Florida State football is just halfway through the Spring. The Noles seem to be all in for a rebound season after last year’s 2-10 disaster. After a lackluster finish, Coach Mike Norvell never sees a point in defending his team’s shortcomings. All he did was strengthen his grip and do some great reshuffles on both sides of the ball this offseason. He looked to address all the inconsistencies in the WR corps, bad routes, drops, and most questionable play callings through a big jackpot move worth $6 million. Yes, all eyes are on the Seminoles’ new offensive genius, Gus Malzahn.
Malzahn, the guy who snagged a natty as the OC at Auburn and led them to another championship appearance as the head coach, rightfully deserves all the talk. Taking the torch from Alex Atkins and giving it to Malzahn was perhaps the most strategic win of Norvell last season. Be it play calling or the overall tempo, Malzahn is worth taking a dime for. The icing on the cake? His past ties with coach Norvell.
“You know, there aren’t many people in the country that I would have had the comfort, the peace, that would have fit the way that this does. Coach Malzahn was who I got my start with. My first Division I GA job was under him for two years,” the Florida head coach sipped nostalgia while reminiscing about his days under the apt stewardship of Malzahn back in 2007, during
April 7 episode of Josh Pate’s College Football Show. The two gems of the coaching front then went into their separate paths, but their vision has remained the same to date.
Gus established himself as a force to be reckoned with through his storied coaching career at Arkansas State, Auburn, and UCF. But now it’s beyond the technicalities. It’s about how he microscopes the defenses’ tiniest loopholes and manipulates in the best possible way or how he identifies and develops talents overall. “I mean, he’s one of the most innovative minds that college football has seen. He’s got just such a great background. But it’s also who it is, and the confidence that he pours into the guys that he leads, his passion for that side of the ball is legendary over the years of just what he’s been able to do,” Norvell added.
Look, the FSU head coach isn’t exaggerating a bit. To flip a downfall of going 13-1 to 2-10 in a single year window, you need a guy like Malzahn – who knows how to get the job done with minimal effort. Especially if you have a rapport off the field, it will make it even smoother to align goals and visions for the sake of the program. “Our relationship, you know it’s somebody that I know I can I can hand it the keys off and say, this is what we want it to look like, this is what we need it to be and he’s you know, he’s full steam ahead with that,” Norvell continued spreading high hopes for his new OC.
But not just that, with a new OC on the ground, he has some warnings for the recruits and targets as well.
Mike Norvell drags Jared Verse’s case to set a new standard for the players
The NIL enactment forced us to undergo a huge paradigm shift in college football. Sometimes, it seems good to some, but mostly, it affects the traditional stability and mindset of a team. Standing apart from the crowd, Norvell made a clear admission of what he expects from the newbies on the board.
All the films, numbers, high ceilings, the paychecks come later. The one thing that the Florida HC can’t settle without is your drive to break through the comfort zone. Being okay with your growth is the beginning of stagnation. In the long term, it only hampers a program’s potential to reach its best, something he can’t afford to risk.
Referencing to the greatest alumnus, Jared Verse, Norvell send a clear message to his roster players, current and future, “When he made the choice to where to go, NIL had a zero part in it, it was a place, that he can go to be able to and there was never even like discussed thought of. He found a place [that] was best for him. Now going into his second year, I’m sure he had a pretty good NIL deal, coming back to Florida State as a what was a projected still a top draft pick,” Norvell continued to set the bar higher for the athletes.
As a DL, Verse scored a total of 89 sacks for Florida State and 18 sacks throughout his junior and sophomore years. The 6’4, 254-pounder got picked up at 19 by the Los Angeles Rams in 2024 and became one of the core players of their revamped defensive line that includes Kobie Turner, Byron Young, Poona Ford, and Braden Fiske. Verse proved to be a cornerstone in the team’s defense. None were safe when Verse roamed free on the gridiron. 66 tackles in one pro-league season. Yes. Dude stood as a roadblock for the opponent’s offense. He garnered 11 tackles for loss and 18 quarterback hits and ended the year with the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
“But if you watched him play right, you would think this was somebody that was that was absolutely desperate right to go, make it in this world and he played with the edge that determination.” That’s the fire that your coach needs to see burning. If money is the goal, FSU is not your stop. Norvell’s OC might agree on that too, as he is also a big old-school coach who left millions of his UCF deal just to have that pure football vibe inside a school.
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