On Monday, after a long offseason, Florida State football will take the field and take one more step towards the 2026 football season.
Head coach Mike Norvell spoke with local media on Friday, giving a glimpse into a team that he says has put their “hunger” on full display as the team looks to lock in an identity over the course of 15 practices.
“It won’t be the end of the book here in April, but it is a very important chapter, and what we do to continue to build upon the foundation is going to be critical. I like what I see from this team so far. I think it’s a team that really does embrace and embody the work. With all the different factors that you see in college football, one thing I’d say about this team is you feel their hunger. There’s definitely a purpose behind every day that they’ve showed up, and you see that within their work and just all that they’ve been able to do.“
The Seminoles, who saw 35 transfers out and 23 players transfer in over the offseason (along with 27 early enrollees), will see competition across the board, but the position that most will be focused on is quarterback, with the Seminoles starting the season with a new player under center for the third straight year. Transfer quarterback Ashton Daniels and redshirt freshman Kevin Sperry will have the first crack at earning the right to start, with JUCO addition Malachi Marshall not enrolling until the summer.
Norvell said he has high expectations for both of his current gunslingers, saying “it’s gonna be best man will play… it’s going to be a fun one to watch.”
”We have big expectations for Ashton,” he said. “You bring in a guy that has experience, at this point of his career there are high expectations for what that needs to look like.
[Kevin’s] a talented young man, he’s a tremendous worker. Since he’s got here, he’s one of those guys (even last year) that he probably spent as much time in the facility, studying, preparing, doing the things that I think are necessary. He has all the components you want, and he’s excited for the opportunity,“ with Norvell noting that Sperry took the time to personally reach out to former players to further understand the expectations that come with playing in Tallahassee: “He cares a lot about being a Florida State Seminole.”
Norvell touched on what the return of wide receiver Duce Robinson has meant, saying that “this football team has his DNA, and I say that as the highest compliment. I’ve coached for 20 years. I don’t know if I’ve been around any better.”
“His heart, the willingness to serve, what he pours into his teammates, how he challenges himself — I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be able to coach him for another year. He absolutely could have declared and he would play in the NFL next year if he elected to do that. But he wanted this year — for one, for him to be better. You feel that in how he works, what he does, the urgency that I feel from him in being the complete receiver. But he’s also not wasting days. If he’s not in the facility, he’s doing something making an impact within our community — whether a couple weeks ago at the children’s literacy weekend reading to kids, or Monday night with the Horizons Unlimited event. He’s taking part in that, helping impact our university and telling his story.
“Definitely a special young man, and his DNA is something that is felt because there’s no hesitation.“
The coach, who is entering into his seventh year with the program, also talked about re-taking the reins at playcaller after the retirement of Gus Malzahn.
“Going through the year, going through this offseason, it was a tough choice [for him to retire], but it was the right choice for him and what he felt for him and his family and all that he’s done,” Norvell said. “I’m excited to be back in the room. Tim Harris Jr. has done really an outstanding job of putting his stamp on this offense….it was a very seamless transition for us.”
“As we move forward, to be able to do this together with finding the best combinations of what’s going to fit for our team, going into my 11th year as a head coach, I think seven, eight years I’ve been the play caller in doing that, something that we’ve had success with. And with some of the enhancements within our personnel department, being able to bring John [Garrett], being able to bring Taylor [Edwards] into the program and some of the additional personnel, it really allows me the opportunity where I feel I can put everything I have into the task that’s at hand, knowing that there’s ownership in every one of those other areas with a well-equipped and very talented personnel staff that we have now. Really looking forward to how all of it comes together. I’m having fun doing what is one of the things I really love to do.”
The Seminoles won’t be holding a spring game for the second year in a row, with Norvell citing the desire to maximize each spring practice rather than host a showcase where the team is constrained in what it’s doing.
”When you look at spring games, I mean, I’d say probably across the country, that’s probably a more common common theme than — of not having a spring game — than what it was ever before. But there’s a lot of different dynamics with that.
”We get 15 practices. I want to be able to maximize every one of those practices building to what’s going to show up game one here for this fall. I think that with a lot of the — just the scope of what spring games were or showcases were — you would have a practice where you wouldn’t show much, you wouldn’t do much. You get to certain points where you’re probably holding back on one of those days because you don’t want to show too much for your first opponent or who you’re going to play. There were some elements that were almost unnecessary.
”I understand fans want to be here. It is an experience. But when you look at the process of this team growing, of being all that we can be — we’re going to capitalize on getting three full scrimmages where there’s going to be what we want to do and what we want to be. We’re going to see what that looks like. You are limited with the amount of things that you can do — the number of padded practices, the number of scrimmage days. Being able to capitalize on all those with no self-imposed restrictions are things that I think will be good.
“I’m excited for this team that’s ahead. We do everything in our power to make sure that when we get here this fall, this team is trained and ready to go be everything I know that they can be. We’re going to utilize every one of those days this spring to make that happen.”
The full press conference can be viewed below.