Over his nine years as a head coach, Mike Norvell has worked with quite a few different offensive coordinators.
During his four years at Memphis, he had four offensive coordinators. With two different OCs over his first five seasons at FSU, he's about to hire his sixth different offensive coordinator and make his seventh OC hire (one familiar name worked as his offensive coordinator twice) in less a decade of serving as a head coach.
As such, this process Norvell is embarking on is a path he's been down many times. However, it's never been a path exactly like this.
Each of his first three years at Memphis, Norvell's offensive coordinator left for a better job. So did his first FSU OC, Kenny Dillingham, when he left to become the offensive coordinator and primary playcaller at Oregon after two seasons with the Seminoles.
It's fair to wonder because this is the first time he's fired an offensive coordinator in his head coaching tenure if he'll do things differently this time. Is he really willing to give up playcalling? Will he stick with someone he's more familiar with or be willing to go out on a limb?
Let's see what Norvell's track record of hiring offensive coordinators says about what he could do in replacing Alex Atkins this offseason.
Familiarity
With so much on the line with regard to their high-stakes jobs, coaches often surround themselves with familiar faces they have prior experience working for or alongside.
That is certainly true when it comes to the track record of Norvell's offensive coordinator hires, historically. Of the six OCs he has hired, five of them had previously worked alongside or under Norvell.
His first Memphis offensive coordinator, Chip Long, was with Norvell for his entire four-year stint as Arizona State offensive coordinator as the tight ends coach.
In 2017, he promoted Darrell Dickey, who had been at Memphis before he took the job and was his assistant head coach/running backs coach in 2016.
In 2018, Norvell brought on Kenny Dillingham as offensive coordinator. Dillingham had been a coaching assistant under Norvell at ASU and was on his Memphis staff the first two years of Norvell's tenure, first as a graduate assistant and then as quarterbacks/tight ends coach in 2017.
In 2019, Norvell made the only outside, no-direct-experience hire he has ever made in an offensive coordinator, bringing on Kevin Johns, who had been Texas Tech's offensive coordinator, as his OC at Memphis.
When Norvell got the FSU job, he did not take Johns with him and he remained at Memphis for the next two seasons before leaving to become Mike Elko's OC at Duke in 2022.
Instead, Norvell reunited with Dillingham at FSU, bringing him over from Auburn to join his first Seminole staff. Dillingham was there for two years before leaving to take the Oregon OC job with a chance to be a primary playcaller of an offense.
Shortly after Dillingham's second departure from Norvell, the head coach promoted promising offensive line coach Alex Atkins to offensive coordinator. While Norvell hadn't previously worked with Atkins when he brought him onto his first FSU staff, the up-and-coming coach had made some significant strides rebuilding an FSU offensive line that had massively struggled for years before his arrival.
What made it easy for Norvell to hire familiar offensive coordinators throughout his time as a head coach was that they weren't coordinators in the truest sense of the word. While they have helped create game plans and coordinate the offense during the week, Norvell has been the primary offensive playcaller throughout his head coaching career.
If ever there were a time for a new voice who maybe doesn't come from his coaching tree, this feels like that exact moment. The Seminoles' offense has fallen stunningly flat this season, ranking among the worst nationally in almost every category. Could someone with a different background and new ideas rejuvenate the offense, whether Norvell actually gives up playcalling or remains in the position?
Youth
Another common trait in many of Norvell's offensive coordinator hires has been that they have largely been relatively young coaches.
This isn't surprising considering Norvell is also on the younger side amongst head coaches, turning 35 during his first season at Memphis and is now 43.
Long was 33 during his lone season under Norvell under Memphis. Dillingham was 28 when he was Norvell's OC at Memphis and was 29 when he was hired as FSU OC. Atkins was in his mid-30s when hired as FSU OL coach and late 30s when promoted to OC.
Johns was 43 when he was brought in for Norvell's final season at Memphis, a bit older but still not old in the coaching profession.
The lone age outlier, Dickey, was 57 during his season as Norvell's OC.
Still, the average age of Norvell's first six coordinators comes in at under 40 years old, seeming to indicate he prefers to hire younger at this position.
The reasons for that could be multiple. First, it makes sense he wouldn't be hiring older, more experienced offensive coordinators if looking for someone who won't call plays. Those more experienced, older offensive coordinators likely want playcalling.
However, Norvell also values helping assistant coaches move up the ladder with opportunities elsewhere. Four of his first six coordinators left for offensive coordinator positions in better situations, be them bigger schools or somewhere they could run the entire offense.
There are a few names on our Osceola hot board that would fit the bill for the younger mold. UNLV OC Brennan Marion and Indiana co-OC Tino Sunseri both have Norvell ties and could use the FSU platform to elevate potentially to a head-coaching job.
That would also help a coaching staff that could stand to get a bit younger and improve in its recruiting acumen this offseason.
However, the case can also be made that Norvell could use an older, more experienced offensive mind right now to help right the ship of an offense that has gone woefully off-course.
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