It was bound to happen, but it still came as a surprise. In the wake of Clemson upsetting Florida State 36-24 on Saturday night, longtime Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell was relieved of his duties on Sunday. Florida State may have only fallen to 3-5 on the year, but the football program has not been the same since getting blown out by Georgia in the Orange Bowl after missing the playoffs in 2023.
With fans wanting Norvell gone years ago, Florida State president Richard McCullough admitted that the Clemson loss was the straw that broke the camel's back in his termination. “Yesterday was a bit of a defining moment for me,” McCullough said. Clemson and Florida State may be ACC rivals, but the manner in which the Tigers won sounded alarm bells throughout the Seminoles' athletic department.
Prior to this game, Clemson had not scored 30 points in a game against FBS competition. It has been well over a month since the Tigers threw for a passing touchdown. Tait Reynolds had the best game of his Clemson career on Saturday night, delivering the knockout punch on his 79-yard scamper to pay dirt. Simply put, Clemson was reeling with a meager offense, and Florida State still could not win.
Mike Norvell's latest referendum of a loss to Clemson sealed his fate
In a way, this goes back to the nature of Florida State being a 5.5-point favorite over Clemson coming in. At the time, it made sense, but the Norvell of it all put him in an impossible spot. He had to win a game as a favorite over a desperate conference rival at home, and could not get it done. Optically, it was terrible. McCullough knew he had to move on from Norvell in lieu of hiring a new athletic director.
While the "Fire Mike Norvell" banner flying above Doak Campbell rubbed Dabo Swinney a certain way, the decision to move on Norvell was a long time coming. McCullough tried to string this out as long as possible, hoping he could at least get to Thanksgiving Weekend. Instead, another referendum of a loss sealed Norvell's fate. The Seminoles had been playing better of late, but Clemson ruined them.
As for who Florida State will try to hire, we have to ask ourselves one important question: Where is the money, Lebowski? The thought was that Florida State had enough money to buy out Norvell and his staff, or pay for an influx of talent in NIL, but not both. If this still is the case, it make senses for Florida State to hire either a first-time head coach or someone who already has strong ties to Tallahassee.
Top coordinators for the gig could include Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann or Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines. While strong head coaches like Jake Dickert (Wake Forest), Bob Chesney (UCLA), and Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri) could make sense, what if they have to settle for Manny Diaz, Jimbo Fisher, or Mark Stoops? Diaz is the best bet, but Charles Huff would take this job.
Clemson delivering the knockout punch of Norvell has opened up the most intriguing job out there.
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