Joel Klatt details level of pressure on Mike Norvell after poor season at FSU

No program swung more from what they did in 2023, and really in 2022 too, to 2024 than Florida State did. That has the pressure on Mike Norvell to get the Seminoles back to where he had them through four years, rather than five, in Tallahassee.

Joel Klatt assessed the pressure index of ten college coaches during the latest episode of his show on Monday. Klatt had Norvell, as well as Florida’s Billy Napier and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, in the area of ‘We Like You But…’, meaning there are things to like but also some concerns at this point.

“I think he’s in the (We Like You But…) category,” Klatt said.

The reasoning for that is pretty obvious with Norvell. The ‘like you’ comes from taking FSU from losing seasons in his first two, making it four straight for the program from 2018 to 2021, to double-digit wins at 10-3 in 2022 and 13-1 in 2023, with that second one being an undefeated regular season in which the Seminoles won the ACC Championship.

However, Florida State, notably, didn’t make the College Football Playoff that year. The ‘but’ comes from the year that followed, going 2-10 in 2024 for a very disappointing fall that was one of the very worst in program history.

“Obviously, I think that they’re happy Mike Norvell is there…The 13-0 start in 2023, is coming off of that 2-10 season where they became the first preseason top-ten team to lose ten games,” said Klatt. “He got a massive contract extension. So, like, I don’t think that they’re moving off of Mike Norvell, you know. I don’t think that they want to spend that type of money. But, like, from going from the 13-0 team that missed the playoff to 2-10 is just like, that is a wild margin.”

Because of that, Klatt is circling the in-state conference matchup against Miami as the pressure point for Norvell. He listed several reasons for the importance of that one for the ‘Noles, specifically where it would mean they are overall and within the state of Florida.

“I think that the game, October 4th against Miami, is a really big one for them. FSU fans are going to want to make sure that last year wasn’t a one-season anomaly. They were blown out by Miami last year. Can’t happen again. If they lose, they need to show that the gap isn’t widening between those two programs,” said Klatt. “Here’s the other part. It’s like, I talked about the hierarchy within the conference for OU and Tennessee. But how about the hierarchy within the state for Florida State and Miami? I think that’s a big issue here, and maybe even Florida, you know.”

“Miami has got some juice in this state right now. And they’ve got to prove that they can play at that level or even beat Miami because, if it goes the way that it did last year, that’s when it’s going to get, like, ratcheted up to 1,000. I don’t think they can go out there and get blown out by Miami. I don’t think that they will but that’s the one,” Klatt continued. “They’re likely to go 8-4 anyways, but you can’t do that and get blown out by Miami without your fanbase thinking that we’ve lost ground. This was an undefeated program that felt like they got absolutely jobbed out of the four-team playoff two years ago and now, two years later, you’re going to have a 2-10 season and get blown out by Miami two years in a row? That can’t happen.”

Beyond that, Florida State also just can’t take that loss in general. That’s with an upcoming schedule that, of their dozen games, includes a third of those being against competition that expects to compete for or be in the CFP.

“Florida State? They’ve got some tough games,” said Klatt. “This is not an easy schedule.”

“You would still have a game at Clemson, you would still have a game at Florida. So now you’re talking about, like, a minimum of 9-3 but remember, you still have ‘Bama to start the year. So now we’re talking about a minimum of like 8-4,” Klatt said.

Almost nothing has gone right for Florida State since the injury to QB Jordan Travis and, with that, their snub from the College Football Playoff. Still, Klatt thinks there’s enough goodwill to not have too much pressure yet on Norvell, at least pending the result against The ‘U at Doak Campbell Stadium in their first game of October.

“So, We Like You But…you’d better play well against Miami,” Klatt said. “That’s the situation that Mike Norvell finds himself in at Florida State.”