Mike Norvell praises efforts of Florida State walk-ons

As fall camp wears on we’re fast approaching the time of year where some of the most heart-warming videos emerge from fall camp: walk-ons earning scholarships.

Florida State is a program that has made a habit of offering its top walk-ons a full ride if it has a few scholarship spots to spare.

“We’ve got a great group and we do a really good job of trying to identify guys that are the right fit for the university, the program,” coach Mike Norvell said. “Guys that for whatever reason or circumstance they start off paying their own way. Have had guys every year that have gone from walk-on to being put on scholarship. Great players that have played here.”

The season is only two weeks away and fall camp is just about to wrap up at most places, with teams set to break camp and transition into normal game week preparations.

Most coaches hand out scholarships to walk-ons right as camp closes.

Norvell indicated there are a handful of Florida State players who might be in line to for a bump from walk-on to the scholarship ranks.

“We’ve got a couple guys right now that are doing the same thing, that you know their future’s going to be very positive here at Florida State, having an impact on the field, and obviously who they are off the field,” he said. “It’s something we work towards, because we want the best personnel team.”

Norvell’s approach to walk-ons is a pretty welcoming one. You need walk-ons in your program either way; incentivizing them to work hard to potentially earn a scholarship is a way to get them performing at an even higher level.

That gives the rest of your team a better look in practices.

So when Norvell discusses walk-ons, there’s an air of respect about the importance they have to the team. And he also doesn’t discount getting a very, very good player from the walk-on ranks every now and then.

“Whether your starter’s a walk-on, there’s been some great players here that have had to start on a challenging path but turned into All-Americans and top NFL Draft picks,” Norvell said. “Everybody has their own unique journey.”