Mike Norvell describes how going for it on fourth down speaks to confidence on both sides

Over the years, more coaches have been willing to go for it on fourth down with more regularity. That’s a change that’s often been explained by the rise of analytics. However, for Florida State head coach Mike Norvell, it often comes down to trusting his team.

When making fourth down decisions, as Norvell explained after the Southern Miss game, it comes down to his confidence in the team. However, that doesn’t just mean his confidence in the offense to get the first down but in his defense to handle the short field if they don’t.

“Absolutely, and it’s confidence I have in our defense too,” Mike Norvell said. “This is a team and I tell the team all the time there’s going to be times when we have to have each others’ backs.”

In the win over Southern Miss, Florida State was aggressive on fourth down, going for it five times and converting four of those attempts. Through Week 2, Florida State is tied for 20th in the country in 4th down conversion percentage, at .833 percent. The Seminoles are also second in attempts, having gone for it six times now.

“Obviously, I have a lot of confidence. I wouldn’t do it, in going for it in those fourth down situations and we were able to convert 80 percent of them, but if you don’t then the defense has to have the back of the offense, and those are opportunities in our response that are necessary. I think this team it’s something we talk very openly about, we start in Fall Camp and we train those situations,” Norvell said.

“And I think our guys are growing in their confidence of what we can do just throughout that.”

Urban Meyer says Mike Norvell is a coach of the year candidate

Coming into the season, there was a lot of hype surrounding Florida State. After the Seminoles opened the season with a win over LSU, former head coach Urban Meyer declared that Mike Norvell should be a coach of the year candidate.

“Florida State, when I went back and watched it, they beat LSU,” Meyer said. “That was not a fluke. He’s a certain Coach of the year candidate because they were abysmal a couple of years ago. I mean, they had all kinds of issues with their players and culture. I actually met him and spent some time with him. I am really impressed with coach Norvell at Florida State.”