Mike Norvell responds to Greg Sankey's comments regarding Georgia, Florida State, College Football Playoff
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell caught wind of Greg Sankey’s comments at SEC Media Days regarding Georgia, Florida State and the College Football Playoff.
Both schools missed the CFP last season, but there was an outcry from Tallahassee it seemed. Considering the Seminoles were ACC champions and were undefeated, they had a case.
Norvell was asked about Sankey’s words, which included that the SEC “didn’t fly banners over places” after Georgia missed the CFP.
“I don’t disagree that Georgia was one of the top four teams if you’re judging off talent and ability but they also earned their loss,” Norvell said at ACC Media Days. “That was part of the result of what happened on the field. When you look at our team and what it was, we controlled the things we could control, we unfortunately had an injury, but we had a team that responded to it.
“Everybody can have an opinion of what happened. I don’t disagree they were one of the four best teams, but what happened on the field kept them out of the playoff.”
Mike Norvell responds to Greg Sankey after CFP comments
During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” Thursday afternoon, Sankey addressed the reaction that followed. He said he didn’t intend to call out a specific fan base.
Not that Norvell thought the comments were exactly about Florida State, but a lot of people interpreted it that.
“I said something on a radio interview yesterday about CFP selection last year. I didn’t think I was insulting anyone, and the headline is I’ve apparently insulted another fan base in another conference,” Sankey said. “Because we had had conversations with Georgia and Alabama about, ‘Hey, we might not have a team in’ – despite what I said on Saturday about, ‘One of these things is not like the other,’ and being confident, which I think is my job as a representative. I think Georgia was one of the four best teams on paper. Now, there’s criteria, it didn’t play out that way. And I think Kirby [Smart’s] frustrated, I was frustrated. But that’s reality, and there are things we didn’t do.
“That’s about last year. If people want to be mad about last year still, that really leads in to next year, which is evidence for why we are moving into a 12-team Playoff. Because I would argue you take Ole Miss last year, take Missouri last year. Those teams could have put together a run towards a national championship in this new format. That should be the focus. But you say things and as you described from [Apple CEO] Tim [Cook’s] experience, it can be perceived and manipulated in a certain way.”