Can Florida State football climb back from historic collapse? What's next after rock bottom

The primary transfer Florida State made after its worst season in 50 years was to cease the humiliation.

The Seminoles’ 2-10 marketing campaign had mercifully ended moments earlier with a 31-11 loss to Florida. When the Gators planted their flag triumphantly within the Tallahassee turf, FSU head coach Mike Norvell personally took the archrivals’ emblem and threw it to the bottom.

Critics cracked that the postgame uproar was probably the most struggle the Seminoles had proven all yr. However, eight months later, it additionally appears to be like like a becoming preview of Norvell’s rebuilding plan after one of the incomprehensible collapses in faculty soccer historical past: Florida State noticed an issue and addressed it with the fireplace and desperation Norvell stresses every day, then vowed the shame would by no means occur once more.

“No person ever needs to face disappointment, nobody ever needs to get knocked down,” Norvell mentioned. “However I’m constructed for this journey. This program is constructed for this journey.”

The journey forward for each is unmarked. No coach or Energy 4 program has suffered a much bigger year-over-year tailspin than the Seminoles, which went from 13-1 ACC champions in 2023 to useless final within the league final fall. They have been the primary preseason top-10 workforce to win fewer than three video games since 1956.

However this isn’t the primary time Norvell has needed to lead the Seminoles up from all-time low.

A month into the 2021 season, Norvell was 3-10 total (0-4 in 12 months 2) and nonetheless stained by an notorious loss to Jacksonville State. Two days after an unsuccessful rally in opposition to Louisville, Norvell delivered a fiery 4 1/2-minute rant that served as a recruiting pitch to anybody fed up with the most recent “failure” (his phrase).

It was a turning level for this system. FSU gained 5 of its remaining eight video games that yr, and a minimum of 10 gamers Norvell added within the ensuing offseason — those who noticed the issues and needed to be part of the answer —  grew to become core contributors to a 23-4 run over the following two years.

Look intently sufficient, and you’ll see similarities between that roster makeover and the one Florida State simply completed. Norvell’s 2022-23 portal lessons prioritized manufacturing, whether or not it was within the Energy 4 (Michigan State receiver Keon Coleman), Group of 5 (Western Michigan defensive lineman Braden Fiske) or FCS (Albany defensive finish Jared Verse). All three starred at FSU and have become top-40 NFL Draft picks.

After unsuccessfully overvaluing potential with big-name, blue-chip backups within the 2024 cycle, Florida State swung again towards confirmed efficiency this offseason. A portal class ranked sixth nationally by 247Sports totals a minimum of 319 begins; 17 of the 23 transfers enter with a minimum of 5 of their careers.

Tommy Castellanos was the one participant in Boston School historical past to report greater than 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 dashing yards in the identical season, inviting comparisons to Norvell’s final playmaking star quarterback, Jordan Travis. Squirrel White left Tennessee with the seventh most catches in Volunteers historical past. Luke Petitbon was one of many ACC’s high facilities at Wake Forest, and Jeremiah Wilson’s 4 interceptions final yr at Houston have been tied for third within the Large 12. Castellanos, Wilson and former USC receiver Duce Robinson all rank amongst The Athletic’s 90 most impactful transfers this cycle. 

“I needed to have an emphasis on guys which have executed it,” Norvell mentioned. “That doesn’t imply that all the things went nice for them. I needed to see their response.”

The identical was true along with his present roster. There have been, Norvell mentioned, “powerful conversations” and “powerful choices” about who confirmed sufficient resolve to deserve a spot within the rebuilding course of. The exodus, for one cause or one other, included Norvell’s high signee in 2023 (receiver Hykeem Williams) and 2021 (receiver Destyn Hill), the 2022 ACC defensive rookie of the yr (finish Patrick Payton) and the highest-rated quarterback Norvell has signed at FSU (Luke Kromenhoek). Of the 60 Seminoles who participated in opposition to Memphis — the sky-is-falling mid-September loss to Norvell’s former workforce — 36 are gone. Extra starters from that sport transferred out (seven) than stay (5).

The roster churn led Norvell to a gaggle of gamers that “mentioned sure to the expectation.” It’s virtually the very same phrase Norvell used to explain those that fought by means of his early struggles to show this system round final time. Gamers ultimately month’s ACC media days used one other phrase: determined.

“Determined to win, determined to eat, simply determined to succeed,” defensive again Earl Little Jr. mentioned.

Or, within the case of Castellanos, determined to make Florida State feared once more. He made ripples this offseason when he mentioned he didn’t see Week 1 opponent Alabama stopping him. Although the bravado was not at all times well-received by a quarterback who was 11-9 because the starter at Boston School and left earlier than the tip of final season, he mentioned the help was common from former gamers itching for a return to nationwide relevance.

“It’s my job to reinstall some good occasions, some happiness, some laughs, some pleasure that comes with profitable,” Castellanos mentioned. “We wish all people to have the ability to get again to the previous Florida State.”

If this Florida State does get again to trying just like the previous Florida State, it is going to be with a new-look teaching workers. Earlier than the season was over, Norvell fired three of his authentic hires: offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and receivers coach Ron Dugans. In December, Seminoles Corridor of Famer Odell Haggins moved from line of defense coach to a broader assistant position, ending a 31-year tenure that was the longest of any place coach at one college within the nation. Co-defensive coordinator Randy Shannon was out, too.

Their replacements included the highest-paid assistant in Nebraska historical past, defensive coordinator Tony White, and former Auburn/UCF head coach Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator. Hiring Malzahn did greater than add the expertise and information of a sitting Energy 4 head coach who got here 13 seconds away from main Auburn previous the Seminoles for the 2013 nationwide championship. As a result of Norvell spent two years underneath Malzahn on Tulsa’s offense workers, he can belief his mentor to run the system with a quarterback (Castellanos) whom Malzahn initially signed at UCF. Norvell traded his largest energy — calling performs — to have extra time for private conversations and one-on-one conferences than ever. Maybe deeper relationships can restore or forestall any intangible weaknesses that festered final fall.

Whether or not any of those modifications work is unknown. No Energy 4 program has ever had its win complete drop a lot from one season to the following, and the current outcomes of considerably related roller-coaster rebuilds are combined. Of the 11 different preseason top-10 groups to complete with fewer than 5 wins up to now 50 seasons (excluding 2020), 4 rebounded to complete ranked the following season.

The most effective-case comparability is what Brian Kelly did at Notre Dame after yo-yoing from 10-3 in 2015 to 4-8 the following yr. With a revamped workers led by three new coordinators, the Combating Irish bounced again to go 10-3 in 2017. Kelly gained 54 of his remaining 63 video games and made the Playoff twice earlier than leaving for LSU after the 2021 common season.

A worst-case state of affairs mirrors what occurred at Florida underneath Will Muschamp after a crumble from an 11-1 common season in 2012 to 4-8 with a house loss to then-FCS workforce Georgia Southern. Operating again Matt Jones mentioned the disgrace lingered all the way in which till the following fall.

When 2014 started, Jones mentioned the Gators put 4-8 behind them, and the chemistry points and finger-pointing subsided. However even an overhauled offense and top-10 recruiting class with three future Tremendous Bowl champions couldn’t flip issues round; Muschamp was fired after a 5-4 begin.

“We put up a struggle (on the sector), and that’s simply what occurred,” mentioned Jones, the Gators’ main rusher in 2014. “We got here up brief.”

Michigan State landed someplace within the center after falling from the 2015 CFP to 3-9. Mark Dantonio went 10-3, 7-6 and 7-6, then stepped away from a stagnating program in February 2020.

Norvell has owned final yr’s failures, past uprooting the Gators’ flag and instantly apologizing when the 2-10 season was lastly over. In December, he voluntarily reduce this season’s pay by $4.5 million “whereas recognizing that the outcomes and expectations should be upheld to the best stage.” The restructured contract additionally offers him the possibility to earn $750,000 again with each nine-win season beginning in 2026.

Norvell’s buyout could be north of $50 million after this season, cooling hot-seat hypothesis round a marquee model projected to complete seventh within the 17-team ACC. As an alternative, it places him and the Seminoles in a uncommon spot.

The primary 4 years of Norvell’s tenure have been outlined by “The CLIMB,” the motivational catchphrase that grew to become the title of this system’s YouTube sequence. The method labored all the way in which to the precipice of the four-team CFP. Now, after a historic free fall, is it attainable for Norvell and the Seminoles to climb again?

“Once you’re climbing a mountain, there is perhaps some occasions the place you slip and the place you stumble,” Norvell mentioned. “However a very powerful step alongside the journey is the following one.”

(Photograph: Grant Halverson / Getty Photographs)