College coaches are naturally stubborn.
They are tasked with being leaders of 100-plus of the most athletic, ferociously competitive men anywhere in the country. They are often the highest-paid government employee in the state. Everybody, from the intern to the media to the athletic director, has an opinion on how to run their program. If a head coach always listened to the last person who spoke to them, their mind would change 100 times in a day. But the mark of any good leader is the ability to adapt and listen to others when they realize they do not know the answers.
This is where Mike Norvell has come up short.
During Norvells pre-spring press conference, I asked the head coach what other changes he had made in the program, excluding the coaching staff, after he told the press at the end of the 2024 season that every aspect of it would be under evaluation. Here was part of his response:
We evaluated a lot of different things. There will be some minor tweaks and changesbut as a big-picture approach, were going to stay true to a lot of things that I know help put a team in a great position to grow and develop through spring ball.
The sirens should have gone off right there, but his message still held water, and the Seminoles were only a season removed from an ACC title. Fast forward eight months, and it is now clear that 2023 was the exception, not the rule, and if Norvell and Florida State want to get back to that level, actual changes need to be made.
On Monday, when speaking with the local Tallahassee media, Norvell went on one of his patented emotional tirades after a question from Warchants Corey Clark. The head coach passionately tried to convince whoever was listening that he holds the keys to unlocking the potential of the Florida State program, that he still believes in his capabilities, and that the fan base and administration should share this conviction.
The first time Norvell pontificated behind the podium during a rough period, back in 2021, it sparked the turnaround from an 0-4 start to a 5-3 finish. Now, he just sounds like an old man yelling at clouds.
While winning the press conference does not equate to winning games, Norvells inability to change his message resulted in the fan base, and in some cases reportedly his players, checking out on him. Throughout the early part of his tenure, those phrases were effective, but now everyone rolls their eyes at them. As weve seen through the snub, a two-win season and now this years fiasco, his message required more nuance rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Outside of discussing his teams need to respond and focus on the fundamentals, Norvell has pulled a new play out of his media handbook: selling the past because the future may never arrive.
Fixed it once. Were going to fix it again, he said, echoing his promise of an immediate, fast fix following 2024. Were in the process of that fix now. What weve done is not to the standard of Florida State this year. I understand that. I fully am aware that weve got to win the close games. Weve got to be able to play our best every opportunity that we step on that field.
Im fully aware of the outside narrative around our team is not good. Around me is probably not good. Thats fine. That will not affect, right, the job that Im going to show up and do. The job Im going to show up and do is Im going to pour everything I have in this team with a championship expectation for us to grow and be better. Why I can say that? Ive actually won a championship. Ive done that. Were going to do it again. Were going to do it here. That might piss people off. So be it. Theyll be celebrating when we are hoisting a trophy.
The continuing reminder that FSU won 19 straight games and an ACC title does not inspire confidence but rather serves as a reminder of how far the program has fallen. The constant mention of the great players that came through Tallahassee now serves as an indictment of what they were able to do despite Norvell, not that the head coach possesses the eye to identify that type of talent again. Nobody wants to hear about the past, and yet that is all Norvell discusses. Its no wonder the message doesnt resonate.
Norvells tone-deaf approach off the field is being echoed on it and influencing personnel decisions, including who to hire as coaches and which players to bring in. High-school recruiting has long been identified as the Achilles heel for Norvell and is the primary reason for the decline of his program. Florida State has still been unable to retool its team from the 2023 season the way many elite teams do around the country, and the lack of talent has translated to a lack of wins.
The head coach believed that he could continue to find diamonds in the rough like he did with Jared Verse instead of understanding that those are exceptions, not the rule. If Norvell changed his approach with the portal, or changed who was in charge of player personnel, FSU may have had more talent waiting in the wings. Instead, Norvell struggled with most of his transfers in 2024, and the transfer-heavy 2025 team appears to be checked out with three weeks left in the season. The inability to attract top high school talent creates a chicken-or-egg scenario that FSU cannot escape, and the shortcomings are proven on the field.