Florida State is now being put to the Penn State/James Franklin test with Mike Norvell, and the choice they have to make is obvious
Florida State has to take decisive action after losing to Stanford on Saturday.
Florida State continued its football death spiral on Saturday night, losing to Stanford 20-13 on the road to fall to 3-4 (0-4) on the season. Among losses in Mike Norvell’s six seasons, this one might be the worst, falling to a far less talented Stanford team that’s already lost to Hawaii this season. Florida State’s consecutive ACC losses are now at nine after Stanford stuffed RB Gavin Sawchuck at the goal line to end the game.
Now, Florida State’s administration has a choice to make. Do they bite a very expensive bullet and pull off the move now that appears obvious, just as Penn State did with James Franklin? Or do they continue with the status quo in the name of money.
According to On3 Sports, that decision is being bandied about right now on the phones by FSU’s administration.
Florida State has little choice but to pony up and move on from Mike Norvell after latest loss
Penn State proved that money is no object for a program being willing to do what it takes to win, both in the short and long term, when they made the shocking decision to fire James Franklin after three straight losses, including back-to-back losses as more than three touchdown favorites to UCLA and Northwestern in consecutive weeks.
That move was a bit shocking in the sense that Franklin had Penn State a play away from the national championship game last season. Florida State doesn’t have that shock factor, coming in from a 2-10 season in 2024, which puts Norvell in much, much less stable ground than even Franklin was on coming in.
Of course, two situations are never the same. There had been musings and rumblings of internal issues within the team with Franklin this season. It doesn’t appear at least from the outside that that’s the case with Norvell and FSU. But the team’s continued lack of execution and continuing self-inflicted wounds from week to week (13 penalties for 79 yards against Stanford turned several crucial moments against FSU) makes even locker room and motivational issues go on the back burner.
Fixing the program and putting it back on track is going to be a very, very expensive investment for Florida State University. But winning isn’t cheap by any measure. Over $54 million is going to sting.
But some schools are willing to do whatever it takes to win. We’ll find out in the coming hours and days if Florida State is among those programs.
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