Mike Norvell promises ‘immediate, fast fix’ for Florida State football

The 2024 season has come to an end for the Florida State Seminoles and head coach Mike Norvell with a record of 2-10. That final game came on Saturday night with a loss to their rival, the Florida Gators.

After the game, Norvell promised that there would be a fast and immediate fix for the football program and that the 2025 season wouldn’t be anything like what happened this year.

“Awful season,” Mike Norvell said. “That’s the best way I can put it. Very disappointing that we performed the way we did. A lot of circumstances that have shown up. Our fair share of adversity and some things that were outside of our control. Some things that we did control. We had a lot of young players that got opportunities and had to kind of get thrown into it before maybe their time. But with each of those reps they got, it’s an opportunity to grow, opportunity to build upon it. Just like I told the team there in the locker room, this is getting fixed. It’s going to be an immediate, fast fix.”

Florida State came into the season ranked 10th in the country by the AP Poll. However, things quickly went sideways for the Seminoles and Mike Norvell wasn’t able to turn things around. That 2-10 finish ended up being the worst since 1974 when the Seminoles were 1-11.

“We are going to make sure that every person a part of this program is all in that process for what’s necessary to go be better in how we respond, in how we continue to fight, develop, to execute, to go out there and perform to win the game and putting everything that we have to be the best we can be,” Norvell said. “And it’s going to start here in the off-season. Obviously, we have recruiting. Signing day here this next week. We’ve got the portal I guess recruiting season that will be opening up. That will be our focus of high school and potential additions of transfers coming in.”

While this year’s Transfer Portal cycle hasn’t opened yet, Mike Norvell has been active in the past. On top of that, Florida State currently has the 30th-ranked recruiting class in the Class of 2025, according to the On3 Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings.

“Then starting in January and really leading up, everything to that point it’s going to be our focus to bounce back as a program. That is what we’re going to do. It’s going to take an incredible amount of work. It’s going to take a unique set of guys that are going to come in here. The ones that are returning and the ones coming in, be prepared to fight every day for our identity and for what we’re all about. I’ve got a lot of confidence in who I’ve got in that locker room that will be returning and a lot of confidence in the guys that we’ll be bringing in to help on that journey,” Norvell said.

“This is done being the way that we played this year. Obviously, I take full responsibility in that. Went through the season, a lot of evaluation, a lot of areas where we have to improve and where we have to get better. I’m willing to do what’s necessary to make sure that we don’t ever have a season anywhere near what we put on display here this year. So, to the Florida State fans, the University, past players, even the guys in that locker room, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what showed up throughout the course of this year. It will be fixed.”

Mike Norvell on how FSU will be a quick fix

While Mike Norvell emphasized he is going to quickly turn things around at Florida State, it won’t be easy. That’s something he knows because he did it once, rebuilding the team he inherited.

“It took us two years and the third year we won ten games,” Mike Norvell said. “And we had games that we weren’t good enough in the middle of that season where we had opportunities to compete. We won the championship and went undefeated and won 19 games in a row between that third and fourth season.”

The offseason starts now for Mike Norvell and Florida State. It’s one that he needs to take advantage of if he wants to quickly turn things around in Tallahassee.

“I know what it looks like. Even coming in that first year, plenty of challenges with even how we got to get started, that kind of made it even that much more difficult. We didn’t get to go into a high school for the first year, almost year and a half that we were here. There are plenty of things that we’ve had to work through during our time here. This year, absolutely unacceptable. It was an awful season. I know the guys that we have, especially in these last few recruiting classes, guys that got a lot of early experience that didn’t always look good, but opportunities for them to learn and grow through. It will be all those experiences, the growth, development, and the push moving forward,” Norvell said.

“That’s going to be a huge spark for us as we get into the off-season, get into building, identifying — building that identity for this team in the next season and making sure we get the right guys to come in and be that spark as well. And so I’m confident because I went through my entire life, I know what it is to be successful. There is plenty of situations you might find yourself in that you might not want to be in, but there is a way that you work, you approach the things that are in front of you and you will rise and you will achieve it. And we’re going to do that here.”

One major change has already come for Florida State. Prior to the Seminoles’ final game, it was widely reported that UCF head coach Gus Malzahn would be leaving Orlando to join Florida State as the team’s new offensive coordinator and play caller.