Can Florida State football right the ship from the disastrous Willie Taggart and usher in a new era under first-year head coach Mike Norvell?
One question hangs over Florida State football entering the 2020 season: Did the Seminoles finally get the right head coach in the building? Willie Taggart clearly wasn’t the guy, so the program brought in Mike Norvell this offseason after his successful run at Memphis. Norvell now enters a situation with a ton of talent and an equal amount of dysfunction created by his predecessor.
Over his brief head-coaching career, Norvell has gone 38-15 and has consistently produced a high-scoring, exciting brand of football. Given that the Seminoles are coming off of a 9-12 stretch under Taggart’s watch, it’s hard to say that there’s anywhere to go but up for a team that, on paper, should be able to compete with almost anyone in the SEC or the country as a whole.
If there’s one issue that really haunts Florida State football right now, it’s the offensive line. Yes, quarterback James Blackman has yet to prove his merit entirely to this point but he and the run game have been playing behind the 8-ball consistently with the play in the trenches. Norvell hopes that a new arrival and some experience under a new staff will help the Noles advance in this instance.
Everywhere else, however, the Seminoles have a ton of players who could make a huge impact at any moment. Marvin Wilson might be the best defensive tackle in college football, Hamsah Nasirildeen and Asante Samuel Jr. are top-tier defensive backs, Tamorrion Terry is a big-play stud at wide receiver and the list goes on.
But it all comes back to Norvell. In an offseason shortened by COVID-19, will his fingerprints on the FSU program be immediately evident or will the Noles have some trouble yet again? Let’s take a deep dive into Florida State football in the 2020 season, going game-by-game through the schedule and making predictions, breaking down the depth chart and highlighting some possible breakout stars in Tallahassee.