Pandemic forces FSU coaches, staff to get resourceful with recruiting
Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of six stories detailing how Mike Norvell and Florida State's first-year coaching staff worked to lead their players remotely during the first four months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Part 1: An inside look at the most daunting offseason in college football history
Part 2: Long-distance dedication: FSU staff learns to teach, coach, lead via Zoom
Part 3: Plan, adapt, advance: How Mike Norvell led FSU football through quarantine
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When Mike Norvell was introduced as Florida State's head football coach on Dec. 8, 2019, he listed the Seminoles' ability to recruit the top talent in the country as one of the main factors that attracted him to the job.
Norvell also outlined his plans for courting those elite prospects.
Once he and his new staff got settled in, Norvell said, they would work to build relationships with high school coaches throughout Florida and Georgia. They also would feature an open-door policy unlike just about anywhere in college football.
Prospects and their families would be welcomed to visit frequently. High school coaches would be invited to check out FSU's practices, sit it on position meetings, watch film with the staff and even attend coaching "socials," where they could network and share ideas.
It was an approach Norvell used previously at Memphis, and one that ingratiated him with the high school coaches in Tennessee and beyond.
"Being able to have open doors, being able to show what we are, who we are," Norvell said. "Anybody can stand in front of you, give you a speech, tell you a story of what you want to do. I want them to see it -- how we practice, how we prepare, the way we develop those student-athletes."
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When it came time to start putting that plan into motion in Tallahassee, those doors were open for less than two weeks.
“We had a plan for most of the elite players in Florida, Georgia and the surrounding area,” said Chuck Cantor, FSU's director of player personnel. “We wanted to get those kids on campus, and we had that planned out. There were going to be opportunities in March once we came back from spring break, and then throughout April. We were on target for all of those things. And then obviously, we got a little bit of a wrench thrown into the equation.”
That "wrench," of course, was the same one that forced all college sports-related activities to come to a halt more than four months ago. Facing the emerging threat of the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA announced on March 13 that all in-person recruiting would be prohibited until April 15 at the earliest.
That moratorium later was extended to the end of May. Then to the end of June. Then the end of July, and now through Aug. 31.
While that lack of in-person recruiting would be a hindrance to every college football program in the country -- with coaches unable to hit the road to evaluate prospects and recruits forbidden from taking traditional campus visits -- it would deliver a much more painful blow to first-year coaching staffs like the one at Florida State.
That doesn't mean the Seminoles have lowered their expectations for the class of 2021. To the contrary, they've been working overtime to find different angles and approaches until things return to normal.
They have uncovered creative ways to connect with prospects virtually. They've leaned on relationships built during previous coaching stints in other states. They have pushed the program's social media efforts into overdrive, and spent more time than ever dissecting film.
They also have remained unwavering in their optimism, keeping close contact with players who are committed to other programs, knowing that the entire recruiting landscape may shift once the NCAA allows in-person visits again.
“We understand that this is going to be a unique year,” Norvell said during an interview in late May. “We’re missing out on spring evaluations. We’re missing out on summer camps. It’s stretching us in a couple of different areas to where there will be some unknowns. So we’re just trying to plan accordingly.
"But I think we’re on the right kids, and I’m definitely fired up for this year’s class and what we’re setting up for in the future.”
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