Two days into Florida State’s annual trip to Jacksonville, coach Mike Norvell has appreciated what he has seen from his squad so far this preseason.
“This team has done a really good job with how their mentality has been,” he said Friday. “It’s still about the challenge. Anybody can have a great mentality in day one, 70 degrees, feels good, great mentality. But it’s when you get knocked down, when you get hit in the face, when you have to deal with the ups and downs of all things.”
The Seminoles wrapped
up the second practice of their Duval excursion on a day that was not hot enough to satisfy Norvell’s desire to keep it scorching (“too many clouds and breeze for my liking”) but saw the offense respond during a session focused on situational football.
“Yesterday, defense had a dominant day,” Norvell said. “Today, working situational football, I thought the offense had an incredible response.”
That offensive success was buoyed by a strong day from the receivers, with Jasen Lopez continuing to draw accolades for his practice performances, as well as Duce Robinson. Norvell also said the quarterbacks had a good day, adding that the offensive line took a step forward.
Quarterback Ashton Daniels has largely protected the football, Norvell said, with one exception he made sure the quarterback heard about.
“I let him know about one bad, really, really bad decision yesterday, and I don’t think I’ll see that one again,” Norvell said. “He’s been outstanding when it comes to knowing where to go with the ball, his ownership of the things we’re asking him to do.”
Norvell also said the defense is “night and day from where we were a year ago at this time,” pointing to the group’s understanding, its confidence in what it is being asked to do and its versatility.
Always intending to treat this trip as a pseudo-away-game week, Norvell said the staff is sequencing situations to approximate what a road environment demands, on top of using the time as an opportunity for the team to bond. Former Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis addressed the team after Thursday’s practice, and Norvell said Travis told the players he could take the measure of every team he played on by how it handled this stretch.
“You’re sitting there in a dorm room and everybody’s in there together, and you got plenty of cinder blocks, and you got a little bit of time on your hand,” Norvell said. “You see guys, just the connectivity, and that’s something I think is so big in today’s age, where there’s so many different stories, so many different journeys.”
“When you’re coming out and your heels are on that goal line and you got to fight for an inch, there’s not a whole lot out there that’s there to save you other than what you and your teammates are willing to do,” he said.
Florida State will hold a lighter session Saturday before turning its attention to Sunday’s scrimmage, the second of camp. What Norvell wants to see then is simple.
“I want to see the application from this football team to go and put on display what they ultimately want to be.”
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell: August 7, 2026
Video courtesy Warchant
