I don't know if special teams will win Florida State a game this season. But if not, it won't be for lack of effort and emphasis.
Since he was hired as the Seminoles' head coach in December 2019, Mike Norvell has repeatedly made it clear how much he values the kicking game. He said it at his introductory press conference, and he has reiterated dozens of times since.
Even with that as a backdrop, it's still pretty remarkable to watch how excited and involved he gets when FSU goes through special-team drills during preseason camp. And they work on them a lot.
Thursday saw a particularly heavy load, with extended segments on punt and kickoff return and coverage.
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At one point, Norvell marched from one segment to another yelling, "Best in the country! Best in the country!"
It was difficult to tell from our viewing area what precipitated that comment, but I'm pretty sure he was just reminding the players of the mindset he wants on special teams.
In another moment, Norvell stood right in the middle of the field during kickoff coverage and shouted, "I've got landmarks!" ... letting everyone know he was going to be the one personally evaluating whether players stayed in their coverage lanes.
I've been doing this for a long time, and that's not something you see very often at college football practices. If at all.
A lot of head football coaches preach the importance of special teams; some even do more than pay it lip service. But I don't think there are many head coaches in the country who get hands-on with the drills.
Norvell does.
"Special teams, that's the culture of your team," Norvell said Thursday. "Coach J.P. (special teams coordinator John Papuchis) does a phenomenal job with it, but I'm going to be highly involved with that as much as anything. Because it's where we get our entire team to come in, to be able to put our best players in position to impact this team in the four core units, and that's really what we've worked heavily on these first couple of weeks."
