Mike Norvell is in a tough spot. The Florida State head coach needs to bring in better players to secure the future of the program. He also needs to win now - without adding new players - to secure his own future in the program. 

Norvell seems to have been working on both during FSU's Off Week. After a week of practices with his current team, the weekend without a game gave Norvell a chance to focus on recruiting next year's team.

While Norvell's future will largely be decided by what happens the next five weeks, he can also make himself more valuable to FSU by showing that help is on the way.

On Monday, Norvell shared pieces of the pitch he gave to top recruits. Some might call it a bit of PR spin, but his message is pretty compelling.

There were three key prongs:

• Look at all the freshmen playing this year - that could be you in 11 months.

• The losses are all one-score games - you could be the missing piece.

• The defense is aggressive and the offense is putting up big points - you'll have fun in our system.

One could find nits to pick in there, but it's a fairly honest assessment. There's a lot to like about FSU if you're a top high school recruit, least of all playing for one of the country's true blueblood programs.

That is, if Norvell is still the coach by the time you arrive next summer.

Such is the difficulty of Norvell's position, but that's not atypical for head coaches at major college football programs. Norvell said that high school coaches understand that dynamic and that players see the opportunity.

"Coaches, they live it," Norvell said. "They watch it. They understand. You see it still comes down to the result, but you see the style of play, you see it's all about the individual players and how these guys will be able to transition in to be able to make an impact, to be able to fulfill what they want from their collegiate experience.

"We've got great relationships and I believe have done a good job of building that, but also you see great opportunity. You see a bunch of double-digit true freshmen that have come in and played, had the ability to play and have been playing at a high level.

"You see an offense that's one of the best in the country in what we've been able to do with explosive plays, and obviously getting a lot of yards, scoring points.

"Defensively you see the opportunity to be able to go and attack and just some of the things that we've been able to accomplish, creating takeaways and explosive plays and the opportunities to be able to impact quarterbacks.

"Guys are looking at what is the place for me, how can I be put in position, and then they've got to visualize themselves with the opportunity to impact.

"Coaches, they see that. We played in a lot of close games that we've got to go take that step and finish for the result that we desire, but for recruits, when they're looking at hey, where do I want to be, who do I want to be with, what do I want to be a part of, there's a lot of confidence in what that is, and really for them, it's just being able to stay focused on that because everybody on the team experiences losses.

"We lose a game, and the first question, are you still considering them, are you still with them or whatever, and then you stack that upon going through a negative streak. Obviously, there's going to be a lot of questions.

"But it still comes down to the fit. It still comes down to where these guys see themselves in the best situation, the best place. There's a lot of excitement for the opportunity that's ahead and what they can be within this program."

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STAY OR GO: We won't know Norvell's fate for some time, but these three factors will be what decides his future at FSU. READ MORE