TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With 34 seconds left in Saturday night’s homecoming shellacking of Wake Forest, Florida State president Richard McCullough and board of trustees chairperson Peter Collins bro-hugged in their garnet jackets just past the north end zone.
FSU’s 42-7 blowout win means the two most powerful people at FSU won’t have to answer the $55 million question — whether to fire Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell — for at least another week.
Norvell’s future has been hanging over the Seminoles and what’s already one of the wildest coaching carousels in college football history since FSU’s stunning loss at Stanford two weeks ago. Athletic director Michael Alford’s promise of a “comprehensive assessment of the football program” at season’s end merely paused the chatter.
Twelve days after that statement, Norvell’s Noles crushed the Demon Deacons to snap a nine-game ACC losing streak (dating back to last year) and climb to 4-4 overall.
“I hate that, all the stuff,” FSU quarterback Tommy Castellanos said. “Fire coach? Nah, nah. Coach Norvell’s been absolutely awesome. … I’m glad we got that done for him.”
What Castellanos and his teammates accomplished for their embattled sixth-year coach was one of the better all-around performances of Norvell’s tenure. FSU shredded a stellar defense and held one of the ACC’s most electric players, Demond Claiborne, to 43 total yards.
The performance addressed arguably the biggest long-term concern around Norvell: middling high school recruiting. One of his blue-chip 2023 signees, Samuel Singleton Jr., had a breakout game with 91 rushing yards and a touchdown. Another prep recruit, Ja’Bril Rawls, ended Florida State’s 12-game drought without a fumble recovery against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. Three-star freshman Mandrell Desir had a sack to end the first half.
The intangible improvements shouldn’t be overlooked, either, from a bench that never withered to the way FSU answered when it could have cracked early in the second half. After the Seminoles committed a fourth-and-7 pass interference to give the Demon Deacons the ball near the red zone, FSU rallied. The Noles capitalized on a bad snap by recovering the fumble and scored seven plays later. The outcome was never in doubt after that.
“They answered the call,” Norvell said.
So, for that matter, did the fan base. Six years ago, Norvell’s predecessor Willie Taggart faced a similarly dire situation at homecoming. His lopsided win over Syracuse was played in front of almost 30,000 empty seats. The apathy played into his firing eight days later.
Saturday’s announced attendance was solid (63,677), despite social media chatter about a potential boycott and a muted pregame tailgating scene. Norvell wasn’t jeered, unlike the now-former coach at rival Florida. Billy Napier was booed at home last month on his way into the tunnel after a win over Mississippi State in what became his final game. Norvell still pumped up a lively crowd as he threw a game ball into the stands.
But much work remains because of how rocky his tenure has been. Taggart was fired six years ago Monday with a 9-12 record over 21 games. Norvell’s record over his past 21 games: 6-15.
Bobby Bowden lost 13 of his last 28 games before getting pushed into retirement at the end of the 2009 regular season. Norvell has lost 15 of his past 28, and he’s not Bobby Bowden.
Since 1985, the Seminoles have lost only five times when favored by more than 17 points, according to OddsShark’s betting database and newspaper archives. Two were against future NFL stars (Southern Miss’ Brett Favre and NC State’s Philip Rivers). FSU quarterback Chris Weinke threw six interceptions in another. The final two: a 2021 home upset by Jacksonville State and last month’s loss at Stanford. That means Norvell is responsible for arguably FSU’s two worst losses of the past 40 years — and neither happened during last year’s 2-10 debacle.
The most recent disappointment was grim enough that a booster called it a “breaking point” in an email to McCullough.
“To continue forward with the status quo means we’ve lowered our standard and are content with mediocrity,” the booster (whose name was redacted) wrote in an email obtained via public records request.
An 8-4 record — which Norvell will obtain if he wins out — is mediocre for a program that has won three national championships. But crushing a competent Wake Forest team is several steps above that. It’s what good teams and programs are supposed to do.
Whether FSU is a good enough team and program to justify giving Norvell a seventh season remains an open question at the heart of the Seminoles’ $55 million quandary. Norvell had a three-game losing streak in 2022 that fueled uncertainty about his future; he rallied to win his next five, then beat Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl for a 10-win season that helped springboard FSU into its ACC title run the next fall.
The rest of the schedule is manageable, starting next week on the road against the worst Clemson team he has faced. Every other remaining game (Virginia Tech, at NC State, at Florida) is both winnable and losable for a team that has shown little consistency.
The rest of the college football landscape will play a role, too. The top of the coaching market is already crowded with openings at LSU, Florida and Penn State, plus Auburn trending that way. If there are more great jobs than great candidates, doesn’t it make sense for Florida State to wait? Or are the Seminoles at risk of sliding into irrelevance if trips to the Gator Bowl become acceptable?
The questions took a backseat late Saturday night as Collins and McCullough beamed at a celebratory Doak Campbell Stadium. On this Sunday, there’s no decision to make.