Mike Norvell shares his halftime message in bowl win

In his third season at Florida State, Mike Norvell made and won his first bowl game with the Seminoles. It was Florida State’s first bowl appearance since 2019 and first bowl win since 2017. With it, Florida State earned its first 10-win season since 2016.

It was a remarkable accomplishment for Florida State, but it also wasn’t a sure thing. The Seminoles were trailing at halftime but rallied in the second half. Now, Norvell has shared his message to the team at halftime.

“I told them to keep playing, continue to believe,” Norvell explained. “Trust your eyes. Trust what you see. Go out there and execute with fundamentals and trust your training. Just because things don’t go the way that you want them to early, doesn’t mean that you always have to scrap a plan or you don’t always have to make these huge adjustments. You just have to continue to believe in what you are doing.”

“I thought our players went out there and executed at a very high level. We were able to get critical stops, creating a takeaway when we needed it,” Mike Norvell continued.

“Offensively — the drive — I think it was a 15-play drive, 94, 95 yards, that was special. That was a statement drive for how you respond. You have to give credit to OU. They played hard. They brought a lot of different pressures. They were able to attack in a variety of ways. We knew that was an explosive offense especially with their skill positions at wide receiver. The young back, he is good. I know he is good. Yeah, the quarterback did a great job in what they were doing, but ultimately our guys just continued to fight. When we had to take the field one more time our defense ended it the way it needed to be ended.”

Norvell said that he’s proud of how his team responded to challenges. In particular, he praised the team’s kicker for working and building back his confidence.

“Just proud of this team,” Norvell said. “I want to give a shout out to Ryan [Fitzgerald] as well. Ryan went through some challenges throughout the course of this year. And whether it was confidence, whether it was things that he had to build back, he just continued to work day-in and day-out. To be put on the stage in the moment, need to make a field goal to put us up to go win the game, he answered the call. Very proud of him as well.”

Mike Norvell says FSU is a special group

Norvell clearly has a lot of love for this year’s team, calling them a special group of players after the game.

“Just honestly God for giving me the opportunity to coach these young men. This is such a special group. You know, just all the things that they’ve overcome, you know, the work that they put in the investment, the relationships, I mean, this is a special team. And even tonight when you know it didn’t start off the way we wanted, but their heart, their determination, just their belief,” Norvell said.

“That’s what showed up and we did everything that we needed to do to come out and to get this victory and to be able to finish this season with 10 wins. And to be called bowl champions, just so proud of this football team.”