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.

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.

Nineteen of Norvell’s pupils have been selected in the last seven NFL Drafts, led by 2022 first-round selection Jermaine Johnson II. Norvell has coached multiple picks in five of the last six years. In addition to Johnson, Norvell also guided second-round picks Anthony Miller and Asante Samuel, Jr., as well as third-round selections Darrell Henderson, Antonio Gibson and Dylan Parham. In his career, Norvell has coached 25 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.
 
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.

The defense was led by first-team All-Americans Jared Verse and Jammie Robinson. Verse was the ACC’s Newcomer of the Year after he dominated in his first season at Florida State following a transfer from Albany, leading the conference with an average of 0.75 sacks per game and ranking second in the ACC and 10th nationally with an average of 1.4 tackles for loss per game. Robinson, FSU’s first back-to-back first-team All-ACC defender since Jalen Ramsey in 2014-15, was the Seminoles’ leading tackler for the second straight season. He registered 99 stops, including a game-high 13 in the Cheez-It Bowl victory, and recorded 5.0 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack, five pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons became the first FSU player to win the prestigious Wuerffel Trophy, given to the FBS player who best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field. Along with the Wuerffel, Gibbons, who started all 13 games at left guard, was voted captain of the Good Works Team, named the winner of the ACC’s Jim Tatum Award given to the ACC’s top football senior scholar-athlete and was selected as a first-team All-ACC performer.

The 2021 season was highlighted by first-team All-American and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jermaine Johnson II, who elevated his game into a first-round NFL Draft pick in his one season at Florida State. Johnson, the only athlete to win a Player of the Year award in his first season with an ACC program, and first-team All-ACC defensive back Jammie Robinson led FSU’s contingent of eight all-conference recognitions for the program’s most All-ACC honorees since 2016.

Florida State ended the 2021 season converting 32 consecutive red zone trips, the longest active streak in America and the second-longest streak at any point in 2021, scoring an average of 6.1 points per red zone trip during the streak. The Seminoles also grabbed at least one interception in each of the last eight games of 2021, tied for the longest streak in the country in 2021 and the longest active streak nationally entering 2022.

Florida State ranked second in the ACC and seventh nationally in red zone defense, allowing points on only 70.6 percent of red zone drives. The Seminoles also ranked third in the ACC with 20 total takeaways and 7.2 tackles for loss per game, while their 14 interceptions were fourth overall in the conference. The tackles-for-loss average ranked 12th nationally and was FSU’s highest for a season since 2016.

In his first season at Florida State, Norvell led the youngest team in the nation as freshmen and sophomores made up 75 percent of FSU’s roster and 34 players made their first appearance for the Seminoles. While navigating through a global pandemic that ended spring practice after only three sessions and impacted summer workouts and the regular season, Norvell became the only coach in ACC history to defeat a top-five team in his first season when FSU earned a 31-28 victory over No. 5 North Carolina. In the season finale, a 56-35 win over Duke, Florida State scored six rushing touchdowns, matching the program record for rushing touchdowns in an ACC game.

The Seminoles averaged 199.9 rushing yards per game, the program’s highest since 2016 and 20th nationally among teams that played at least nine games in 2020, and 5.11 yards per rush, 16th in the nation among teams with at least 350 carries and FSU’s most in a season since 2015. Florida State topped 400 yards of total offense in five of the last seven games, including more than 500 yards of total offense twice, and produced FSU’s first game with at least 250 yards rushing and passing since 2016.

Norvell’s teams are known for elite special teams play, and that was on display in his first season with the Seminoles. Florida State tied for second in the NCAA with five blocked kicks, including two blocked field goals, two blocked punts and one blocked PAT. FSU was one of only two teams in the country to block multiple field goals and multiple punts in 2020. Additionally, the Seminoles ranked 16th in the nation in net punting average.

The team posted a program-record 3.127 grade-point average in the spring 2020 semester, an immediate indication of the importance Norvell places on academics in his program, and Florida State produced a program-record 26 Academic All-ACC selections in 2023 to better the then-program-record 10 academic all-conference honorees after the 2022 season. FSU’s multi-year Academic Progress Rate of 972 released in May of 2023 was the highest in program history. As another public signal, 264 players have earned a Seminole Scholar patch on their uniform as part of a program Norvell introduced to recognize academic achievement.

Norvell spent the previous four seasons as the head coach at Memphis, compiling a record of 38-15, including the 2019 American Athletic Conference championship and a spot in the New Year’s Six Cotton Bowl. His 71.7 winning percentage was the highest in Memphis history. Memphis was the first school to appear in three straight American Athletic Conference Championship Games, and Norvell is one of 17 head coaches in any conference to appear in three straight conference championship games. He is also one of only eight to make three conference championship game appearances in their first four years as a head coach.

Memphis was one of three FBS teams to rank in the top-15 nationally in scoring offense every year from 2016-19, along with Ohio State and Oklahoma. Memphis shined on special teams under Norvell as the Tigers were one of only two schools with at least one kickoff return touchdown each year from 2016-19, and their 11 kickoff return touchdowns over that span were the most in the nation. The 2019 team ranked second in the country in special teams efficiency by ESPN, trailing only Penn State which hired Norvell’s special teams coordinator prior to the 2019 season.

The Tigers’ defense wreaked havoc on opponents, forcing 99 total takeaways and averaging 6.8 tackles for loss per game. Memphis was one of only six FBS teams with multiple defensive touchdowns every year from 2016-19.

In 2019, Norvell led Memphis to a school-record 12 wins and the program’s first outright conference championship since 1969. Norvell, who is the only coach in Memphis history with two 10-win seasons, produced two of the four 10-win seasons at the school and holds program records with eight wins in his first season, 18 over his first two, 26 in his first three and 38 in his first four seasons. He also holds the school record for the most wins over a three-year span with 30 victories from 2017-19 to bypass his 26 wins from 2016-18.

The 2019 Tigers produced a program-record 14 all-conference selections, including co-Special Teams Player of the Year Antonio Gibson and Rookie of the Year Kenneth Gainwell, in addition to Mortell Award winner Preston Brady as the national holder of the year. Gibson’s average of 28.8 yards per kickoff return ranked sixth in the country, while Gainwell ranked ninth with 150.54 all-purpose yards per game and 12th with an average of 6.42 yards per rush. Brady White, named a finalist for the Manning Award and Johnny Unitas Award, ranked in the top-20 in FBS in passing yards per completion, yards per attempt, passing efficiency, passing touchdowns, passing yards per game and points responsibility. He had a streak of 11 straight games with at least two passing touchdowns, tied for the longest streak in AAC history, and was one of five quarterbacks in the nation with at least 11 multiple-touchdown games.

In 2018, Norvell’s team boasted the fourth-best rushing attack in the nation, averaging 279.9 yards per game with a school-record 3,919 total rushing yards and 48 touchdowns on the ground. He produced the first season in Memphis history with two 1,000-yard rushers, led by Doak Walker Award finalist and unanimous All-American Darrell Henderson. Henderson broke the NCAA career record with an average of 8.22 yards per carry, and his 2018 average of 8.92 yards per carry was the highest for a season with a minimum of 200 carries in records dating back to 2000.

The 2017 team averaged 45.5 points per game, the second-highest average in the country, and ranked fourth in the NCAA with 523.1 yards per game and 7.35 yards per play. That year, Memphis forced 31 takeaways, good for third in the country, and ranked third with a turnover margin of plus-1.15 per game. The team’s average of 26.02 yards per kickoff return also ranked fourth. Anthony Miller earned consensus All-America honors after leading the NCAA with 18 receiving touchdowns and ranking third in the country with 96 receptions and 1,462 yards.

In his first year at the helm, Norvell immediately put his stamp on the program. Memphis ranked second in kickoff return defense, allowing only 16.04 yards per return, while boasting the nation’s fifth-best kickoff return average of 26.57 yards per return. The Tigers were the only team to rank in the top-17 of both categories in 2016. Memphis also forced 29 takeaways, the fifth-highest total in the country, and ranked in the top-15 in scoring offense, averaging 38.8 points per game, and passing offense at 304.4 yards per game.

The Tigers flourished academically under Norvell as well, posting single-year APR scores of 991 in 2018-19, 988 in 2017-18 and 976 in 2016-17. Under his guidance, the football team earned its highest grade-point average in program history in the fall of 2017. Through his first three years, 55 players earned their bachelor’s degree, including eight on the 2019 team.

Norvell took over at Memphis after four years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arizona State. The Sun Devils averaged 38.1 points per game and scored nearly 2,000 points in his four seasons. His 2014 offense gained 5,750 yards, 3,556 of those through the air, and ranked 13th in the nation with 34 touchdown passes. The 2013 team’s average of 39.7 points per game ranked 10th nationally.

Norvell spent one year as Pitt’s co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach and director of recruiting. From 2007-10 he coached wide receivers at Tulsa, adding passing game coordinator duties in 2009 and director of recruiting responsibilities in 2010. The Golden Hurricane had five 1,000-yard receivers under Norvell’s leadership, led by All-American Damaris Johnson. Johnson broke the NCAA record for career all-purpose yards with 7,796 and is one of four players in NCAA history with three seasons of at least 2,000 all-purpose yards.

Norvell was a four-year letterwinner at Central Arkansas and was inducted into the UCA Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. He broke the school record with 213 career receptions and was second on the program’s all-time list with 2,611 receiving yards and an average of 4.6 catches per game. He helped lead the Bears to 33 wins in his four years, including an 11-3 mark in 2005. The next year, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.

Norvell earned two degrees from Central Arkansas, completing his bachelor’s degree in social science in 2005 and his master’s degree in training systems in 2007. Norvell and his wife, Maria, have a daughter, Mila.