You had a feeling this was coming. While plenty of Clemson fans had previously been pretty upset with head man Dabo Swinney, it wasn't close to the level of anger for Mike Norvell in Tallahassee. The 36-24 loss to Clemson had even more Florida State fans begging the administration to make a move. On Sunday, everyone got their wish.
News just broke that after falling to 3-5 on the year, Norvell is officially out of a job, with president Richard McCullough deciding that enough was enough. There was originally some hope that Norvell could turn things around in '26 to save his behind, but we now know that's not going to happen.
Chad Morris and Tait Reynolds teaming up on offense to ruin Norvell's shot of closing out the season? What a world we live in, but when the true freshman quarterback broke free for a 79-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, Doak Campbell Stadium started to empty out. It was a terrible scene for FSU, and it turns out it led to the end of this Norvell chapter on campus.
Breaking: Florida State has fired coach Mike Norvell, president Richard McCullough told @aadelsonESPN. pic.twitter.com/Xi2pT3u28i
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 1, 2026
Dabo Swinney of all people was the one to make FSU realize Mike Norvell had to go
During his postgame press conference, Swinney seemed downright livid with FSU fans who were throwing so much shade Norvell's way, of course calling out those responsible for paying for a plane to showcase a banner that had 'fire Novell' on it. We can only imagine what Swinney has on his mind right now, too.
"That was embarrassing," Swinney said on Saturday night while discussing the viral plane incident. "Florida State’s better than that. That’s not good for these kids. They didn’t even spell his name right. It’s disrespectful. Mike Norvell is a good man. He ain’t gonna say it, but I’m gonna. Whoever did that, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Ain’t nobody trying to lose. This job is hard. I don’t know why we think because people make money you have the right to destroy people as humans."
At the end of the day, Norvell was responsible for Florida State working to get the program back to its glory days. Instead, nothing but negativity has surrounded the program in recent years. Norvell brought in Ashton Daniels to be his starting quarterback this season, but that transfer portal risk backfired in a terrible way.
In the loss to Clemson alone, Daniels had three interceptions and a lost fumble. Nope, that's never going to cut it in an ACC showdown. Daniels' play alone didn't get Norvell fired, but it sure had an impact on how this has all played out. As did Clemson dominating the Seminoles for most of the Week 9 clash.
Norvell had to make a statement to make people believe in him, but the opposite went down. Because of that, the veteran coach is now unemployed, and I can't imagine too many schools will be racing to give him another shot after how things ended for him with Florida State.
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