Florida State goes all-in on Mike Norvell with latest contract extension, so can the Seminoles' head coach deliver Top 10 results?
It’s good to be Mike Novell right now.
After leading Florida State to its first 10-win season since 2016, the third-year head coach has cleaned up in the transfer portal and been rewarded with a multi-year contract extension.
The Seminoles finished the 2022 season on a six-game winning streak and ranked No. 11 in the final poll. Thanks to a (smartly, IMO) crafted NIL approach, FSU convinced potential 1st-Round edge rusher Jared Verse to return to school. Norvell also landed impact starters like Virginia corner Fentrell Cypress, Western Michigan defensive tackle Braden Fiske and South Carolina tight end Jaheim Bell, among others, from the transfer portal.
While Florida, still reeling from the Jaden Rashada fiasco, and Miami, forced to replace both coordinators after a 5-7 season in Year 1 under Mario Cristobal, are models of chaos right now, Florida State suddenly looks like the kings of the Sunshine State under Norvell.
So now Mike Norvell must take advantage.
He survived a brutal COVID season He’s navigated the Seminoles out of the disastrous Willie Taggert era and brought stability to one of college football’s blueblood programs. He’s hired a great staff, with OC/OL coach Alex Atkins and DC Adam Fuller likely future head coaches.
Still, Norvell has just one winning season at FSU, yet the Seminoles just handed him the bag, significantly upping the ante in Tallahassee. They’re all-in now.
Norvell got a $4 million raise with three more years on his contract, making him the second-highest-paid coach in the ACC behind Dabo Swinney.
He makes slightly more than his in-state counterparts Cristobal ($8 million) and Billy Napier ($7.2 million).
But when you’re paid like a Top 10 coach in the sport, you better start delivering Top 10 results — on and off the field.
Those are the expectations now for Mike Norvell.
The Seminoles have finished the season as a Top 10 team just four times in the last 20 years — and not since 2016. They haven’t won the ACC Championship since 2014. They haven’t beaten Clemson in seven years.
The last time they signed a Top 10 recruiting class was 2017.
The good news for Noles fans? Norvell looks like he has the program positioned to deliver on the field — and then perhaps that success can help on the recruiting trail.
Norvell has signed solid classes with FSU, but the Noles have not recruited to their Top 10 potential. They landed the nation’s No. 20 class in 2023, and are off to a faster start early in the 2024 cycle with nine commits already — including six blue-chip prospects — headlined by the nation’s No. 2 tailback Kameron Davis.
Florida State beat its in-state rivals on the field last season, thumping Miami in Coral Gables and winning a seesaw affair against the Gators. Can Norvell win more heads-up battles for prospects against Cristobal and Napier, too?
Few programs enter the offseason with more optimism and momentum than Florida State.
Verse turned down the NFL. Star quarterback Jordan Travis is back. Same for veteran defensive tackle Fabien Lovett and top tailback Trey Benson. Plus all the supplemental pieces Mike Norvell has added via the portal.
In total, 18 starters return on what ESPN’s Bill Connelly ranks as the No. 1 roster in all of FBS in terms of returning production. That should certainly help the Seminoles navigate a very tough September when they play LSU, a likely Top 10 team, in Orlando and travel to Clemson at the end of the month.
The foundation is there for FSU to make a run at the ACC title; To crack the College Football Playoff field.
FSU’s administration rubber-stamped the hype with Norvell’s new deal.
Time to deliver.