With campus closed and most of the Seminoles' players still back in their hometowns, first-year Florida State coach Mike Norvell has been glued to his laptop for much of the past six weeks.
When he's not meeting with his staff electronically through Zoom, he's communicating with recruits. Or taking part in online position meetings. Or watching film.
"I think I've hit my Zoom quota for the rest of my life after this pandemic," Norvell said with a laugh during his weekly chat Thursday with Seminole Boosters.
And this week might have been the busiest of all.
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Along with his regular obligations, Norvell has been conducting semester-ending "exit meetings" this week with each of the Seminoles' players.
They're recapping what each player has accomplished individually in recent months and discussing plans for the future.
"Those are going really well," Norvell said. "Just an opportunity to kind of reflect on some of the strides that we've seen."
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As he did when was hired in mid-December, Norvell is making a point to meet with every single player on the Seminoles' roster, including walk-ons. That means a total of 96 meetings at about 15 minutes per pop -- or 24 total hours.
While every exit interview is different, Norvell said the vast majority have been extremely positive. Even with the program operating remotely for nearly two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Norvell said the players have made progress in several important areas.
Some have added strength, and others have lost weight. A great many have shown improvement in the classroom and other areas.
Speaking about the group as a whole, Norvell said he has been very pleased with what he's seen since he arrived in Tallahassee. And during these exit meetings, he has sensed that the players are "excited" as well.
"They see the growth that they've been making," Norvell said. "Not just the physical development, but the mental development."
The improvement in the classroom has Norvell especially pleased. On Wednesday, the university announced that the football team posted a team GPA of 3.127 during the spring semester, which was the program's best-ever mark.
"Throughout this pandemic, their response to the adversity that we've seen really showed up at a very high level," Norvell said. "Yesterday, we were able to post that we had a team GPA of (3.127), which is the highest in program history. ... I was really excited for them. ...
"Like I tell them all the time, 'How you do anything is going to be how you do everything.' And they really made a statement academically about the growth and development of where this team's going."
Staff returning to campus soon?
During Norvell's conversation with Boosters on Thursday, moderator Rob Wilson, FSU's associate athletics director for communications, suggested that the Seminoles' coaching staff could be permitted to return to their offices in the near future.
No specific timeline was offered, but Norvell did say he's looking forward to getting to work with the staff and players in person again.
"We've made the most of the situation that we've been dealt," Norvell said. "But there's nothing like being everybody together in one place. I definitely miss these guys. ... We're seeing a lot of great strides in what our guys are doing, but we're definitely looking forward to having everybody back in Tallahassee."
This was Norvell's sixth weekly chat with Boosters, and this time he was joined by his wife, Maria.
Nearly half of the 15-minute interview features the Norvells talking about their relationship and family, getting acclimated to Tallahassee and getting settled into their new home.
"We're really enjoying it," Maria Norvell said.
Here is the entire video from Seminole Boosters:
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