At his weeklypress conference on Monday, Florida State coach Mike Norvell addressed themedia about the Seminoles’ 50-36 loss to No. 10 Alabama on Saturday. Norvellwaxed not so eloquently, and with no angry passion, about his team’s performance, and collapse, against the Crimson Tide.
Norvell commentedon how the Seminoles held a 21-6 lead 28 minutes into the game. He praised hisquarterback, Ashton Daniels, who passed for 377 yards and two touchdowns, andadded two rushing touchdowns. Yes, Duce Robinson finally became a weapon in theoffense, with six catches for 135 yards (22.50 yards/catch) and a touchdown. Butthat is where the positives stop.
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Danielsalso threw three interceptions, costly turnovers that killed Florida Statedrives and resulted in missed opportunities to put Alabama up against the ropeswith some body blows. The Florida State defense folded under pressure, likeorigami.
Theyallowed 220 yards rushing and 24 points scored against them in the second half.Normally, that is grounds for some “spicy rhetoric” when describing a team’sperformance in a loss. But you will not see that from Norvell.
“You get a chance to be in that situation, competing inthe into the fourth quarter, one-score game, in a place that’s very difficultto go and win at,” said Norvell, in a normal, conversational tone. “I thought we put ourselves inposition but, did not get the job done. But I am proud ofthe fight of our players.”
The same reason that a winis a win, is why a loss is a loss. The fact that you were ahead 21-6 makes it even worse.
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It appearsmore and more each week, that Norvell is not the kind of guy to pound a tableat a press conference after a loss, like Brian Kelly displayed after LSU lost toUSC in the 2024 season opener.
Nor is hea Saban type of guy who blows a blood vessel on the sideline because of adefensive penalty called on Alabama, with a 56-3 Crimson Tide lead in thefourth quarter against New Mexico State in 2021. But that is exactly why Sabanwon six national championships at Alabama.
And he iscertainly not cut from the same cloth as Texas A&M coach Mike Elko, who hadthis to say after his ninth-ranked Aggies lost to Kentucky on Saturday, “Hat’s off toKentucky,” Elko said. “They came in here, and they beat our a**. Not good enough from us on any level. Coaching, playing, performing,physicality. Anything.”
Florida State should (and probablywill) beat Central Arkansas on Saturday. But with the remainder of their ACCschedule being a brutal gauntlet, Norvell’s horrifically lackadaisical attitudetoward his team’s performance in a loss, will be a major reason why FloridaState may not win another game. And, why Norvell may not survive the choppingblock past the road game at Miami.
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Not putting the fear of God in theplayers gives these underperforming young adults a false sense of security,that mediocrity is acceptable as long as you put in the same effort.
Change is warranted at Florida State.This kind of underperforming style of play, and failure to develop and improvefrom week to week, certainly cannot be left unchallenged. A little fierydisposition displayed by the head coach from time to time never hurt anyone.
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