HC Mike Norvell's confidence in himself, Florida State is beyond unrealistic

Mike Norvell has a high level of belief in the Florida State Seminoles. He also, seemingly, believes that he's going to be the one to bring FSU back to college football glory.

The problem for Norvell is that he may be on borrowed time down in Tallahassee. Florida State is 4-5 with three games left to play. Sure, they look like winnable contests against Virginia Tech, NC State and Florida, but nothing is guaranteed for this FSU team in 2025. The Seminoles just got beaten by a bad Clemson team, 24-10, and they also lost earlier this season to a Stanford team that only has three wins.

Even if Florida State were to win out and finish 7-5, Norvell's record would still only be 9-15 over the past two seasons.

That's why it's head-scratching that he's not just speaking confidently about his program, but he's speaking about the Seminoles like they're in a championship window.

"I'm fully aware the outside narrative around our team is not good, around me is probably not good. That's fine," Norvell said. "That will not affect the job that I'm going to show up and do. I'm going to pour everything I have to this team with a championship expectation," Norvell said on the Monday after the Clemson loss, per Andrea Adelson of ESPN. 

It is worth noting that Norvell did lead the Seminoles to an undefeated regular season and an ACC championship in 2023, so he can at the very least say he knows what his team looks like when it's humming at a high level.

The problem is, his next two seasons after 2023 have been disastrous. Overall, his tenure at FSU could be described as "middling" at best. He did have two "up" seasons with a 10-3 campaign followed by a 13-1 campaign in 2022 and 2023, respectively, but his record outside of those two years is currently 14-28. 

Mike Norvell hoping 2023 ACC Championship win will save him at Florida State 

Still, Norvell seems to believe that one ACC championship win is enough for Florida State's leadership to continue believing in him. He's also, boldly, asserting that he'll get back up that mountain top.

"I've actually won a championship, and we're going to do it again. We're going to do it here," Norvell said. That might p-ss people off. So be it. They'll be celebrating when we're hoisting a trophy, and it will be the belief that I see from our players, the belief that I see from our coaches, the talent that I know that our players have, and the guys that are coming to be a part of this."

There's a fine line between confidence and delusion, and Norvell is walking it right now. 

Florida State may indeed turn it around, but there's absolutely a chance Norvell won't be in Tallahassee to witness it. Florida State athletic director Michael Alford has said that he'll do a "comprehensive assessment" of the FSU football program after this season ends, and that includes a job assessment for Norvell.