If you saw a head coach had an 18-16 record and an 11-13 record in one of the weakest power five conferences, you would be disappointed. To make matters worse, that school had won a National Championship less than ten years ago. So, it is understandable that Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell has received some criticism.
However, Coach Norvell has accomplished more — much more — than his record shows.
After the disastrous Willie Taggert era, Coach Norvell was hired away from Memphis, where he took the Tigers to three American Conference championship games, winning one and making the 2019 Cotton Bowl. His hiring sounded like a slam dunk: Norvell was 39, led an explosive offense at Memphis, and developed NFL talent like Tony Pollard.
He began his tenure in Tallahassee in one of the toughest ways. During 2020, Norvell had to install his new scheme through Zoom meetings in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. Florida State disappointed on the field and started the Norvell era with a poor 3-6 record.
There were some bright spots despite the otherwise rough season. Norvell’s first win over an FBS team was against then #5 North Carolina. In the upset, Sophomore quarterback Jordan Travis had 298 yards and three touchdowns as Florida State held on 31-28. The Seminoles’ last game of the year also gave hope for the 2021 season. Duke in 2020 was by no means good, but scoring 56 points, rushing for 343 yards, and winning by 21 is confidence-inspiring.
Coming into the 2021 season, the Seminoles were projected to win 5.5 games and had the 4th best odds to win the ACC Atlantic. The big story was the quarterback position. Jordan Travis was back for his 4th season of college football, and McKenzie Milton transferred in from UCF. While Travis had started the previous year, he was very inconsistent. Meanwhile, Milton was elite at UCF but hadn’t played since 2019 after a horrific leg injury.
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The 2021 season would begin with an immediate test for FSU, hosting #9 Notre Dame. It was also the first game after Bobby Bowden’s death less than a month prior, making it his memorial game.
A storybook script was starting to manifest itself in Tallahassee. But after Florida State kept it close for a half, the Irish went up 38-20. Travis led a touchdown drive to cut the lead to ten, but he went out on the next drive due to injury. Enter Milton for his first action in nearly two years. He led another touchdown drive. 38-35. After another field goal, the game went into overtime. But storybook script closed in overtime as ND made the game-winning FG.
While a loss to a top-10 Notre Dame squad was nothing unexpected, what happened in week two could not have been predicted.
Coming into the game, the Noles have never lost to an FCS team, and were predicted to have a walkover against Jacksonville State. But Damond Philyaw-Johnson said screw that and scored the game-winning touchdown as time expired.
Florida State would lose their next two games to Wake Forest and Louisville, falling to 0-4. All the momentum that Florida State had after the Duke win was long gone.
Then a switch flipped. Florida State picked up their first win of the year in a close 33-30 game against 3-1 Syracuse. Then, they comfortably beat #21 North Carolina 35-25 in Chapel Hill. After an easy victory over UMASS, Florida State finally looked like a competent team and was putting things together.
None of these games were as important as their impending contest against a beatable Clemson squad, who they had lost to every season since 2014. A win here would give even more momentum to the ‘Noles to close out the season and try to make a bowl game. Even though they had a 20-17 lead with less than three minutes left, Florida State couldn’t close and lost 20-30. They followed that up by losing against North Carolina State 28-14, a game where the Seminoles never had a lead.
Florida State was now in desperation mode. 3-6 meant they needed to win out and win their bowl game to secure their first winning season in four years. #24 Miami rolled into Tallahassee on the back of three consecutive wins. The ‘Canes led 28-20 with five minutes to play, but a Jordan Travis rushing TD tied it up, eventually leading to a 31-28 victory for FSU. The week after, FSU held on against Boston College 26-23, keeping their bowl dreams alive.
The Sunshine Showdown in Gainesville. A historic rivalry that has seen many top-five duals and even a Game of the Century now would be for bowl eligibility. Florida had just fired Dan Mullen after losing to Missouri, and the Gators lost four of their last five after a solid start to the season. Florida was reeling, Florida State had momentum, and they looked to go to Norvell’s first bowl game. Despite the anticipation, the Noles laid an egg. They were down 24-7 in the 4th quarter before some garbage time scores led to the final score of 24-21.
Florida State missed a bowl game for the second year in a row for the first time since the 1970s. Meanwhile, their two biggest rivals went bowling and finished with a better record, despite also firing their head coaches. Arguably the biggest problem was closing out games. After two years, one of them shortened by Covid, it was unknown what path Norvell was on.
One thing is for sure Florida State wouldn’t tolerate another losing season. They’ve been playing at the level of Boston College, who, other than Doug Flutie and Matt Ryan, has never been relevant in football. With more pressure than ever, how could Coach Norvell recover?
The Seminoles recovered by silencing the doubters and started 4-0. After beating LSU and Louisville, They moved to #23 before the toughest stretch of the season unfolded.
Starting with a top twenty-five matchup in Tallahassee against Wake Forest, FSU was simply beaten. After taking a 7-0 lead, the Noles went down 28-7 early into the third. While they clawed back to make it a one-score game, it didn’t lead to anything as Wake Forest came out ahead 31-21.
Then came the NC State game. Florida State took a 17-3 halftime lead, and Wolfpack quarterback Devin Leary got injured in the second half. However, NC State chipped away at the lead and eventually went up 19-17 in the fourth. But Florida State was driving with less than a minute with a chance to kick a field goal to win. A Jordan Travis interception finished the game for the Wolfpack. Lastly, they had to play Clemson. After taking the early lead, FSU was no match for Clemson, who went up 34-14 early, cruising to a 34-28 victory.
Florida State won their next four games. The biggest against Miami. In Hard Rock Stadium, the Seminoles gave the Hurricanes an old-fashioned spanking and embarrassed them. That win secured Norvell’s first bowl berth, and the Noles went back into the top twenty-five. Capping off the season, FSU beat a feisty Florida at home and defeated a healthy Oklahoma in the Cheez-it Bowl.
What a damn season. If you still don’t believe in what Mike Norvell is building in Tallahassee, you haven’t been paying attention ?? #FSU #GoNoles #KeepCLIMBing
— Jordan Giorgio (@jordangiorgio) December 30, 2022
Before the season, FSU fans were hoping to win seven or eight games. Instead, the Seminoles hit double digits. It was their first ten-win season since 2016, which was also the last time they beat both of their in-state rivals in the same year. They also made it back to the top fifteen for the first time since 2017 and might get inside the top ten in the final poll.
The biggest problems from 2021 went away in 2022. In 2021, The Florida State offense didn’t throw for over 300 yards in any game and only threw for more than 250 yards two times. In 2022, they hit that number five times and 300 three additional times. Jordan Travis finished with a career-high 418 yards in the Cheez-it bowl win against Oklahoma.
A big part of the passing game’s improvement was adding 6’7, deep-threat wide receiver Johnny Wilson from the transfer portal. He finished with forty-three catches, 897 yards, and five touchdowns while averaging over twenty yards a catch. Speaking of Travis, he finished with 3,214 passing yards on 64% completion, with twenty-four passing touchdowns to five picks. In addition, he had 412 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. The last player of their big three was running back Trey Benson, who came on strong as the year went on. Benson eclipsed nine touchdowns and 990 yards. In the last five games, he had 593 yards and six touchdowns. Travis and Benson have already said they’re back, and Wilson is debating returning.
The close game record can improve, especially in big games but defeating SEC teams LSU and rival Florida by less than a touchdown is very impressive nonetheless. Against Wake Forest and Clemson, just turning the games into one-score games despite being down three scores is impressive and shows good fight, although they shouldn’t be down that much if they want to be ACC contenders next year.
We don't talk enough about Mike Norvell becoming an elite coach. This is how Swinney created his empire..by creating a culture rather than just recruiting the best players. Except Norvell is better at it & more believable. https://t.co/d7IQsze3P0
— Shaun ? (@FCSScout) January 2, 2023
In addition to the on-field performance, Norvell has been a solid recruiter for Florida State. This past cycle Florida State finished with the 19th-best class, including five-star receiver Hykeem Williams. In 2022, they had the 20th-best class, and in 2021 had the 23rd-best class. Even in his first year, in 2020, he finished with a solid 22nd-ranked class, bringing in the future of the program. More impressively is how Norvell has used the portal. Currently, their 2023 cycle is ranked number one in the country. The 2022 cycle finished 11th, including instant-impact players like Jared Verse and Trey Benson. In 2021, they had the third-best class and landed future first-round pick Jermaine Johnson. 2020 had the fourth-best portal class, including Jarrian Jones.
It’s still too early to tell, but it looks like Florida State is back. They’re playing better, recruiting better, and using the transfer portal better than most teams. The Willie Taggert era now seems like a distant memory to Seminole fans, who are ready to compete in 2023 and beyond.
