Florida State is barely a day into life after Mike Norvell, and the coaching names are already coming in. The school fired its head coach on Sunday, November 1, one day after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson, closing a seven-year run that went from a 13-0 regular season in 2023 to a 10-22 record since the start of 2024. One analyst already knows who he would call first, and the coach works right inside the ACC.
"If I were a coach in the market or if I were a school in the market for a coach, I would call Jake Dickert," said CBS analyst Danny Kanell on the Cover 3 Podcast
. "I mean, last year, he built up Washington State and helped them transition from a really funky time, going from the Pac-12 being dead, and built them into a winner. He goes to Wake Forest and immediately turns them around."
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Dickert took over at Wake Forest before the 2025 season, when the Demon Deacons were picked to finish near the bottom of the ACC. He went 9-4 instead, the most wins ever for a first-year head coach in program history.
Wake Forest is 7-1 this season, which puts his overall record at 16-5 across two years. Former FSU star Kanell said people tend to forget how good the team was last year, since most of the attention is only showing up now.
As FSU searches for its next leader, discover why an overlooked ACC coach is gaining serious consideration. Stay tuned to EssentiallySports for the latest on the Seminoles' coaching search.
The money side is part of why Kanell thinks the move is realistic. He said he looked up Dickert's buyout and found it to be three and a half million, adding that Dickert is "somebody you could lure away from Wake Forest."
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Wake Forest announced a new long-term deal for Dickert in December but did not share the salary or terms.
Not everyone on the show was fully sold. Co-host Tom Fornelli called Dickert a great coach, but pointed out that Washington State and Wake Forest are both "do-more-with-less jobs."
His question was whether Florida State wants a coach built for that, or one who can do more with more. Kanell pushed back on the framing, saying he does not see it as doing more with less at all. In fact, he believes that Dickert is all about figuring it out.
"I love when he's out there saying, 'Don't tell me about the payrolls. Figure it out,'" said Kanell. "That's the kind of coach I want to come in to Florida State and say, 'I'm gonna get as much money as I can, but we're gonna figure it out no matter what. We're gonna figure out a way to win.'"
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Host Chip Patterson added that Virginia coach Tony Elliott offered similar praise after Wake Forest's win over his team. Elliott called the Demon Deacons "a team that is well-coached, that is playing with enthusiasm, that is listening to the message." Wake Forest won that game 51-7 and held Virginia to 16 rushing yards.
That result fits what CBS Sports pointed to as Dickert's calling card, a physical brand of football built on the defensive line and run defense. Wake Forest ranks sixth nationally in rushing defense, allowing 82.9 yards per game.
But any move would come with complications. CBS Sports reported that Wake Forest assistants carry noncompete clauses that bar them from joining another ACC school for at least a year, and it is unclear whether Dickert's own contract has the same language.
Florida State is also already paying heavily to move on, with Norvell owed roughly $47.1 million to $50.3 million and the total transition cost possibly topping $65 million.
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Rick Stockstill is the interim coach while the school runs a national search, and Manny Diaz, Eli Drinkwitz, and Kenny Dillingham have also come up in the reporting. Dickert is one name on a growing list, and Florida State's next move is still wide open.
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