It took well over a month, but Florida State finally announced its new head football coach on Sunday. Mike Norvell will have a lot on his plate to get the Seminole ship righted. Here are some initial impressions of FSU's new head coach and the challenges he will face going forward.
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1. Florida State needed a young, hands-on coach to right the ship
Based on a 21-game sample at Florida State, Willie Taggart didn’t have what it takes to be a successful Power 5 head football coach. Some could argue that FSU was pretty screwed up when he arrived and that he had a lot working against him. There’s certainly merit to that argument, but it’s crystal clear in hindsight that Taggart was an awful fit from the moment he was hired in December 2017.
The main complaints you heard about the former FSU head coach were centered around his lack of organizational skills, inattention to detail and being overly concerned with players having fun instead of instilling discipline. Poor hires on his staff only exacerbated the mess that began at the end of the Jimbo Fisher era.
For all intents and purposes, Mike Norvell’s coaching style is a hard 180 degrees from Taggart. He’s hands-on, detail-oriented and oozing with passion. Florida State’s once-proud program needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, so it desperately needs a coach that is willing to do the heavy lifting and put in a LOT of hard work. From all the early returns, Norvell fits the bill perfectly.
“He's as organized as anyone I've ever met,” Florida State Director of Athletics David Coburn said during Sunday’s press conference. “He's thoughtful. He cares deeply about his players. Education and behavior are important to him. He pays attention to detail. He is truly a coach of the future. He is, in short, exactly what we need for this program at this time.”
