Mike Norvell, who was named Florida State’s head football coach on Dec. 8, 2019, enters his fifth season in 2024 after leading the Seminoles to an undefeated regular season and the program’s 16th ACC championship in 2023.
Norvell earned the Dodd Trophy and Bryant Award in 2023, becoming the eighth coach and second since 2003 to win both national Coach of the Year recognitions in the same season. He also was named ACC Coach of the Year, joining the legendary Bobby Bowden as the only FSU coaches to earn the conference’s top coaching honor, and the AFCA Region 1 Coach of the Year while also being named one of five finalists for the George Munger Coach of the Year Award presented by the Maxwell Football Club and one of 12 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
Florida State rolled through an unbeaten, 13-0 regular season that included wins over eight P5 bowl-eligible teams, including No. 14 Louisville in the ACC Championship Game, and was No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll of the regular season. It was the third 13-win season in program history, and Norvell became only the sixth different ACC coach since 2000 to lead his team to an undefeated record in conference play. His ACC Championship Game appearance marked his fourth conference championship game, which ranks fifth among head coaches active in 2024, and he also is one of only eight head coaches ever to make three conference championship game appearances in their first four years.
FSU showcased dominance in all three phases, as it was the only team in the nation that produced a stretch in which it outscored its opponent by at least 17 points in every regular-season game, with eight of those games featuring a scoring run of plus-24 or better.
The 2023 Seminoles produced a program-record 25 selections to the All-ACC team, led by ACC Player of the Year and first-team all-conference quarterback Jordan Travis. FSU’s eight first-team selections were the most in the conference, and Florida State also led the ACC in second-team and third-team honorees. Keon Coleman became the first FSU player to earn three first-team all-conference honors in one season after being named first-team All-ACC at wide receiver, all-purpose player and return specialist.
Travis flourished in his final year under Norvell’s guidance, developing into one of the best players in the nation and finishing fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting despite being injured in the first quarter of FSU’s 11th game of the season. In only 10 full games, Travis passed for 2,756 yards and 20 touchdowns and added another 176 yards and seven touchdowns rushing for 2,932 yards of total offense and 27 total touchdowns. He completed his Florida State career holding program records for career touchdown responsibility, total offense yards, quarterback rushing yards and quarterback rushing touchdowns while also placing himself in the top-five in passing touchdowns, passing yards, wins as a starting quarterback, completions, completion percentage and rushing touchdowns.
Florida State’s 2023 campaign showcased playmakers in all three phases. The Seminoles led the nation in opponent completion percentage, pass breakups and passes defended while ranking second nationally in fewest interceptions thrown, third in net punting, sixth in passing efficiency defense, sacks and third-down defense and seventh in kickoff return average. FSU led the ACC in scoring offense for the second straight year while also leading the conference in yards per completion, sacks per game, kickoff return average, fewest interceptions thrown and fewest total turnovers.
Twenty-nine of Norvell’s pupils have been selected in the last eight NFL Drafts, led by first-round picks Jared Verse in 2024 and Jermaine Johnson II in 2022. Norvell has coached multiple picks in six of the last seven years. In addition to Johnson and Verse, Norvell also guided second-round picks Keon Coleman, Braden Fiske, Renardo Green, Anthony Miller and Asante Samuel, Jr., as well as third-round selections Trey Benson, Jarrian Jones, Darrell Henderson, Antonio Gibson and Dylan Parham. In his career, Norvell has coached 35 NFL Draft picks, 20 All-Americans, including 12 first-team selections, five conference Players of the Year, one ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and 108 all-conference recognitions.
Norvell’s offenses are averaging 37.0 points per game during his eight years as a head coach, which enters the 2024 season as the highest average in the country among head coaches active each year from 2016-24. Norvell is one of only three head coaches to produce a top-7 rushing offense and top-7 passing offense since 2016. His offense has showcased 60 individual 100-yard rushing games, 43 individual 100-yard receiving games and 26 individual 300-yard passing games. In addition to his high-powered offenses, Norvell’s teams have also scored 15 defensive touchdowns and 13 kickoff return touchdowns.
Norvell, a 2019 finalist for the Eddie Robinson and Bear Bryant Coach of the Year awards, has developed an impressive coaching tree in his first eight seasons as head coach. For the 2024 season, 42 current Division I coaches, including five head coaches and 13 coordinators, have served on a Norvell staff. He has hired coaches who are now on staffs at Arizona State, Oregon, Buffalo, Memphis, Southern Miss, Arkansas, Auburn, FAU, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pitt, SMU, USC and Virginia Tech, among others.
Statistically, the 2022 team was among the nation’s best in multiple categories in all three phases. FSU was the only team to lead its conference in both total offense and total defense in 2022. Florida State was one of two teams nationally to average at least 270 passing yards and at least 210 rushing yards per game. The Seminoles, along with Alabama and Georgia, were the only three teams to rank in the top-15 in yards per play on offense and defense. Those three teams were also the only ones ranked in the top-20 in total defense, scoring defense, total offense and scoring offense.
Florida State led the country with an average of 7.46 plays of at least 20 yards per game and ranked second nationally with an explosive play differential of +7.41. The defense was fourth in the country in passing defense, and FSU was one of six teams nationally to rank in the top-25 in kickoff return and punt return average. Florida State led the ACC in passing defense, third-down offense, yards gained per pass, yards gained per play, yards gained per rush, total offense per game, yards per completion, yards allowed per pass, rushing offense per game, yards allowed per play, total defense per game and scoring offense per game.
The Seminoles were led by Jordan Travis, who was PFF’s highest-graded quarterback and the highest-graded offensive player in the ACC. Travis continued to showcase his development under Norvell, ranking first in the ACC in yards per play, yards per pass attempt, yards per completion and pass efficiency rating. He had a school-record six straight games accounting for at least three touchdowns and became the first player in program history with at least 20 passing touchdowns and seven rushing touchdowns in one season. The redshirt junior saved his best performance for last, accounting for an FSU bowl-record 468 yards of total offense in the Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma that included a career-high 418 passing yards and 50 rushing yards, making him only the fifth player nationally with at least 400 passing yards and 50 rushing yards in a bowl game since 2000.
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