A familiar face with with a history of winning, top ten recruiting classes, and championship success could be back at the Florida State football operations building. Mike Norvell's coaching seat is a raging inferno. He has led the Seminoles to eight wins in their last 18 games. Change is coming.
With coach Mike Norvell and his Florida State Seminoles (1-1, 0-1 in ACC) traveling to Tuscaloosa to take on the No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide (2-0, 1-0 in SEC) on Saturday, all eyes of the Seminoles fan base will be glued to this game, and what will happen immediately afterward, should Florida State lose.
The Seminoles are +19.5-point underdogs. The coaching fate of Norvell hangs in the balance.
Norvell has led Florida State to just eight wins in their last 18 contests as he embarks on his seventh season in Tallahassee. If you poll the people, Norvell has overstayed his welcome. Changes in the athletic department have already been made, with former athletic director Michael Alford being shown the door with a pink slip in hand earlier this week. Many believe Norvell does not survive this weekend in Title Town of the SEC, regardless of the outcome.
In a post on X reported by Evan Sidery and per The Athletic, former Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher has been campaigning hard behind the scenes, letting his feelings be known about returning to coach the Seminoles. An analyst for the ACC, Fisher still has the coaching itch that needs to be scratched until he is bleeding.
Fisher was the head football coach at Florida State from 2010-2017, after serving as offensive coordinator for three seasons under Bobby Bowden. Fisher was Bowden’s hand-picked successor and was highly successful during his time in Tallahassee:
- 83-23 record
- .783 winning percentage (highest in school history)
- 2013 National Champions (Undefeated 14-0)
- Four AP top ten finishes
- Three ACC titles
- Seven top ten recruiting classes
- Coached QB Jameis Winston to a Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2013.
- Seven consecutive seasons of nine or more wins
The success during his tenure at Florida State cannot be ignored. Fisher is 60 years old. For comparison purposes, Nick Saban was 55 when he was hired at Alabama. We all know how that turned out. Fisher was also Saban’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at LSU from 2000-2004.
Norvell has posted a 39-35 record at Florida State, with a .527 winning percentage. In six full seasons, Norvell has coached the Seminoles to four losing seasons. Over the 2022-2023 seasons, Norvell led Florida State to a 23-4 record, went undefeated in the 2023 regular season and won an ACC championship.
But a serious lack of quarterback development, outside of starter Jordan Travis, cost the Seminoles a berth in the College Football Playoff in 2023 after Travis suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Northern Alabama. The Seminoles later lost by 60 points to Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
As with all transactions that accompany potential coaching firings, Norvell does have a buyout, approximately $51 million. People could argue that Florida State cannot afford to fire Norvell at this time, given the millions spent on facilities in recent years. But when a change is warranted, and demanded by the fan base, the university always finds a way to fund the buyout and part ways with an underperforming coach.
Fisher can recruit, and he is much better at developing quarterbacks than Norvell. He has the passion, and Florida State can probably get him under affordable and reasonable contract terms. Whatever happens on Saturday, the newswires will be ready to report any and all decisions emanating from the Florida State athletic administration offices on Saturday night or Sunday morning.
Then again, the decision may have already been made. Could we see a familiar face with a championship pedigree return to the Seminoles football operations building?
Florida State fans, and the rest of the college football world, want to know.
