Florida State has a lot to prove this season. After last year’s abysmal 2-10 campaign, all eyes are on Mike Norvell to turn things around in Tallahassee.
Despite winning ACC Coach of the Year in 2023 — a season where the Seminoles were controversially left out of the College Football Playoff — Norvell’s résumé otherwise leaves plenty to be desired.
Since arriving in 2020, Norvell is 33-27 overall with just two winning seasons. Now entering Year 6, he faces the challenge of pulling off one of the biggest turnarounds in program history.
That’s why The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel isn’t optimistic about Florida State in 2025.
“I also have no idea how much Mike Norvell’s team will improve, but I’m not optimistic it will be drastic,” Mandel wrote in his weekly newsletter. “Hiring Gus Malzahn as OC was … interesting. His offense will consist almost entirely of transfers, most notably QB Thomas Castellanos, who got benched at Boston College last year. I’m skeptical they reach a bowl game.”
For a program once synonymous with consistency, the fall has been steep. Florida State made 36 straight bowl games at its peak but has only reached the postseason three times in the past six years. That won’t cut it much longer for Seminole fans — or the administration.
Norvell tried to emphasize renewed belief in the program at ACC Kickoff.
“I’m so proud of our football team for the work that they have poured in throughout this offseason,” Norvell said. “From the winter program to the spring practice, going through our tour of duty, the summer workouts, and coming up to report next Tuesday. Back on the practice field one week from today. And they’ve done a remarkable job in the investment into each other and then into pushing to hit and to reestablish the championship mentality and expectation that we have here at Florida State. And to uphold the standard of what it is to be a Seminole.”
Still, as Mandel noted, Norvell is banking on major change in 2025. Not only is he relying on transfers yet again, but he’s working with a new set of coordinators. That type of overhaul usually takes longer than a year to pay off.