Florida State is ready for change and that's the worst news head football coach Mike Norvell could've gotten heading into Week 3. The university fired athletic director Michael Alford on Monday morning, releasing a statement that all but confirms Norvell's head is next on the chopping block barring a miracle trophy run this season.
"This step begins the next phase of restructuring that the University must commit to in order to compete in this era of college sports," Florida State's Board of Trustees chair Peter Collins wrote. "The President and the Board are in lockstep on the mission and what the results must be."
Alford didn't hire Norvell back in 2019, that mistake in hindsight was made by David Coburn who retired in 2021 and was succeeded by Alford. Yet, all but one season of Norvell's tenure fell under Alford's time in Tallahassee. In that span, Norvell delivered just two acceptable results -- a 10-3 season in 2022 and the controversial 13-1 campaign in 2023 where the Seminoles were left out of the College Football Playoff because of quarterback Jordan Travis' season-ending injury. Other than that, the program has been in utter disarray and the school seems to have finally had enough.
Mike Norvell's days at Florida State are numbered and not beyond 2026
It's unclear if there was a specific instance outside of the football program that sparked Alford's firing. The team was on a bye week after winning in Week 0 and falling short against SMU in Week 1. For all we know, the administration was making a preemptive change ahead of the upcoming slaughter Florida State is about to suffer at No. 10 Alabama on Saturday.
It seems the program has been snakebit ever since the tragic end to 2023. Norvell, despite preseason accolades for his transfer portal workings, hasn't been able to get those highly-rated additions to translate into wins. After seven seasons, he's had enought time to try and turn the ship around after the disastrous exit of Jimbo Fisher and blip tenure of Willie Taggart.
Florida State will be the program to watch this upcoming offseason as it replaces Alford and presumably Norvell as well. The search will be akin to LSU replacing Brian Kelly but will there be a Lane Kiffin-sized name out there for the Seminoles to lure in?
Florida State administrators will hopefully have learned from Penn State's struggles this past offseason being turned down by the likes of Matt Rhule at Nebraska and Jeff Brohm at Louisville to replace James Franklin. That potentially could have explained Alford's early-season exit so as to indicate there will be a wholesale culture change Norvell's replacement will have a big say in shaping.
While Norvell's clock is certainly ticking, it may be premature to consider a loss to mighty Alabama on Saturday as an overly justifiable reason to kick him to the curb. Though, many in the fanbase believe it's already long overdue. Norvell could survive as late as Week 5 where the team should've played a get-right game against Central Arkansas and be set up to face a Virginia team that is currently No. 25 but could slide out of the rankings by Oct. 9.
However, the school may want to reconsider sending the players into a brutal stretch of No. 23 Louisville, No. 5 Miami and Clemson all the same month coachless. Expect the program's second bye week (Oct. 24) to be the target date for a decision on Norvell's fate.
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