Florida State kicked off the 2025 season with a statement, taking down the Alabama Crimson Tide in dominant fashion.
In Mike Norvell’s eyes, it was good — but it could’ve been better.
“What I loved about it was that we won by two scores and I was kind of pissed off it wasn’t more,” Norvell said during his weekly press conference, emphasizing that while he was beyond grateful for the performance, he knows that the Seminoles can elevate their performance to an even higher output as the season goes on.
“There’s a lot of areas where there were opportunities for us to be so much better. You watch the film and there’s an absolute sense of urgency for improvement this week. That is our focus — what are we willing to do to go take a critical step for improvement for this team and this program and every individual within it?”
The head coach has faith in his squad continuing to push itself, evidenced by the performance put together in the Seminoles’ opener — and the work put in ahead of it.
“To see a team prepare the way they prepared…. a lot of new faces, a lot of guys who have been through the journey here, seeing the ups and downs. Young players who got to get extended action and make incredible plays and impact throughout the game. To have a top ten opponent come in here, and I felt like we were the dominant team. It was a dominant team win, one where you saw all different aspects of complementary football.”
The full interview and transcript will be added when available.
Opening Statement
Good morning, guys. Appreciate everybody being here today
I just want to first start off, thoughts and prayers with Ethan Pritchard and his family. It’s obviously an extremely tragic event for the young man. I got a chance to be there last night with him and his dad and family, and grateful for all the support and medical support that he was able to receive. Our football team, coaches, family, we’re all here to support them. Absolutely believe in, and Maria and I are praying for all parts of him and the journey that’s ahead. Definitely appreciate the support from everybody in the community that we feel and just continue to be with him.
Coming off of Saturday, just a lot of gratitude. Gratitude for this fan base, for the university, for each and every one of the players, coaches, staff, everybody involved. As you go into a first game, there’s a lot that pours into it. I know I said afterwards in press conference, glory to God for the opportunity I get to lead this program. I mean that with every bit of my heart. It is an absolute joy to represent Florida State in the position I have and the responsibility that comes with it.
To see a team that prepared the way that they prepared, a lot of new faces, a lot of you guys that have been through the journey here, have seen the ups, have seen the downs, some young players that got to get extensive action and make incredible plays and impact throughout that game. To have a top-10 opponent come in here and I felt we were a dominant team and it was a dominant team win.
One that you saw all different aspects of complementary football. You saw speed and physicality that was played. A team that believed, and that was something that I felt throughout the preparation. It started back in January and the competitiveness of what our guys showed and the edge that they brought. It was a great win. It was a great win for everybody involved.
It was awesome to see the fans. I know I mentioned the Marching Chiefs after the game. I’ve been here, this going into my sixth year, and I cannot remember ever having the feeling of what that felt like consistently throughout the course of that game. It was electric. Throughout my coaching career, I don’t know if I’ve ever been in an atmosphere like that. And I’m grateful for everybody involved and really proud of our players and coaches and everybody around the program. Our strength staff, athletic training, I mean you saw a team that was well prepared and it was strong. It was physical and I thought we were the aggressor throughout it. We talk about how we wanted to play, we talk about playing smart, and we were disciplined in what we did. I think we had one focus penalty in the course of the game. I saw a team that was very aware of what situations were showing up and what we wanted to do schematically and in different things. I thought we played fast, which comes from the work. I thought you saw great speed out on the field. The physicality that we want to see definitely showed up. I thought we won the game in the trenches. Even when you got to the perimeter, you saw big hits from safeties, corners, linebackers, H-backs, receivers. Obviously the offensive and defensive line performed like we expected them to perform. It was a great showing against a very talented group.
Lastly to finish, you look at those fourth-down stops that came down to just a handful of inches. That’s effort, it’s physicality, it’s determination, desire. Even on those plays, we didn’t find ourselves in great position in a couple of those moments, but you saw players that brought that edge and were desperate to win that one play. Then for our offense to go into a four-minute drill and to be able to finish with the ball in our hands, it was a great finish to a game where complimentary football had to show up. A lot of great individual performances, and we’ll celebrate that. But what I loved about it is that we won by two scores and I’m kind of pissed off it wasn’t more, because there are a lot of areas where there were opportunities for us to be so much better. I know you guys talked to coordinators last night, but you watch the film and there is an absolute sense of urgency for improvement this week. That is our focus. It’s about what are we willing to do to take a critical step for improvement for this team and this program and every individual within it. We’re going to go to work. We started last night. Our guys came out relatively healthy. Did have a little bit of injury news. Roydell Williams will miss a period of time. The overall extent of that we’ll see, but I absolutely hate it for the young man. It’s not something that we’re expecting to stretch into anything for the season, but he will miss a period of time this week. I just hate for him to miss anything because I thought he was a great factor in the game the other day. The fourth-down run on our own end of the field, he showed power and toughness and was definitely a great contributor in that win. With that, we’ll continue to move forward.
