarrassing” and “shameful.” Dabo: “And they didn’t even spell his name right” pic.twitter.com/K1JTml3LI9
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) November 1, 2026
Saturday's loss dropped the Seminoles to 1-4 in ACC play and marked Florida State's 17th defeat in its past 21 conference games under Norvell, a stretch dating back to the start of the 2024 season. Florida State's lone win in conference play this season came on Oct. 3 in a 38-7 win over Virginia.
In its latest defeat, Florida State finished with more total yards of offense compared to the Tigers (415-351), though three interceptions from quarterback Ashton Daniels contributed to the Seminoles' loss.
If Norvell is fired on Dec. 1, 2026, he would be owed $46.7 million for his buyout, according to the terms of his contract obtained by USA TODAY Sports. It'd be the third-largest buyout in the history of college football.
Swinney added that whoever decided to fly the banner above the stadium should be "ashamed" of themselves and that Norvell is a good man.
"Mike Norvell's a good man. You ain't got to like him as a football coach. You ain't got to like me as a football coach. That's a good man right there. It's a good man, and he's a hell of a football coach. He ain't going to say it, but I'll say it. I was freaking disappointed to see that," Swinney said.
He added: "I don't know where we became this as a society, where it's just OK to just tear people down. It's like a blood sport now. You lose a game, fire everybody. Everybody stinks. How about we just support the kids? We just support the team. We count them all up at the end of the year, and we go from there. ... My heart goes out to Coach Norvell and his family and that team that just fought their butts off every single play."
Florida State will look to snap its skid at noon ET on Saturday, Nov. 7 on the road at Boston College.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dabo Swinney rips fire 'Mike Norvell' banner. 'Didn't even spell his name right'
