FSU's loss to Florida ended the 2025 season and left the Seminoles with a losing record. Head coach Mike Norvell, who is said to be returning in 2026, has made vague promises of changes to come.
Following Florida State's season-ending loss to Florida on Saturday night, FSU head coach Mike Norvell again promised that changes to the program would be coming "soon." And again, he declined to provide any specifics on what those changes might be.
The closest Norvell came to a direct answer was saying that he, the team and the coaching staff will meet on Sunday afternoon to assess what needs to be done.
"We're going to work," he said. "We're going to assess, address, do everything necessary to get it better and get it fixed."
While it's a given that there will be changes to the roster, the bigger question is that of the coaching staff. After hiring two new, high-paid coordinators last offseason, will Norvell opt for continuity or will he make more changes in hopes of sparking improvement?
Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and defensive coordinator Tony White both would be owed buyouts in the millions if they were fired. Malzahn's side impressed early in the season but struggled down the stretch, while White's defense had consistent issues in the first half of the year but improved by season's end.
Norvell declined to say if he would be retaining either or both, or moving on. He was directly asked if he prefers continuity or if he's considering making changes with his coordinators.
"You saw flashes of improvement across the board and then we saw some really bad moments in how we played," he said. "Obviously, it wasn't good enough. We know that. But there will be a time and place for all parts of that evaluation. I believe we've shown growth for what we need and how we need to play as a football team. It takes us all, and we've got to do a better job of that in these moments."
Here's everything else Norvell had to say after FSU's 40-21 loss at Florida, which dropped FSU to 5-6 for the 2025 campaign.
Opening statement: "Just extremely disappointing outcome tonight. Obviously, a game that we needed to win. We needed to go out and play our best, and it didn't show up, didn't coach good enough, didn't play good enough. Obviously, a lot of opportunities throughout the course of that game. You wanted to start fast, fell behind in the first quarter.
"Proud of the guys in the response there in the second quarter, made a defensive play, was able to get a couple of touchdowns. But third quarter, had some mistakes, fell behind, and they were able to really control the game through the end. Disappointed for every player, the work that's gone in, the expectations of our play, and when that doesn't show up it's infuriating. I apologize to our fan base, everybody associated with the university. They deserve better than what we just showed and I'm really disappointed in the outcome and the way that we played."
Norvell when asked about potential changes in the offseason:
"Right now, just coming out of the game, we've got to be better, and we've got to be drastically better from what we've shown. There's a time and place for all that, and we'll get to that here soon.
On UF running back Jadan Baugh, who had 266 rushing yards and averaged 7.0 yards per carry:
"We had opportunities and a lot of missed tackles. There are times we've got to put ourselves in better position, coaches, players. Had a couple of alignment issues. They were able to get to the edge and sometimes force a one-on-one, whether we didn't trigger fast enough or missed the play. That opens a lot of opportunity for a very talented back that we came into it saying we had to stop, and for him to have that kind of production was a complete failure.
On what prevented a quick fix in 2025 following 2024's 2-10 campaign:
"There are a lot of levels to that. I thought we showed flashes and I do believe in some of the areas of growth, some of the young players, some of the playmaking ability. We still had too much inconsistency of that throughout the program, a couple of new coordinators, some new faces. We weren't good enough in sustaining that. We played really, really well at times and then lacked consistency of playing clean complementary football.
"The fight has been there throughout the year. The guys have shown response. I believe in the young talent we have and some of the playmakers that have emerged. But it's the importance of execution in the moment and the importance of consistently putting our guys in the best position for what they need and what they do, and what needs to be done throughout the course of a game. All in all, we were not good enough at that.
"Start of the season, the way we began, some really good things. We faced adversity and had things that didn't go the way we wanted. A lot of close games, and those are some of the details, some of the ways we handled those situations absolutely have to be better. Some things happened that were outside of our control, but for what showed up tonight, that just wasn't good enough in any regard, coaches, players, any aspect of it. We've got to develop that consistency. I believe in the talent, the ability. I believe in some of the things we were able to put on display. But we've got to become a more consistent football team."
On FSU now having two straight seasons without a road win:
"Each game is its own game, we've had our opportunities in multiple road games to finish with a win. Whether it's one play or whether you don't play as good as you're capable of throughout a contest, you try to address areas of disconnect, make sure you're presenting different scenarios, options. You have to have a team go out there and regardless of what shows up on the road, play the play. We've let that snowball on us, and to go two years without a road win is incredibly disappointing. You try to meet each team at where they are with each individual where they are, and ultimately we didn't do a good enough job in that here this season."
On the decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in the first quarter instead of taking a field goal:
"It's trying to extend a drive. They had some success. We got the early stop coming out in the third quarter. We got to a fourth-and-one, felt high percentage in our mind, and conversions in fourth-and-one situations this year has been very high percentage for us. Tommy got to the edge, bang-bang play at the sticks with a run-pass option in that situation, and we came up short. Unfortunately, they went down three plays and got a couple of explosive plays and scored a touchdown. Just trying to extend a drive, trying to put points on the board. We've done that at a pretty high level in those fourth-and-short situations, but we did not get it done there.
On what he and the FSU program do from here:
"We'll immediately get to work. We'll meet tomorrow afternoon. We're going to work. We're going to assess, address, do everything necessary to get it better and get it fixed. This is a championship-level program, and we need to be competing for championships. I absolutely believe there's talent within this team and talent coming to this team that will put us in position to compete for championships. That takes every day, every moment, players, coaches, every aspect of our football program has to make that investment. It starts immediately.
"When it comes to any changes or big-picture things, we'll address that and do what we need to do when the moment's there. I'm going to handle that. Myself, administration, and players, we're going to meet this week and we have to go to work and get it done and get it better. I do believe in a lot of the young talent that showed up this year and the ability they've shown. We're going to learn from the experiences we've had. Players, coaches, everybody involved, we've got to take ownership of it and go get better."