After months of speculation about Mike Norvell's job security, Florida State decided to make a change and fired Norvell in his seventh season as coach of the Seminoles, according to media reports confirmed by CBS Sports' John Talty and Brandon Marcello.
For weeks, the sense from those in and around Florida State was that Norvell might be safe due to his enormous $46 million buyout and an athletic department in flux. However, those factors couldn't save Norvell.
Apparently, the final straw for the power brokers at Florida State was Saturday's 36-24 loss to Clemson at home. The Seminoles weren't competitive for much of the game, and the Doak Campbell Stadium crowd dwindled in the second half.
The optics of a "Fire Mike Norvell" banner flying over the stadium prior to kickoff certainly didn't help, even if Dabo Swinney came to Norvell's defense.
Florida State hired Norvell in 2020, and he made noticeable progress in each of his first four seasons on the job. That culminated in a 13-1 season in 2023 in which the Seminoles won the ACC Championship but were left out of the four-team College Football Playoff after quarterback Jordan Travis went down with a late season-ending injury. That year, Norvell won Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year.
Since then, it's been a steady spiral downward for Norvell and the program as a whole. The 2024 season began with high expectations, but big whiffs in the transfer portal resulted in a disastrous 2-10 campaign.
Over the last two seasons, Florida State has been well behind the curve on the NIL market, and it's struggled to compete at a high level. Since the start of that miserable 2024 season, Norvell has led the Seminoles to a10-22 record with no tangible signs of progress.
Perhaps a coaching change will prompt a bigger investment into NIL and help Florida State close the gap with some of the biggest spenders in the ACC and college football at large.
Norvell exits Tallahassee with an overall record of 41-39, and based on his track record prior to the 2024 season, he will get opportunities elsewhere. Prior to his Florida State tenure, Norvell had a successful four-season run at Memphis in which he compiled a 38-16 record and an American Athletic Conference championship.
This breaking news story will be updated
Norvell's numbers
Year-by-year record for Mike Norvell
| Year | Team | Record | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Memphis | 8–5 | Boca Raton Bowl (Loss) |
| 2017 | Memphis | 10–3 | Liberty Bowl (Loss) |
| 2018 | Memphis | 8–6 | Birmingham Bowl (Loss) |
| 2019 | Memphis | 12–1 | Cotton Bowl (Loss) |
| 2020 | Florida State | 3–6 | |
| 2021 | Florida State | 5–7 | |
| 2022 | Florida State | 10–3 | Cheez-It Bowl (Win) |
| 2023 | Florida State | 13–1 | Orange Bowl (Loss) |
| 2024 | Florida State | 2–10 | |
| 2025 | Florida State | 5–7 | |
| 2026 | Florida State | 3–5 | |
| Memphis total | 4 seasons | 38-16 | |
| FSU total | 7 seasons | 41-39 | |
| Career total | 11 seasons | 79-55 |
