Mike Norvell uses doing the bare minimum as major selling point

Heading into the 2026 college football season, no one will be under more pressure than Florida State head coach Mike Norvell. After finishing the regular season unbeaten, and getting snubbed from the College Football Playoff in 2023, the Florida State Seminoles have turned in back-to-back abysmal seasons. Over the past two seasons, Florida State has gone 7-17 with a 3-13 record in conference play.

The Seminoles have Championship expectations, and the past two seasons have been so abysmal that Mike Norvell likely would've been fired if he didn't get a massive extension after the 2023 season. Now heading into 2026, Mike Norvell is at the top of the hot seat rankings, and a bad season will almost certainly end his tenure.

Mike Norvell takes pride in simply doing his job

On3's Pete Nakos spoke to Mike Norvell, and the Florida State head coach shared how he's "gone to work" this offseason.

Mike Norvell claiming that he's put his head down and gone to work and using it to show that his team is going to bounce back almost proves he's not the man for the job. The bare minimum fans expect is for their head coach to attack the job with everything they have, and having to say that you're trying hard rubs everyone the wrong way.

Saying that you put your head down and put in the work, but that you do that every offseason is another way to irk the fanbase. The fans don't want to hear about the work you put in, they want to see results especially with how the past two seasons have gone.

This season, Mike Norvell is going to be under the microscope more than he has been in any season. Gus Malzahn's retirement means that Mike Norvell will be calling the Seminoles offense, putting even more pressure on him to turn the program around. If Florida State gets a repeat of the last two seasons, it's going to likely lead to the program finally moving on even if it means they have to pay a massive buyout.