Many eyeballs were on Tallahassee on Sunday to see if there would be any fallout after Florida State’s 24-10 loss on the road at Clemson on Saturday night.
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Pressure mounted for Florida State University to fire Norvell after the program’s 20-13 loss to Stanford on Oct. 11. Athletic Director Michael Alford released a statement in October suggesting FSU would have a complete assessment of Norvell and the football team at the end of the regular season.
Based on reporting at the time, it appeared the Noles lacked the funding for Norvell’s buyout of at least $53 million (though some estimates are in the $59 million range).
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FSU responded to fan outrage by blowing out Wake Forest 42-7 at home on Nov. 1. But the Seminoles’ showing on Saturday against a down Clemson team reignited frustrations in Tallahassee.
Norvell was not fired on Sunday. College football analyst Josh Pate claimed to have received multiple text messages early on Sunday morning indicating Norvell would be fired the same day.
Pate believes FSU has the money to fire Norvell right now, and he’s confused as to why the program doesn’t pull the trigger if the move is inevitable. The longer that Florida State waits to fire Norvell, the shorter the time the head coach has to look for a new job.
FSU’s buyout gets offset by any new job that Norvell takes. The longer it takes for Norvell to get started looking for a new job, the less likely he is to be a coach in 2026.
Essentially, waiting to fire Norvell is jeopardizing money for the program that could be better spent on a new coach, facilities and building the roster.
“It wastes time that Mike Norvell could be spending on his own search because there’s a duty to mitigate in his contract, which for those of you who don’t speak lawyer means when Mike gets fired, and we think it’s a formality at this point, he has a duty to go look for another job,” Pate said on “Josh Pate’s College Football Show” on Sunday. “Mike Norvell will get another job.
“He’s a good head football coach, probably a level above where he needed to be.”
Pate indicated all signs point to Norvell not returning in 2026. But he’s not sure if the holdup has to do with everyone at FSU not being on board at this point, or if Alford’s earlier statement about waiting until the end of the season is the reason for the pause.
“I’m not yelling for Mike to get fired. My opinion doesn’t matter here, Pate said. “The opinion of the people who do matter, big money people, administrative types, the athletic director at Florida State, all seem to be that he is going to get fired. So if he’s going to be fired eventually, why aren’t you doing it immediately?
“It’s not to save money. And from the sound of things, it’s not for you to come up with the money.”
FSU will next host Virginia Tech on Saturday before finishing the regular season against NC State and Florida. The Noles need to win two of those three games to become bowl eligible.
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