Never even in the most pessimistic fan's worst nightmare would anyone have thought Florida State would be sitting at 1-7 overall heading into November.
Just a year ago, Mike Norvell was leading a transfer-heavy Florida State team towards an undefeated regular season, ACC Championship, and No. 5 overall finish in the College Football Playoff. Oh, how quickly the tide can change in college football.
Now, Norvell is staring down one of the worst seasons in recent history for the Seminoles and, though he has one of the largest buyouts in the country, the coach went winless in the month of October, losing to rival Clemson at home to start the month and ending the month with a loss to another rival, this time the Miami Hurricanes.
It should come as no surprise that Norvell would now be trending on social media, as many fans voice their displeasure for the coach and the program he has seemingly lost.
We paid Mike Norvell 833K this month to lose all of October games. pic.twitter.com/jnAnftNqZ2
— TraditioNole (@TraditiNole) October 27, 2024
Mike Norvell post game press conferences: pic.twitter.com/Eg59yUb5ne
— 🇺🇸🍢 K-9 NOLE 🍢🇺🇸 (@PCNole813) October 27, 2024
Mike Norvell going from getting snubbed by the CFP to now going 1-7 is the wildest story ever in sports.
— Grant (@grantsglimpse) October 27, 2024
pic.twitter.com/M9pqQRICat
Coach Prime. 6-2 Bowl Eligible
— Vic Damone Jr (@dagreatest33) October 27, 2024
Mike Norvell. 1-7
Eliminated from bowl contention pic.twitter.com/MhslgCabIX
Mike Norvell is clueless
— tricknole 💨 (fart emoji) (@tricknole) October 27, 2024
He's done. Early 40s and already washed up and beaten
He has no clue what to do, how to fix the mess he created pic.twitter.com/8RxcOustdk
It's truly astounding how quickly things can change in college football. Heading into the 2024 season, there were Florida State fans who were saying that they believed Mike Norvell had surpassed Dabo Swinney as the best coach in the ACC. Now, those same fans want him on the next bus out of Tallahassee.
To make matters worse, Florida State didn't just lose to Miami this weekend. The Seminoles just lost another 4-star recruit, and some insiders believe the decommitments will keep on coming. For those keeping track, this makes the fifth 4-star to decommit from the Seminoles, who now hold just 11 commitments in their 2025 class.
Florida State has now had 5 commits decommit 😬 (all 4⭐️ ), dropping to the #48th recruiting class in the country
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) October 27, 2024
• Malik Clark ——> South Carolina
• CJ Wiley ——> ?
• Daylan McCutcheon ——> Texas
• Myron Charles ——> Texas
• Javion Hilson ——> ?
FSU now holds just 11… pic.twitter.com/6CjlTgiQks
With things falling apart on the recruiting trail, it seems to be yet another loss being dealt to the Seminoles. Only time will tell if Florida State decides to fire Mike Norvell, but that hefty $63 million buyout, will certainly give the administration reason for pause.
Florida State is already paying substantial legal fees for its ongoing battles with the ACC in court. Now, the Seminoles would be facing dishing out more than $60 million just to fire their head coach? That's not ideal.
Perhaps Norvell can get things figured out and FSU can put together some NIL money to lure a nice Transfer Portal class, but all the momentum is trending against the Seminoles currently, and it's going to take a sizeable shift for that to change.