Mike Norvell calls on coaches to showcase their best every day

College football coaching in big-time college football is a non-stop grind. Especially in the transfer portal era of modern college football, there are a near endless number of prospects that coaches have to evaluate. Then, they have to figure out how to lure them to their campus. In his press conference on Saturday, Florida State head coach Mike Norvell acknowledged how much of a grind coaching can be, but he still demands his coaches to showcase their best every single day.

You can listen to his full response in the YouTube video below from 4:02 to 6:42. Or you can read the transcribed quotes below.

Mike Norvell goes in-depth on the culture he’s built at FSU

“And that’s what my message was to the coaches this morning [was]. Get off the road. It’s been a stretch. We worked. Our coaches, we push just like we ask our players to push. And you get on the road, you’re tired. You’ve probably got all your feelings that you’re working through,” Norvell said.

“And then we have a big recruiting weekend. Obviously, we’ve got practices. You’ve gotta be in the moment. That’s what I shared with the coaches. You come out here today and they better see your best. We’re gonna ask them to be their best when they get here. Get your butt up and let’s go.”

“And so, when we get recruits here, it’s an opportunity to showcase all the great things of this University. Put on display who we are. It’s not a presentation. It’s an opportunity. These kids, these families that are here. I just want them to see genuinely who we are and I say it all the time, we’re finding the best fit. When guys see the culture, see the mentality of how we operate and what we do. That’s gotta show up,” the Florida State head man said.

“They wanna be a part of that. Do they fit that? That’s when you get the chance to do something special in bringing together a team. That’s what we’re living out. It is a lot, but you’ve gotta be in the moment. This morning was practice. This afternoon will be recruiting. And tomorrow morning, we’ll finish that up and get back out on the practice field. And then, I’ll be on a plane as fast as I can get off this practice field tomorrow. Just to be able to get on the road and finish up this last week of the contact period,” the Seminoles head coach said.

Norvell then discussed how he wants recruits to get as realistic of a picture of their program as possible. He simply refuses to be fake and wants prospects to get a transparent look at the program and if they don’t like it, they can go elsewhere.

“Absolutely not. If that’s the case, then you’re fake. And I will not be that….I would be cheating our players if it was anything like that….The families, the players. They have to see it. If they want to go to a place that’s gonna be low key and everybody’s sitting back and slow tempo. This will not be the place for them,” Norvell said.

“If they see even the finest details of whether it’s running on and off the field, that’s important to what we do here. Then, they get to make a choice that that’s what they want to be a part of. That’s what has helped us,” the Florida State head coach said. “It’s not about a recruiting presentation. It’s about being real to who you are and finding young men and families that want to be a part of that. And then, when they come together, you’ve got likeminded individuals that are all gonna push and work to be together. I think that’s what you see with the culture that’s been established. And how these guys have been able to overcome because of that.”

Norvell should be praised for the Seminoles 2022 campaign. He’s done an excellent job of restoring the “Fear in the Spear” in Tallahassee. The program is not quite back where it was during the elite days of the 1990s, but Norvell and the Seminoles made some excellent progress this year and the culture they’ve built there is a big reason for that.

The atmosphere in the Florida-Florida State game in Doak Campbell this year felt like one of their classic matchups from the 1990s. The nation took notice. The Florida State win in that game was the most watched Friday college football game on ABC since 2005.

The Seminoles are going to be an exciting team to watch in their bowl game. FSU quarterback Jordan Travis has already announced he will return to school for the 2023 season, and he’ll be fun to watch, because he sure does spin an absolutely gorgeous spiral.