There once was a time when Florida State was considered one of the premier programs in college football.
That feels like a long time ago.
It’s been more than a decade since the Seminoles last won a national title. Worse, they’ve had just six winning seasons since then — including a disastrous 2-10 campaign last year that few saw coming.
Naturally, when things spiral for that long, fans cling to memories of the past. ESPN’s Chris Low just offered a reminder of those glory years.
In ESPN’s latest ranking of the top 10 most unbreakable college football records, Low listed Florida State’s 14 straight top-five finishes as No. 3 on the list.
For all the late Bobby Bowden accomplished during his Hall of Fame career, his remarkable consistency could be the most impressive thing. His Florida State teams finished in the top five of every final AP poll from 1987 to 2000, an amazing run no matter the era.
Bowden finished his legendary 34-year career at FSU with two national championships (and could have won a few more had it not been for those dreaded missed field goals against Miami), and more importantly, he put Florida State football on the map.
Think about it: Fourteen straight top-five finishes. Pete Carroll had some dominant teams at USC, and the Trojans' longest streak was seven straight top-five finishes (2002-08). The same is true for Oklahoma under Wilkinson (1952-58). And while Alabama won six national titles under Nick Saban, his longest run of top-five seasons was five in a row (2014-18).
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The Seminoles won national titles in 1993 and 1999 while sending a steady stream of talent to the NFL. Of those 14 top-five finishes, only one ranked fifth — the final year of the run in 2000. Since that historic streak ended, FSU has posted only two top-five finishes (2013, 2014) and five top-10 finishes (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2023).
The program simply hasn’t had the same staying power since Bobby Bowden. Since the Hall of Fame coach retired after 34 years in 2009, the Seminoles have undergone three coaching changes. Jimbo Fisher, Bowden’s handpicked successor, lasted the longest with eight seasons and a national championship.
Mike Norvell enters his sixth year in 2025, second only to Fisher in tenure since Bowden’s departure. But how much longer he lasts remains unclear, especially if the Seminoles endure another season like the last. That would only deepen the reminder in Tallahassee of just how far the program has fallen from the days when a top-five finish was the expectation, not the outlier.