Florida State Must Find a Coach to Restore Its Standards

Florida State’s loss to Clemson exposed more than a gap on the field. As the game wore on at Doak Campbell Stadium, empty seats and a subdued crowd stood in sharp contrast to the rivalry’s former importance in the ACC. The announced attendance was 60,472, lower than at several of the Seminoles’ home games last season.

The defeat left Norvell with a 1-5 record against Clemson and came amid a broader decline: Florida State lost 23 of its last 33 games under him after the celebrated 2023 season. The university dismissed Norvell, and the search for a successor now carries a larger challenge than simply improving the win total: restoring the expectations and connection between the program and its fans.

Norvell’s 2023 team won the ACC and put together a 19-game winning streak, raising hopes that he had found a repeatable way to build a contender through the transfer portal. But the results that followed have made that season look less like proof of a sustained return to the top and more like an exceptional run. The program had already shown promise with a 10-win season in 2022, after a difficult start to Norvell’s tenure.

Florida State’s football fortunes have mattered beyond the stadium. Success helped drive investment in the university and development around Tallahassee, while the 2013 national championship era reinforced the idea that the Seminoles could remain a national power under new leadership. The next hire will be tasked with reviving that confidence as well as improving the team.