Florida State football hired Mike Norvell as head coach after a successful run with Memphis. Norvell’s tenure in Tallahassee was a slow burn, to put it lightly: FSU went 3-6 in his first year during the Covid-shortened season of 2020, and then went 5-7 in 2021. Slowly, Norvell’s Seminoles started to make progress, with a 10-3 season and a win in the Cheez-It Bowl a year ago setting the table for a highly anticipated campaign this year.
Florida State finished the year undefeated, winning the ACC with a perfect 13-0 record. It still won’t get a chance to play for the national championship. In the final year of the four-team playoff, the College Football Playoff selection committee picked one-loss Alabama and Texas over FSU. As our JP Acosta wrote, leaving FSU out is a “disgrace and disservice” to the sport.
Norvell went all-in with his statement after his Seminoles were wrongfully denied a chance at college football glory. This is one of the strongest statements you will ever read by a scorned head coach.
Here’s the full statement:
“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games. What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them. I don’t understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team.
“I’m hurting for our players who have displayed a tremendous amount of resilience and response this season. What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.
“I’m proud of the work we have put in and the players I have the privilege to coach. We have one more opportunity to define this 2023 team in the Orange Bowl, and I believe in how our team will respond.”
The reality is that Florida State would have been in the College Football Playoff if senior QB Jordan Travis didn’t suffer a season-ending leg injury. Travis sent his own devastating tweet after the committee’s decision. It just isn’t fair to hold an injury over a team that just won its conference with an undefeated record, something Texas and Alabama couldn’t say.
Norvell went to bat for his team and his fan base in their lowest moment. FSU deserved so much better. Even if FSU can’t play for a national title, they know they have a coach who has their back with Norvell. After a slow start to his time with the ‘Noles, Norvell has done everything to prove he’s the right man for the job in Tallahassee.
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