FSU's players focusing on improvement, not unmet expectations

Fueled by positive media reports, FSU faithful might have viewed the program's combined 18-20 record over the past three seasons as a blip on the radar and expected the Seminoles would return to their winning ways overnight.

But first-year head coach Mike Norvell says that has never been the message from him or his coaches to their players. They have focused on improving every day; not necessarily recording any predetermined number of wins.

So while they were all hurt by Saturday's season-opening, 16-13 loss to Georgia Tech, Norvell said Monday his players were not so devastated that it will affect their ability to keep moving forward.

"Any time there is a new coaching staff, new systems, new expectations, there is a sense of excitement," Norvell said. "This is not something where you just flip the switch and all is good. We're not living in a fairy tale. You're gonna face real-life situations, and we saw it in the course of the game."

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Thanks in part to that realistic approach, Norvell said the Seminoles had a great attitude and energy when they returned to meetings and the practice fields on Sunday.

"I really thought our guys had the right mindset and approach," Norvell said during his weekly coach's show Monday evening. "Everybody's disappointed. That's understood. But to come back out, go to work and continue to improve, that's going to be the biggest focus we have."

When FSU's players watched film of Saturday's game, Norvell said there were plenty of positives and negatives.

On the plus side, he liked the way the defense bowed up on numerous occasions when Georgia Tech's offense was threatening. The Yellow Jackets made five trips inside the FSU red zone and scored just three times.

Twice, the Seminoles blocked Tech field goals. And junior cornerback Asante Samuel also thwarted two drives with interceptions.

"I think our defense did a nice job in being able to keep them out of the end zone," Norvell said. "Obviously that was a huge highlight."

*ALSO SEE: Full rundown of Norvell's comments from the coach's show

Offensively, Norvell said the biggest highlight was the quick passing game that the Seminoles used early in the game. He said there were opportunities to cash in with intermediate and deep passes as well, but the Seminoles hurt themselves with "self-inflicted" miscues.

"A penalty here, a penalty there, a missed opportunity with a dropped pass," Norvell said. "Things that you can't have. And that's one thing we have to improve on is our consistency."

While he wishes the final result would have been different, the head coach said he is confident the Seminoles will improve over these next two weeks heading into a rivalry showdown at Miami. Even after practicing for more than a month of preseason, there are very important new lessons to be taken from 60 minutes of real game action.

"We needed to play a game," Norvell said. "That was something that was necessary for our guys to see how they responded. ... There's only so much you can do in a scrimmage. There's only so much you can do going against yourself, offensively and defensively."

One of the main messages during the team's film review, Norvell said, was how many negative plays were a result of one person not fulfilling his responsibility.

The first-year coach said he and his staff also were open and honest about things they could have done better from a coaching standpoint.

"There's a couple calls that I would have liked to have had a different call in the situation or in the moment," Norvell said. "We all know that we have to continue to improve and get better."

When asked about specific calls he might have changed, Norvell said they mostly involved situations where backups were in the game. He said the coaching staff could have done some things to help those players out.

"You always want to make sure you're putting your guys in the best situation to achieve success," Norvell said. "That would probably be the one thing, that in a couple of situations I would have liked to probably had a little different look in what we did."

The Seminoles now have an off week to prepare for Miami, while the Hurricanes will be busy getting ready to play at Louisville on Saturday. But Norvell said the next game is not foremost on his team's mind.

He said FSU's players will focus primarily on fundamentals this week, while the coaches will continue to evaluate what happened on Saturday and build around what they've determined to be the team's strengths.

"All of our focus this week is on our individual and collective group improvement," Norvell said.

Kaindoh Update: Junior defensive end Joshua Kaindoh was sidelined Saturday with an apparent knee injury, but position coach John Papuchis suggested during the coach's show that Kaindoh might not be out very long.

The defensive ends coach said he hopes Kaindoh will "bounce back" quickly.

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