Mike Norvell Has Been FIRED at Florida State

The Mike Norvell era at Florida State has mercifully come to an end after the Seminoles fell to 3-5 with a home loss to Clemson on Saturday. Norvell finishes with a 41-39 record in seven seasons in Tallahassee, with his most successful campaign coming in 2023 with a 13-0 regular season that infamously did not include an invitation to the four-team College Football Playoff after starting quarterback Jordan Travis went down late in the season.

This was a move that was long overdue, but it seems the FSU administration wanted to give Norvell every possible chance to right the ship so it could avoid paying a $50 million buyout. He just left the decision makers with no choice.

That 13-win season was obviously the anomaly in Norvell's tenure, but it still seems impossible for a team to fall off as dramatically as the Noles have in the three years since then. They haven't just been not competing for titles, they haven't even made a bowl game. This is a program that should be in the mix for a College Football Playoff spot every year, not getting embarrassed by the also-rans of the ACC.

All that matters now is who FSU can get. Is this still a job that could poach a sitting Power Four head coach? It's hard to gauge what the money situation looks like, given the Noles have had to pay well above market rate to get any players the last couple years because the on-field results were so bad.

Could Bob Chesney be swayed by the history in Tallahassee? Would Eli Drinkwitz or Manny Diaz leave solid situations at schools with lesser expectations for the pressure cooker of Florida State? I'm not sure, but this is a job that could set off a carousel similar to the one we saw last year.

All it takes is one guy who remembers what this program used to be and thinks he can get it back there.