By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Florida State University finally got their man.

After striking out on no less than six other candidates, Mike Norvell was hired as the 11th full time head football coach at FSU.

Mike Norvell has spent the last four seasons as the head coach at Memphis, leading the Tigers to a record of 38-15. His .717 winning percentage is the highest in Memphis history.

Memphis is the 2019 American Athletic Conference champion. Norvell has guided Memphis to three straight conference championship games.

Norvell’s first move as head coach was to retain Odell Haggins as a key member of the football program. Haggins served as the interim coach after the firing of Willie Taggart.

Norvell is known as an offensive guru. Since 2016, Memphis has averaged 38 points per game and has ranked in the top third in the county every season offensive SP+ (SP+ is measured by equivalent points per play).

Just like the past two Seminoles coaches Jimbo Fisher and Willie Taggart, Mike Norvell calls the plays instead of his offensive coordinator. Norvell runs a spread offense, but he has shown the ability to adapt his offense to the team’s strengths.

Memphis is one of three FBS teams that have ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense each of the last four years, along with Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Mike Norvell is walking into a Florida State program that has hit rock bottom. Florida State fans, boosters, and administrators have to give Norvell time to rebuild this proud program that Bobby Bowden built.

I understand that the Florida State Logo recruits on its own, but to become a program that competes for conference championships, you have to recruit on an elite level. The Seminoles are currently ranked 26th nationally and 5th in the ACC.

After the hire announcement, the Seminoles had five players decommit including four-star quarterback Jeff Sims. Norvell will need to address the offensive and defensive lines with JUCO or portal transfers.

The key to the Seminoles success in recruiting in the future is Norvell’s coordinator and position coach hires. He must hire coaches who have recruiting ties to Florida and Georgia.

Mike Norvell is an offensive minded coach, so who he hires on the defensive side of the ball will be critical to the program. Norvell hired Adam Fuller the former defensive coordinator at Memphis as the new defensive coordinator at FSU.

Florida State allowed 28.5 points per game this season and gave up 436 yards per game. The Seminoles allowed 42 points to Clemson, en route to a 45-14 blowout loss and in state rival Florida scored 30 points in the first half before thrashing the Seminoles 40-17.

Mike Norvell certainly wasn’t FSU’s top target, but he checks a lot of boxes when it comes to young head coach potential. Can he get it done at FSU?

We’ll see how Norvell does, but I hope he does well. College football is simply better when Florida State University is better.