By james art 
FSU head football coach Mike Norvell talks about the final 3 games of the season
FSU head football coach Mike Norvell talks about the final 3 games of the season
Even Mike Norvell is shocked by how the football season has gone in Florida.
The Seminoles head coach said Monday that he was surprised by his team’s 1-8 record and how the season turned out, especially considering what he thought FSU had coming into the year.
“I’m shocked at where we are. It was not expected,” Norvell said.
“You look at some of the results that we’ve had, you look at some of the circumstances that have come up. You go into a season and you have a picture in your mind of how things are going to look. I’m not blind to it, but I also know the challenges.”
Norvell said he has a few questions about his team heading into the 2024 season, mainly about how to react in tough situations. But he never imagined the year would turn out the way it did.
“Anyone who asked before the season, my concerns are how he’s going to look right now when things are going well or when things aren’t going well.”
Things are not going well for the Seminoles, especially on offense. FSU hasn’t had a quarterback throw more than 10 passes in its last three games as both Luke Kromenhoek and Brock Glenn have gone separate ways.
In the 35-11 loss to North Carolina, the Seminoles completed just eight of 18 passes between the two quarterbacks. Glenn finished with six completions for 123 yards and a touchdown, Cromenhook finished with two completions for 36 yards and two interceptions.
With offensive struggles, Norvell said it’s important to evaluate quarterbacks on what they’ve been asked to do in terms of the game plan and not attribute the mistakes of others to the signal callers.
“I’m watching them. I know what is required of them. You see the intent. You see the things they can control and how they execute it,” Norvell said.
“They don’t control the receiver split. They don’t control the defense all the time. There are some things in the sacks that we gave up that day where two are in pass mode, it reads like a guy could have made a better decision , and another one where we didn’t get any separation and didn’t win a one-on-one and the quarterback held the ball and was sacked.”
Norvell promises an offseason change focused on the final games of the year
Quarterback struggles aren’t the only issue Norvell and his staff have faced this season. FSU struggles in almost every area of the game outside of special teams.
After a 13-1 season that included an ACC title, falling to where the Seminoles are right now is unprecedented.
Norvell said there is a talented group that left FSU last season, and he thinks some of the players left over from last year’s team will thrive in a more advanced role. That hasn’t been the case for the Seminoles, as tackles are everywhere from both newcomers and veterans.
“It’s one of those things where I don’t always have an answer as to why some of these situations or circumstances happened, but you keep going to work. You keep trying to put guys in the best position,” Norvell said. “It really looks different from what I expected.”
“If you knew all the challenges that were going to come off the back of this, would you have done a few things differently? Would you consider a few different schemes or things you could include? Yes, of course.. But that’s part of going through the season and obviously it’s not going very well for us in the different elements that have come up.”
With three games remaining in a disastrous season, Norvell’s challenge now is to keep the future of the program intact. Whether it’s coaching changes or keeping young players from entering the transfer window, Norvell said he knows a lot needs to change.
He believes in the players in the dressing room and that they will make the difference both in the last three games and next year. He is aware that the team needs to be better at executing game plans and personnel evaluations that need to improve.
Norvell said he knows what he needs to do in the offseason to make sure a season like this year never happens again.
“I can tell you there will be a change in what we saw from this year to next year,” Norvell said. “But right now my whole focus will be on what’s coming up in the next three games, to be the best we can be.”
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @__liamrooney