Norvell goes in depth on what game week will look like for FSU football

He talked about uniform combinations, he explained how he chooses game captains, and he went into great detail about Saturday's "mock game" inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

With his first real game as Florida State's head football coach fast approaching -- it will be next Saturday, Sept. 12, against visiting Georgia Tech (3:30 p.m., ABC) -- Mike Norvell opened up about his approach on a variety of game-related topics during his post-practice press conference on Friday.

"We'll go through probably 40 or 50 different situations (in the mock game)," Norvell said. "We'll go through a complete pregame routine. ... We want guys to know exactly where they're going, what it's going to look like, to be as sharp and efficient as possible."

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Norvell said the Seminoles will run through every conceivable scenario during the course of the mock game, including what they'll do during a lightning delay.

The first-year FSU coach, who followed the same procedures during his four years at Memphis, isn't about to leave any stone unturned as the Seminoles prepare for the 2020 season.

"There will be some series against the (scout team), offense and defense," Norvell said. "We'll have special-teams play. Basically every possible game-type situation that could show up, we're going to hit. It's something I've done throughout my coaching career. There are some things we do in the mock game that I've yet to experience in a real game, but we want to make sure we have that situation covered so the guys have some confidence (in how it will be handled)."

*ALSO SEE: Complete breakdown of comments by Norvell, players after Friday practice

Norvell was asked if he had chosen captains yet for the season opener, and also if he names them for the entire season or does it week by week.

If he has already made a choice, Norvell wasn't sharing it with the media on Friday. But he did give some insight into the selection process.

"Each game, we'll have game captains (for that game)," he said. "And at the end of the year, we're basically going to honor the year captains. And it's something, even as a player I thought, 'Our guys know who the leaders are on the team.' And the leaders have a tremendous responsibility to show up each and every day and go to work at an elite level, and their actions are living up to the responsibility they have."

Norvell said he has been a part of teams, even as a player, where they would elect a season captain at the beginning of the year and maybe something wouldn't go their way, and their response wasn't one befitting a captain of a football team.

"So, I think being a captain is a tremendous honor," Norvell said. "It's one of the most important things you can do. But being a real captain is somebody that, from start to finish, is living to that standard."

While making decisions about captains is nothing new, Norvell and other college coaches are in uncharted territory when it comes to leading their programs during a global pandemic. With that in mind, Norvell said he's fully aware that practice schedules -- and player availability -- could be a fluid situation this fall due to COVID-19.

"We're going to test (for the coronavirus) three times a week," Norvell said. "That's going to be a part of hopefully having a better sense of who's going to be available. But throughout my coaching career, I've always repped (a lot of players). Our twos get a lot of reps. I'm not one of the coaches who says, 'Just leave the ones out there, and twos better prepare and be ready mentally.' That's not me.

"I want the actual repetitions for those guys and development. I think that continues to spur the competition."

If certain players don't see a lot of action in games, Norvell said the coaching staff will make sure they get plenty of action during Sunday night practices.

"We're going to get an extended work period with them," he said, "with guys that would traditionally be redshirting. I want them to get a sense of their development and the importance that is for our program."

That will be especially beneficial this season, Norvell said, because there won't be any redshirts in 2020. Every single player on the roster will get this year of eligibility back from the NCAA, whether they play in zero games, four games or 11 games.

And then finally -- last but not least -- Norvell was asked if he had any plans of changing Florida State's uniform combinations from time to time.

"We have one of the great uniform combinations and traditions in all of college football," Norvell said. "But I think as we move forward you could see some different combinations. Obviously, I'm excited about the white numbers being back, as many people are. But it's something we'll always evaluate.

"We want to represent our wonderful tradition, but you also like to be kind of on the cutting edge in some aspects of what we're doing. It's great in recruiting. It's great for these kids as they're coming through. So, probably a little bit of both."

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