In recent news, Florida has decided to fire former head coach Billy Napier. Many were expecting Napier to be fired, but here’s why Mike Norvell could part ways with Florida State and land a new job with the Gators.
Starting with Napier, this firing didn’t come out of nowhere. Many believed that Napier should have been fired for quite some time, and despite taking down Mississippi State last week, the Gators are still 3-4.
Mississippi State only lost 21-23, so it’s not as if Florida crushed them and then they fired Napier. Since joining Florida, Napier has only had one season where the team finished over 0.500.
That came last year when Florida went 8-5, which isn’t bad, but compared to expectations, it’s not enough. Heading into the year, Florida was 15th in the preseason AP Poll. Now, Florida is unranked.
This is a PREDICTION, not a REPORT.
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As for Norvell, he’s still with Florida State as of now, but it could make sense for both sides to part ways. Norvell is also with a prestigious program where he hasn’t lived up to expectations over the past few years.
By now, everyone should be familiar with Florida State going from a 13-1 season (2023) to a 2-10 season (2024). With how bad last year was, it wouldn’t have been shocking if Florida State didn’t give Norvell another chance.
They did, though, and Norvell didn’t do much with it. Through seven games, Florida State is 3-4, and it’s hard to see a world where Norvell stays.
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports broke down the scenario, explaining that, “Florida State’s downturn under Mike Norvell continued Saturday night with another unexplainable setback amid a coaching tenure that’s quickly unraveling. This time, it came as a 17.5-point road favorite against Stanford, a team that was previously winless in ACC play.”
Overall, the Gators shouldn’t rush to make their decision. If things play out as they should with Norvell needing a new home, here’s why it could be with Florida.
Why Mike Norvell Fits With Florida
Despite Norvell’s lack of recent success, he’s also a very prestigious head coach. Not many coaches can say they led their team to a 13-1 season, regardless of what happened after.
Not only that, but many potential candidates may have experience, but not at a super high level in college football. It’s one thing to win games, but it’s another to have experience and proven success at a high level.
Norvell has proven that he can win games and coach at the highest level. It would be wrong to say that Norvell just had one good year, either.
Norvell first led Memphis to a 12-2 season before coming to Florida State. Then Norvell led Florida State to a 10-3 record in 2022 as well. Then of course you have the 13-1 season you can point to as an upside case.
What Hiring Mike Norvell Would Mean for Florida
Hiring Norvell would be a bit of a risk, but the most important thing here is that Florida would be getting change to some degree. It’s hard to put the blame all on Norvell when the Florida State collapse was awful.
Some Florida fans won’t like this move, but based on the argument above, it would make sense. By replacing Napier with Norvell, you’re taking the bet that things went south not fully because of him, and he can help a school bounce back if given a fresh start.
Florida Gators Football Schedule
Florida had a brutal start to the year, taking on some extremely tough teams. The Florida schedule consisted of LSU, Miami, Texas, and Texas A&M.
Of those four games, the only win came against Texas, which is struggling as well. Right now, Florida is set to take on three more ranked teams. Georgia (#5), Ole Miss (#8), and Tennessee (#17). Overall, Mike Norvell clearly needs a change of scenery, and it would make sense for Florida to hire him if possible now that Billy Napier is out as the head coach.