It's ok to admit now that the thought crossed your mind.
There were times I even wondered it myself.
Is Mike Norvell a good enough recruiter to have the highest levels of success at Florida State?
For as much as his players clearly love him, for as much as he had endeared himself to the fanbase and for as consistent as the program's improvement under him has been, the results were still inconclusive.
Elite portal classes are great, but if FSU is going to return to being a perennial contender, the Seminoles were going to have to do better than 20th, 27th, 20th and 25th, the spots where Norvell's first four FSU classes finished in the Rivals recruiting class rankings.
Consider the last month and especially Saturday night all the proof you need that Norvell has what it takes. He can be that type of recruiter who can go toe-to-toe with the big dogs in the recruiting world and beat them out to bring home a top-10 overall player in the 2024 class like five-star defensive back KJ Bolden.
Bolden announced he was joining the Seminoles' top-10 class Saturday night even though he's from Buford, Ga., about an hour away from Georgia's campus in Athens.
Look no further for proof that Norvell can be that dude than Bolden himself. What were his first three words when asked immediately after why he chose the Seminoles over UGA, Alabama, Ohio State and Auburn?
"Coach Mike Norvell."
Bolden later added, "The last time I went down there, the way they treated my family, they treated us like no other. They kind of made us feel at home. On the way back, my mom was like, 'This might be home,' and I was like, 'Mom, it might be.'"
The ecstatic reaction from Bolden's mom, LaKiesha Wright, when her son chose FSU said everything you needed to know about her thoughts on the decision.
It's more than fair to note that Norvell had some things working against him early in his FSU tenure. He missed out on almost all of the "new coach smell" run of recruiting success, which normally accompanies a new coach at a school selling his vision due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead of getting to sell his vision and build relationships in person, he and his staff was forced to recruit entirely over the phone and Zoom for over a year due to in-person recruiting being shut down by the NCAA. It's hard to imagine anyone would thrive in that environment.
Norvell's public reputation as a recruiter was definitely hurt -- unfairly so -- when he was on the wrong end of the most shocking flip in football recruiting history when 2022 five-star defensive back commit Travis Hunter flipped from FSU, where he had been committed for over a year, to Jackson State to play for Deion Sanders.
Although jokes about that have lingered, it's hard to imagine too many more of them will fly from rival fans if Norvell keeps recruiting at the level he is right now.
It has taken time, just as it did with the on-field results for the Seminoles under Norvell. But landing a prospect as highly-touted as Bolden is a new recruiting high for Norvell during his FSU tenure.
FSU's 2024 class, which ranked 27th just over a month ago, now sits at No. 6 in the Rivals class rankings thanks to a ridiculous run of 12 commits, six of whom are blue-chip prospects.
Yes, the caveat that FSU's 2024 commits can't make their commitments official until December is worth mentioning. Georgia and others likely won't stop recruiting Bolden just because he committed to FSU and schools may chase after a number of other FSU commits as well, even if almost all of them seem to be extremely locked in with the Seminoles.
That works the other way as well, though. While FSU's 2024 class is likely nearing full at 22 commits, it's quite possible that the Seminoles' recent success on the trail could help them add a few more of their top targets to the fold, flips or otherwise.
Even if there is a casualty or two to FSU's current 2024 class, it is well-positioned to be far and away the Seminoles' best recruiting class since the 2017 class, which finished fifth. With a few more pieces, it could even surpass that class and be the best since the Seminoles' second-ranked 2016 class.
All that to say, this appears poised to be a recruiting class that Norvell will remember for a long time.
It may very well be the class that takes his Climb to another level.
Original story on KJ Bolden picking FSU
Bolden tells Rivals recruiting director Adam Gorney why he chose FSU
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