After arriving with much fanfare from Memphis, Norvell immediately took Florida State to an undefeated 13-0 season and a spot in the Orange Bowl against Georgia. Although they would have been safely in the College Football Playoff in the 12-team era, a devastating injury to starting quarterback Jordan Travis at the end of the season allowed the committee to select Alabama instead. This single move ended the tenure of Norvell in Tallahassee; it's just that no one knew it yet.
After that snub, Florida State’s vaunted group of transfers opted out of the Orange Bowl, leading to a 63-3 humiliation against Georgia. It also led to Norvell getting a contract extension for eight years and $84 million from the Noles when it looked like Alabama was eying him to replace Nick Saban. That extension came with a buyout of 85 percent of the remaining salary should he be fired without cause. While some fans might call his past two seasons insubordination, technically it is not; it is a mixture of bad coaching, worse transfer hits and the worst high school recruiting of the millennium for the Seminoles.
From losing Travis Hunter to Deion Sanders through not having a top-20 recruiting class at any point during his tenure, Norvell has shown no propensity for bringing in high-end talent This leaves Florida State bereft of young players to develop, and they must count on hitting in transfer class after transfer class. None have been near that 2023 class, and it will cost Norvell with his job.
Week 1 loss should be the last straw for Mike Norvell at Florida State
Looking at the scoreboard on Monday night, you saw a score of 27-24, with a top-20 SMU team pulling off a late win with a last-second field goal. But what the scoreboard does not show you is how many chances the Mustangs gave the Seminoles to pull away, all of which and FSU refused. Norvell's team was spotted a +4 turnover differential, including an interception of SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings in the end zone as SMU was attempting to take a 24-10 lead in the third quarter.
Despite the Florida State defense doing everything it could to make things easier for Ashton Daniels and their offense, much like the stadium lights, it was just not meant to work. Daniels, who rushed for a touchdown, ended with just 125 yards on 12-of-23 passing. He was not good at Auburn in 2025, and due to limited funds forcing Florida State to whiff on the better quarterbacks in the transfer portal, Daniels was the only player they could get at the most important position. While the run game behind sophomore Ousmane Kromah’s 22 carries for 116 yards is promising, he will not be able to do it alone, and this offense does not show signs of getting better.
What is Mike Norvell's buyout? Why Florida State has no choice but to pay up
There were easy jokes being made all over social media that the lights going out before kickoff was really the university’s attempt to save money to finally pay Norvell's buyout. There was even a fake post on Tuesday claiming that Norvell had already been fired. While the second one is not truthful, we cannot be certain about the first one.
If Norvell were to be fired by Florida State before the end of this season, he would be owed a $51 million buyout, 85 percent of the salary remaining on his deal. If the move comes following the season, that number will reduce to $46.5 million. After two years in which the school went a combined 7-17 and missed two straight bowl games, fans are ready for the Norvell era to be over.
It is also time for AD Michael Alford to leave the school, as he not only made the Norvell hire and handed him a contract extension but also was the man responsible for FSU hiring previous head coach Willie Taggart. That is not an inspiring track record, and if Norvell is going to be replaced, Alford either needs to go along with him or there needs to be a consulting company used to find the next coach.
This will be an interesting bye week for Florida State before returning to action against Alabama in Week 3. The Crimson Tide looked good against ECU with new starting quarterback Keelon Russell at the helm. It does not look like Alabama is in the mood to face questions that would arise after a second loss in a row to the Seminoles.
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