3/9/2023 football Edit

Mike, Maria Norvell commit $1 million to FSU athletics

Mike, Maria and their daughter, Mila, at the groundbreaking event for the football only building in December. (Bob Ferrante)

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Via FSU sports information:

Florida State Athletics and Seminole Boosters, Inc. announced Thursday that football coach Mike Norvell and his wife, Maria, are making a $1 million donation in support of Seminole Athletics.

In a letter to FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford and Seminole Boosters, Inc. President and CEO Stephen Ponder announcing their commitment, the Norvells wrote: “Maria and I are grateful for the leadership you have shown leading our Athletics Department as well as the Seminole Boosters. We are grateful to be on the journey of elevating not only our football program but all of our athletic teams to the Nation’s elite together. I am thankful for the position I have in leading FSU Football and we would like to financially contribute to help the program and our athletic department as a whole.”

“The very generous donation by Mike and Maria is deeply appreciated and is another illustration of the tremendous excitement around our entire athletics program,” said Alford. “I have said many times that we will not be able to remain nationally competitive without donations from our supporters, and here is our football coach and his family declaring how important our mission is with this gift.”

With this gift, the Norvells became the 300th member of the Bowden Society. Their donation will be split among the Dunlap Football Center Fund, Bowden Society Facility Fund and the Sports Nutrition department in athletics.

“The response to the Bowden Society has been truly amazing, and Mike and Maria’s gift is a testament to the values on which the program was built,” Ponder said.

Norvell will begin his fourth season as FSU’s coach in 2023 with the Seminoles ranked as high as No. 4 in preseason polls. Norvell led Florida State to a 10-3 record in 2022 including a win over Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl.

For more information about the Bowden Society, visit BowdenSociety.com, and to purchase tickets for the upcoming football season visit Seminoles.com/tickets.