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Florida State coach Mike Norvell fires up sell-out crowd at Tallahassee Quarterback Club

DSC07065 (1)by:Matt LaSerre•08/22/23•

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Mike Norvell
Mike Norvell (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Fourth-year Florida State head football coach Mike Norvell spoke at the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Tuesday night during the organization’s annual season kickoff event.

And per usual, Norvell was his enthusiastic, energetic self.

During a more than 40-minute speech and Q&A session, he talked about the improvement of this year’s team compared to last. And he told the record-setting crowd of more than 400 inside the Champions Club what has him so fired up about the 2023 Seminoles.

“The thing that gets me so excited about this team is our best players are also the most improved players,” he said.

Norvell mentioned quarterback Jordan Travis, receiver Johnny Wilson and running back Trey Benson as being some of the best and most improved players on the team. However, the player he went most in-depth about was star defensive end Jared Verse.

Verse was named a top-10 player in college football by ESPN as well as to the Associated Press Preseason All-American team.

“You know Jared dealt with some injuries last year and wasn’t available for a good number of games there in the fall …,” Norvell said. “So there were some things there technique and fundamentally that he knew he could be better at. He embraced that challenge. …

“Jared played at an All-American level a year ago, but he comes in hungry to be better. I think we’ve seen that in his play.”

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Norvell also shared what he told Verse and the other players who decided to come back for the 2023 season after considering departures for the NFL.

“I promise you one thing,” he told them. “If you decide to come back, this is going to be the hardest offseason that you’ve ever seen in your life.”

With the start of the season less than two weeks away, Norvell also addressed the expectations around the program as the Seminoles prepare to face LSU on Sept. 3.

“As we go into this year, I get asked this question so much: ‘Coach, now there’s expectations for your program,'” Norvell said. “We’re at Florida State. There’s been expectations since the day I stepped foot on this campus. And there’s never been expectations on the outside that are greater than the ones we’ve had on the inside. … We’ve got a football team that’s believed in where we could go.”

Florida State will get back to practice on Wednesday after taking Monday and Tuesday off, and the Seminoles are expected to begin extended game-week preparations for LSU.

Watch Norvell’s speech and Q&A session below:

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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