On Monday, head coach Mike Norvell addressed the situation with McCoy. Norvell says he was watching the play closely.

Both players probably could’ve been called for a penalty, it just went against Florida State. Norvell believes that’s the consequences of the Seminoles being unable to control their emotions.

“I happened to be watching that one. We had two guys that were punching, hand fighting, two guys throw a punch, swing, whatever you want to call that, one guy gets called for it,” Norvell said. “You can go back and watch as many plays as you want to play. And that’s where: Control your emotions. You have to be in control of you. If we don’t swing, maybe we [don’t] get the penalty moving forward.”

“You put yourself in jeopardy. Obviously, that was a call that the official made. We’ve got to be in control of us,” Norvell added. “That’s a young player, second-year, highly emotional game, Lawayne plays his butt off. When he does have the ball, doesn’t have the ball, he’s really putting everything he has out there. And there’s a couple of plays really in that sequence that were negative for us.”

Norvell sees this as a learning moment for McCoy. When things get heated in the moment, stay in control.

As for pulling players when mistakes pile up, it comes down to the specific situation. Sometimes Norvell lets guys play through it; in other moments, it’s time to bring a player to the sideline.

“It’s just one of those, it’s a great teaching opportunity for him,” Norvell said. “Even with all the emotion, take a deep breath, control you. But there’s times, there’s some foolish penalties that have been made in past years, guys that I’ve coached, and sometimes this year, years before, you’re going to get pulled.”

“If you are doing something that is just blatantly negative to this team because of where you are in the state, well, you’re going to get your butt out,” Norvell continued. “There’s times when guys work through it. Those are all decisions that are made in the moment and based off of what I see and what I feel.”

McCoy finished the loss with four catches for 46 yards and Florida State’s only touchdown.

During the 2025 season, McCoy has appeared in seven games and made six starts. He’s caught 17 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

Florida State returns to action against Virginia Tech on Saturday, November 15. The contest will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.