Plummeting win totals and a brutal postseason blowout land Mike Norvell on the hot seat as analysts rank him among the conference’s worst heading into a high-stakes season.
What does winning just three ACC games over the last two seasons get you?
A lot of pressure and a ton of attention for all the wrong reasons. College football analyst Andy Staples of On3 has put out his rankings of the ACC coaches for the 2026 college football season.
As one might expect, Miami’s Mario Cristobal, fresh off a national championship game appearance (and loss) is ranked as the top coach in the conference. Cristobal is followed by Virginia Tech’s new head coach James Franklin at No. 2, ahead of two-time national champion Dabo Swinney of Clemson, who is ranked No.3.
But when it came time to rank Florida State’s Mike Norvell, Staples put Norvell in the No. 12 spot. The former head man at Memphis, Norvell led the Tigers to a 12-2 record in 2019 and a berth in the Cotton Bowl against Franklin and Penn State. Norvell and Memphis suffered a 53-39 defeat to the Nittany Lions. Shortly after, Norvell was hired as the head man at Florida State after posting a 38-16 record in four years at Memphis, including two 10-win seasons.
Unfortunately, Norvell took his first and only power 5 head coaching job ahead of the COVID pandemic season of 2020. Everything was weird in the sports world that year, and Norvell led the Seminoles to a 3-6 record in an abbreviated schedule.
Norvell has posted a 38-34 record with the Seminoles (.528 winning percentage), with three losses each to in-state rivals Florida and Miami over that stretch. Going into his seventh season in Tallahassee, Norvell has just two winning seasons with the Seminoles, including an undefeated season in 2023.
Florida State was rewarded that season by being left out of the College Football Playoff, and then got destroyed 63-3 in the Orange Bowl by the Georgia Bulldogs, the victim of opt-outs by all of their top players and losing quarterback Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury at the end of the regular season.
Ranked near the bottom of the ACC, Norvell is listed ahead of Fran Brown (Syracuse), Bill O’Brien (Boston College), Tosh Lupoi (Cal), Bill Belichick (North Carolina) and Tavita Pritchard (Stanford).
There is no doubt that Norvell is on the coaching “hot seat” this season. Actually, fans could see a couple of staffers wearing fire-proof suits and following Norvell around the sidelines with a fire hose.
Norvell could make it through the entire season if he puts a winning product on the field. Florida State has the talent to win. But Norvell needs to foster a winning mindset and killer instincts in his players to make winning possible.
In the heat of the moment, can the Seminoles step up and do what it takes to win football games? We shall see. If not, that “heat” of the moment will be the flames nipping at Norvell’s heels as he is ushered out the door and booted to the unemployment line.
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