Mike Norvell lands on USA TODAY Sports' hottest-seat tier
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Mike Norvell enters his seventh season at Florida State football facing substantial pressure to reverse the program’s recent slide, and USA TODAY Sports’ Blake Toppmeyer believes the Seminoles’ head coach has one of the hottest seats in college football.
Toppmeyer placed Norvell in the “scalding hot seat” category of his 2026 preseason coaching hot-seat rankings, grouping him with Luke Fickell (Wisconsin Badgers), Dave Aranda (Baylor Bears), Mike Locksley (Maryland Terrapins), Bill Belichick (North Carolina Tar Heels), and Shane Beamer (South Carolina Gamecocks).
The distinction comes after consecutive losing seasons dramatically changed the trajectory of Norvell’s tenure. Florida State followed its 13-1 ACC championship campaign in 2023 with a 2-10 finish in 2024, then went 5-7 last season despite opening the year with a 31-17 victory over eventual College Football Playoff participant the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Seminoles finished 2-6 in ACC play in 2025 and did not win a road game, for the second straight year.
Toppmeyer pointed out that Florida State has now posted four losing seasons during Norvell’s six years in Tallahassee, while the financial commitment remaining on his contract continues to complicate any potential coaching change. He estimated that dismissing Norvell after the 2026 season would still cost approximately $45 million.
Florida State elected to retain Norvell following the 2025 campaign, but university leadership made clear at the time that improvement was required. FSU President Richard McCullough said the program and Norvell agreed that “success must be achieved,” while Board of Trustees chairman Peter Collins acknowledged that the on-field results had fallen “far from acceptable to the FSU standard.”
Norvell has already demonstrated the program’s ceiling under his leadership, guiding Florida State through an undefeated regular season and its 16th ACC championship in 2023. Two difficult seasons since then, however, have left the Seminoles attempting to prove that run was not an isolated peak.
The opportunity to change the conversation begins Aug. 29 against New Mexico State. Florida State’s 2026 schedule also features Alabama, Miami, Clemson and Florida, giving Norvell and the Seminoles several chances to produce the type of victories that could cool one of college football’s hottest coaching seats.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Mike Norvell lands on USA TODAY Sports' hottest-seat tier
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