Florida State’s culture makes them a CFP contender

Florida State is one program that plenty of people across college football are buying stock on heading into next season. If you’re going to do so, though, On3’s JD PicKell suggests that it be because of what the Seminoles have built in terms of culture at this point of Mike Norvell’s tenure.

PicKell applauded FSU’s culture during an edition of ‘The Hard Count’. He said that they’ve reached the point where the team can focus less on external issues and now flip their attention to what they’re doing internally. PicKell likes the idea of that too because what they’ve constructed within their locker room, especially with who all they brought back this offseason, is some of the best culture that the sport has to offer at the moment.

“Another reason why I’m buying hype on Florida State is the culture. And culture is cliche, culture is coach speak, culture is hard to define. But I’ll say this too: Culture matters,” PicKell said. “What you have in that locker room? What your mentality is? That all matters. And, every single year, teams across the country hit the reset button. You flush what happened last year and you go forward. (But) not Florida State.”

“That culture from returning production? Guys that contributed, guys that were a part of that culture and built that culture? They’re back. So it’s not reset, flush, get back after it. It’s what we were doing last year. Take that base and now we’ll just keep stacking bricks. We’ll keep building on top of it. That’s where Florida State is at right now. That’s the luxury they have,” continued PicKell. “And the culture is solid. I know what I’m getting. These are the same guys that bounced back from losing three in a row to finishing with six wins in a row.”

Norvell has slowly built FSU back to where they feel they should be entering 2023. After a 3-6 first season and a 5-7 second season, the Seminoles then reached double-digit wins for the first time in over half a decade. That included two wins over SEC programs and six straight victories to end the year, including a 35-32 win over Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl.

PicKell thinks Florida State has a lot to offer when you consider their roster and coaching staff. Still, considering what he sees from a cultural standpoint, he believes they’ll be able to take what they did last year and apply it for more success this fall.

“Everything about Florida State, from a talent perspective, from a culture perspective at this point of the year in spring before we even kick off the ball or start fall camp? I like it a lot,” PicKell said. “It’s promising and there’s proof of concept there, both on the roster and on the culture.