Maybe FSU's Mike Norvell Is Starting to Prove Me Wrong

Sometimes, as a columnist, you have to be willing to admit when the evidence begins pushing against something you wrote.

Two weeks ago, after the Florida State Seminoles blew a 21-6 lead and lost 50-36 at Alabama, I questioned whether Mike Norvell could truly hold this program together when adversity arrived. 

That wasn’t an unreasonable conclusion. Florida State had gone from 13-0 entering the 2023 Orange Bowl to 8-20 afterward, including a 2-10 season in 2024 and 5-7 finish in 2025.  

But columns shouldn’t become permanent verdicts.

And after what Florida State did to Virginia on Saturday, maybe we are seeing the earliest signs that Norvell is finally building the type of connected team he has spent so much time talking about.

That doesn’t mean the previous concerns disappear. One 38-7 win doesn’t erase nearly three years of inconsistency.

It does mean we should pay attention.

“I have watched them come together since January, and if it was a team that broke apart through challenges, then it wouldn’t be much of a team, and it wouldn’t be real,” Norvell said.

That togetherness was tested almost immediately this season.

Florida State beat New Mexico State 34-17, then lost 27-24 to SMU before going to Tuscaloosa and surrendering 50 points to Alabama. Against the Crimson Tide, FSU allowed 567 yards, including 247 rushing, after building that 21-6 advantage. 

That was the night that prompted my criticism of Norvell.

What has happened since deserves equal scrutiny.

Florida State responded by beating Central Arkansas 34-7, holding the Bears to 110 rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry. The Seminoles also produced three sacks. 

Then came Virginia.

The Cavaliers scored a touchdown on their second possession Saturday and never scored again.

Florida State won 38-7.

The defensive turnaround is impossible to ignore. Virginia finished with just 37 rushing yards on 40 attempts, an astonishing 0.9 yards per carry. Quarterback Beau Pribula was sacked 10 times and finished with minus-62 rushing yards after sack yardage. Virginia managed only 168 passing yards. 

Meanwhile, Florida State ran for 281 yards. Ashton Daniels accounted for 136 and five touchdowns, while Ousmane Kromah added 80 and Quintrevion Wisner 46. 

Those are indicators of something more substantial than players simply saying the locker room remains together.

They suggest response.

Norvell’s teams haven’t always done that well enough.

“These guys have faced challenges, they’ve faced outside noise,” Norvell said. “Everybody wants to win, we are fighting to put our best foot forward in every situation, but these guys, even through the adversity, throughout the process of building this team, I think that’s one of the things that’s allowed them to want to grow and get better.”

That is where this Florida State team has an opportunity to separate itself from the ones that came before it.

After the Alabama loss, Norvell said there had been no “pullback” from his players. At the time, I wrote that belief wasn’t enough.  

It still isn’t.

But results are.

“To have a night like tonight, because they watch each other work, that was a great game,” Norvell said. “We talked about that strain, we talked about doing everything that you have and just a little bit more, not just for yourself but for who you represent.”

Norvell pointed to the relationships built over nine months and said this team “has not faltered” or “pulled back.”

Now comes the important part.

“What we do with that this week, it’s on us,” Norvell said. “As you see in this conference, a lot of great teams, a lot of teams that can any week you can go out there and win by a lot or get your butt kicked.

“I’m excited about where this team is trending, we’ve got a lot of work to continue to do.”

That last sentence should be the standard.

Florida State hasn’t proven Norvell has fixed everything. At 3-2, the Seminoles haven’t even proven they can sustain this.

But consecutive convincing wins, a defense responding after being embarrassed at Alabama, 10 sacks against Virginia and a team that appears to be playing harder rather than fracturing are legitimate indicators.

Two weeks ago, I questioned whether Norvell could hold Florida State together.

Maybe he is beginning to answer me.

Now he has to prove he can keep it that way.