Some five decades -- and two coaching transitions -- separate Mike Norvell from Bobby Bowden.

And make no mistake, that distance was readily apparent at times during Florida State University's first Sports Analytics Summit earlier this week. The legendary head coach and the new Seminoles coach spoke back-to-back during the event, which drew a crowd of a few hundred to the university's Turnbull Conference Center.

But at other times, attendees were reminded that some key fundamental components of college football haven't changed much from when Bowden was hired at FSU in 1976 to when Norvell took over 43 years later.

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While some might have wondered why a long-retired coach would be speaking on a new-age topic such as analytics, Bowden made it clear that he wasn't opposed to using numbers in his decision-making.

The challenge, he said, was that it was often difficult during his era to compile accurate data, especially when it came to recruiting.

Back in the '70s, '80 and '90s, before prospects started flocking to college campuses for summer camps and to showcases organized by recruiting services, college coaches typically had to rely on information from high school coaches when evaluating players.

Today, prospects are typically measured for height and weight and then timed in the 40-yard dash when they attend college camps. In Bowden's era, colleges would get 40 times from high school coaches, and he said those numbers were often exaggerated.

Evaluating prospects often came down to the eye test and two main criteria, Bowden said: "Can he run? Will he hit?"

Norvell, who spoke for about 30 minutes after Bowden's session, said those are two of the biggest questions he and his staff still ask today. The biggest difference, he said, was that they have more accurate measurables to judge by. He added that they also place a major emphasis on intelligence, explaining that elite speed isn't helpful if a player doesn't know what he's doing on the field.

"You can have all the physical talent in the world," Norvell said, "but if you’re not heading in the right direction, it doesn’t matter.”

To that point, Norvell said he and his staff will go to great lengths to make sure their players have as much information as possible before hitting the field in games. He said he plans to have ACC officials visit during the spring and in the preseason to educate players on various rules and what they are looking for when calling penalties.

Norvell said he constantly hammers home the following message to his players: "No matter how big they are, no matter how fast they are, knowledge is our greatest talent."

That goes for coaches as well. Norvell said he is a big believer in analytics and will use all available data when constructing his game plan and making decisions. But he added that the numbers will not determine every decision.

"When it comes to calling a game, it truly comes down to what you have here and here," Norvell said, pointing to his head and his chest.

In a certain down-and-distance, Norvell explained, he might decide to be aggressive in one situation and conservative in another, based on factors that don't show up in the form of statistics. There is still a certain amount of feel that goes into play-calling and crunch-time decisions.