Florida State opted to make its decision on Mike Norvell’s future one week early, saying on Sunday that the sixth-year head coach will return for a seventh season in 2026.
FSU president Dr. Richard McCullough,
athletic director Michael Alford, Board of Trustees chairman Peter Collins and Norvell all issued statements in the release announcing the decision, the common theme being that major changes will be coming to the overall infrastructure of the Florida State football program.
“[We all] are in complete agreement that changes are needed for our program to improve,” said McCullough. “Coach Norvell embraces our support in that process and agrees that success must be achieved. He continues to demonstrate an unwavering belief in this program’s future, and so do we. This decision reflects a unified commitment to competing in the rapidly evolving landscape of college football, while maintaining continuity within the program.”
With Florida State having gone 7-16 over the last two seasons, the Seminoles will now once again be tasked with rebuilding under Norvell.
“This program has been built on belief, sacrifice, and putting the team first,” Norvell said. “That set of values has always guided my actions, and those of our players. The driving motivation behind this is to make certain that we are doing everything properly to obtain and retain elite players, add critical pieces, and sustain long-term success. I love Florida State, and I am fully committed to this program, and our shared goals.”
What is there to take away from the choice to bring back Norvell? Was this season good enough to make that decision? And moving forward, what changes need to be made?
The Tomahawk Nation staff discusses below.
- First things first, how do you feel about the decision to retain Norvell?
Jordan Silversmith: It feels like the administration is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the fan base. We know this isn’t good enough and Norvell is not cut out for this. He got everything he wanted last year. Now it’s the personnel department’s fault? Stop it. Some honesty and a plan would be well received but this is more bad communications from a program that has lost the plot.
Jon Loesche: Perfectly sums up the current purgatory that FSU football is in. You can lay blame at Norvell, Alford, whoever. This is a decision that has been 20 years in the making across multiple poor decisions across multiple poorly run athletics administrations. A program that fancies itself at the pinnacle of college football just admitted it can no longer financially compete at the highest levels.
Matt Minnick: Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to hit reset on the program, we simply can’t afford our top targets in this year’s coaching cycle. There are just too many big boy programs all bidding up the prices on a relatively few number of ideal candidates. Am I pleased that we are in this predicament? Of course not. Alford’s decision to give a guy who lost to Jax State a preposterously large and long extension as opposed to some type of incentive-based contract has set this program back years. But this is our current reality.
Jon Marchant: This sucks, man.
FrankDNole: It was the right decision considering the coaching landscape this year. Any other year with less chaos, I would not be happy with the decision to retain Norvell.
Perry Kostidakis: It’s financially pragmatic, I guess, and makes sense when considering how late in the cycle the coaching carousel and recruiting are but it feels like kicking the can down the road, even more so than any other tense point in Norvell’s tenure. Lame duck coaches don’t tend to pull off top 10 recruiting classes — an achievement that Norvell has failed to do so far at Florida State — or overcome an adversarial relationship with both fanbase and beat, as evidenced by the failure to do so this season.
- Was this year enough progress for Norvell to keep his job?
Jordan Silversmith: Amazingly, despite the win total, it isn’t. The team is still horribly coached and invents new ways to lose. How can anyone feel good about a team that out gained its opponents in 10 of 11 games but sits at 5-6?
Jon Loesche: From the worst year FSU football has endured, it was progress. But long-term FSU is in the exact same spot in year 6 of Norvell as in Year 2. 5-6 heading into the UF game with one year mercenaries having to do the heavy lifting. Outside of loading up on the 2023 run there hasn’t been progress.
Matt Minnick: TBD. Before the season began I said I need to see 6 wins and a win over a rival to feel like Mike did enough. As frustrating as this season has played out, those are still possible.
Jon Marchant: Based on preseason expectations, beat UF and make a bowl game, yes. Based on post-Alabama expectations? No
FrankDNole: In comparison to last year, yes. But not for FSU standards. Despite the fact that FSU will finish 7-5 after beating the Gators and their bowl opponent, the way they lost close games they could have won does not show enough progress over last year.
Perry Kostidakis: Any progress made by Florida State in 2025 — in the win column and on paper — is negated by the fact that the only way was up after 2024 and that FSU still fell short of expectations, something Norvell himself admits. This is a top 25 team on paper but coaching has, conservatively guessing, cost FSU at least three wins this season. It feels like an echo of 2021, where signs of improvement were evident but self-inflicted stumbles kept the Seminoles from getting over the hump and finishing the regular season with a winning record.
- What are the changes you need to see in the program for next season?
Jordan Silversmith: I’m not sure it matters, but determining a direction is what needs to be done. When FSU hires a new GM, will he be the person to hire the next football coach or someone else? All decisions need to be pointed to setting up the program post-Norvell.
Jon Loesche: Throw money at a real QB and Norvell can’t be the one to pick who to go after. 6 years in and the one QB to play at FSU that was worth a D1 scholarship was a Taggart holdover that Norvell kept trying to bench for a guy playing on one leg.
Matt Minnick: To start:
- A. Fire Yray
- 2. Fire Tokarz and Pap
- D. Hire someone who can crush recruiting in South Georgia. I don’t care if they go hire the damn Thomasville Central head coach. Hire effing someone with South Ga ties
Then you’ve cleaned up some of the mess, hopefully brought in another nice group of youngsters, and if next year doesn’t see FSU make the playoffs you can fire Mike when you’re not competing in a bidding war with the whole damn southeast for a head coach.
Jon Marchant: Since a new head coach isn’t happening, a complete overhaul of the recruiting department and philosophy and some new position coaches.
FrankDNole: Fire all of these staffers:
- John Papuchis-Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers Coach
- Tony Tokarz-Quarterbacks Coach
- Darrick Yray- General Manager of Personnel
- Jeff Kupper-Director of Player Development and Operations
- Devin Rispress-Director of Recruiting
- Molly Jacoby-Director of Recruiting Operations
- Josh Storms-Director of Football Strength and Conditioning
And ask Odell Haggins-Associate Head Coach to retire to free up his salary.
Perry Kostidakis: If we’re pinning things on off-the-field factors, then I need a complete restructuring of how Florida State approaches its program, ranging from recruiting to media production. FSU’s public relations have been a nightmare since Dec. 2023, from national messaging surrounding the university’s ACC lawsuit to communication regarding stadium changes. Its social media presence has been relegated to YouTube uploads of press conferences and a rotating series of evergreen graphics, rather than one reflective of a university that’s home to one of the country’s best film schools and a plethora of talented designers, while the website consistently falls short of promoting the program, regurgitating features on players based on interviews held weeks or months prior.
And that’s just the niche stuff that only nerds like me care about. Florida State hasn’t signed a top 10 recruiting class since 2017, let alone under Norvell, which really emphasizes to me that it’s not just the general manager but also the recruiting coordinator and other points of contact, necessitating a few position coach moves as well. A new GM needs to be somebody who understands the modern landscape of college football (which is different from 2023, let alone 2020) and has autonomy. Shell out some money to keep the Desir twins, Ousmane Kromah and maybe Duce Robinson if he isn’t getting too high of a projected draft spot. I also would be fine with some changes to the strength and conditioning staff, if we’re really overhauling things.
