Sound the alarm: Florida State, Mike Norvell are suddenly at a program crossroads

Almost nine months to the day, Mike Norvell reportedly had “serious conversations” with Alabama to become the heir apparent to Nick Saban. FSU’s head coach opted to rebuff the Tide’s advances and get rewarded with an eight-year extension and raise that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.

“We’re just getting started,” Norvell told ESPN. 

Well, the 2024 season is already over before mid-September, so whatever plan Norvell had for the future of the Seminoles’ program better look a whole lot different moving forward. 

On Saturday, Florida State came off its bye week and paid Norvell’s former Memphis team $1.3 million to embarrass them at home in a 20-12 loss. The Seminoles moved to 0-3 for the second time in four seasons under Norvell. 

Considering the ex-Tigers’ head coach brought the program out of the ashes with back-to-back double-digit win seasons, Norvell will get some grace to fix all the ills within FSU’s program. But the ‘Noles administration that handed him that $11 million contract is a getting a buyer beware lesson in real-time. Mike Norvell may well be the Portal King, but how much is that crown truly worth?

There’s a danger in living paycheck to paycheck as a program — eventually, the roster-rent comes due, and FSU is finding that out in all manners of pain early this season. 

Saturday’s loss to Memphis was arguably the worst yet for FSU in 2024, as the Tigers didn’t even play overly well to win in Tally. 

Every offensive drive for the Seminoles is like a root canal. They had just 67 yards at halftime — with twice as many punts and turnovers (six) as first downs. DJ Uiagalelei was terrible once again, but FSU’s problems are clearly way bigger than just pinning all their issues on a single player. 

They play with zero urgency or tempo (that’s coaching). The offensive line stinks. The running back room, after all the offseason buzz, has seriously underwhelmed, and the receivers can’t get open or catch the ball. 

Meanwhile, FSU’s special teams were a disaster on the afternoon, muffing a punt that set up a score and getting a targeting penalty that gave the Tigers good position for another offensive series. 

The defense, maligned the first two weeks of the season, did have three sacks and nine tackles for loss, but they also lacked effort at times (way too many missed tackles) and showed little resistance on third downs (7 of 16 conversions) or in the red zone (Tigers were perfect 4 of 4). 

All in all, it was a whole lot of ugly — and you’d need Superman’s X-ray vision to see how it might get any better for FSU the rest of the season. 

With Cal, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina and Notre Dame all still on the schedule, there’s a very realistic chance the Seminoles miss a bowl game for the third time in five seasons under Norvell. 

The ‘Noles already clearly lack leadership and culture, so what will the games look like when a portal-heavy, transactional roster becomes Checkout City?

It’s Year 5, and last season’s Cinderella run to a 13-0 ACC Championship sure looks like the outlier season under Norvell. 

Did Jordan Travis, Jared Verse, Keon Coleman & Co., just mask a lot of underlying issues within Florida State’s program?

Many are asking. 

There’s clearly a lack of player development. High school evals have been poor and Norvell’s staff lacks dogs on the recruiting trail. Travis, Verse and Coleman were all home runs, but the portal has proven it’s a lot like golf — it’s impossible to actually master. 

In spite of that truth, Norvell has continually leaned on transfers as FSU’s primary roster-building plan — and now he’s paying the price. In record fashion, FSU’s train wreck season has seen the program squander all its momentum from 2023. 

How does it get this bad for FSU? Your star transfers go to the NFL, and the best Norvell & Co., could do with an ACC title in their pocket was ink the No. 12 class in the 2024 cycle. The Seminoles — with the footprint in the talent-rich Sunshine State — haven’t signed a Top 10 class since Jimbo Fisher was still the team’s head coach in 2017.

Big changes better be coming to Tallahassee this offseason. Philosophically and materially (with staff and recruiting). 

The Mike Norvell postgame press conference ended because of a fire alarm.

If that’s not a sign of the times at Florida State, I don’t know what is.

Ok, who pulled the lever? Show yourself pic.twitter.com/zZBdamffRK

— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) September 14, 2024

Norvell’s postgame press conference ended abruptly Saturday because a fire alarm went off. The jokes may write themselves, but it’s no laughing matter at FSU right now.  Mike Norvell is on Garnett & Gold alert, and the bells on FSU’s future under the fifth-year head coach are suddenly starting to ring.