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FSU football's Mike Norvell 'shocked' by struggles this season, promises changes
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- FSU football's Mike Norvell 'shocked' by struggles this season, promises changes
Even Mike Norvell is shocked about how Florida State football's season has gone.
The Seminoles head coach said Monday that he was surprised with his team's 1-8 record and how the season has panned out, especially considering what he thought FSU had coming into the year.
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"I am shocked in where we are. It was not expected," Norvell said.
"You look at some of the results that we've faced, you look at some of the circumstances that have shown up. You go into a season and you have a picture in your mind of what things are going to look like. I'm not blind to it. I'm optimistic but I also know challenges."
Norvell said he had a few questions about his team heading into the 2024 season, primarily about response to difficult situations. But he never envisioned the year turning out the way it has.
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"Anybody that asked before the season my concerns, it's what was it going to look like in the moment when things went well or when things didn't go well."
Things haven't gone well for the Seminoles , particularly offensively. FSU has not had a quarterback complete more than 10 passes in its last three games as both Luke Kromenhoek and Brock Glenn have split snaps.
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 26: Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell looks on against the Miami Hurricanes during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium on October 26, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
In the 35-11 loss to North Carolina, the Seminoles completed just eight passes on 18 attempts between both quarterbacks. Glenn finished with six completions for 123 yards and a touchdown, Kromenhoek finished with two completions for 36 yards and two interceptions.
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With the struggles offensively Norvell said it's important to evaluate quarterbacks on what they were asked to do gameplan-wise, and not pin mistakes of others on the signal callers.
"I'm watching them. I know what they're being asked to do. You see the intent. You see the things that they can control and how they are executing that," Norvell said.
"They don't control receiver separation. They don't control protection all the time. There are some things in the sacks that we gave up the other day, where two are on run-pass reads that one could have made a better decision, and another one where we didn't get any separation and didn't win one-on-one and the quarterback held the ball and got sacked."
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Norvell promises off-season change, focused on the final games of the year
Quarterback struggles haven't been the only issue that Norvell and his staff have faced this season. FSU has struggled in nearly every area of the game, outside of special teams.
Coming off a 13-1 season that featured an ACC title, the fall-off to where the Seminoles are currently is unprecedented.
Norvell said there was a talented group that left FSU last season, and he thought that some of the players who remained from last year's team would thrive in a more advanced role. It hasn't happened for the Seminoles as the struggles have been across the board both from new faces and veterans.
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"It's one of those things that I don't always have the answer on why some of these situations or circumstances occurred, but you continue to go to work. You continue to try to put guys in the best position," Norvell said. "It does look different than what I anticipated."
"If you know all the challenges that are going to show up at the back end of it, would you do a couple of things differently? Would you look at a couple of different schemes or things that you can plug in? Yeah, of course. But that's part of going through the process of a season, and obviously it's not gone very well for us in the different elements that have shown up."
With three games remaining in a disastrous season, the challenge for Norvell is now to keep the future of the program intact. Whether it's coaching changes or keeping young players from entering the transfer portal, Norvell said he knows a lot needs changing.
He has belief in the players in the locker room and that they will make a difference both in the final three games and next year. He is aware the team has to be better in its application of gameplans and evaluations of personnel need to improve.
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Norvell said he knows what he needs to do in the off-season to make sure a season like this year's never happens again.
"I can tell you that there's going to be a change in what we've seen from this year to this next year coming up," Norvell said. "But right now my entire focus is going to be on what's ahead for these next three games, to go be the best we can be."
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football's Mike Norvell 'shocked' by disastrous losing season
