Mike Norvell has had quite a bit of time on the practice field to evaluate his 2024 Florida State football team — 15 practices in the spring and 20 more over the last month as part of the Seminoles' preseason camp.

Over that span, much of what Norvell thought of his team at the start of the offseason was confirmed by what he saw on the field.

Now he's ready to see how that translates into games as the Seminoles kick off the 2024 season vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin in less than a week.

"I thought our guys competed at a very high level," Norvell said at his Sunday press conference to kick off game week. "We have a lot of guys that we've seen tremendous steps and tremendous growth, guys that I'm excited to watch go take another step in their career and have an opportunity to put on display just who they are and what they're all about and ultimately continue to showcase the identity of what the Florida State football team is all about. It's been one that's worked really hard. I think we've got great size, speed, explosiveness and now it's time to go kick it off."

There were certainly plenty of questions about the 2024 FSU football team entering the offseason considering all they lost off the 2023 squad. Ten former Seminoles were taken in April's NFL Draft and a few other prominent members of the team were not taken.

While FSU is still the 10th-ranked team in both preseason polls, questions still linger about how serious a drop-off there will be from the 2023 team which went 13-0 before it was historically snubbed from the College Football Playoff.

From early in the offseason, it was clear that the 2024 team was going to look a bit different, especially on offense. A number of transfer additions brought some serious speed that, while somewhat present on the 2023 team, wasn't what that offense was built around.

The speeds and measurables that FSU tracks during its practices confirmed to Norvell how different the 2024 offense is going to look in some ways with new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who throws a sensational deep ball, at the helm.

"It's been the most explosive fall camp that we've had," Norvell said. "The workload that our guys have poured into it, the number of top speeds that we've hit all have been highs for our time being here ... I'm excited about this group and really looking forward to seeing them be able to play and apply that there in the moment of truth."

Receivers like Alabama transfer Malik Benson and LSU transfer Jalen Brown have played critical roles in that offensive transformation. Both were well-regarded as recruits for their speed and agility and both were listed as projected starters on FSU's first depth chart which was released Monday.

While FSU's wide receiver room enters the 2024 season with no entirely proven option and had an up-and-down preseason, Norvell is happy with how they ended preseason camp and are pivoting to game week.

"This last week was probably the best week we've had just in seeing that group consistently showing up and being able to make plays and doing the little things," Norvell said. "You can see their confidence that's growing and I do think we're going to have a great group that we're going to be able to run out there and be able to attack in a variety of different ways."

Another trait that has stood out to the FSU head coach during this offseason has been their work ethic. It's something that Norvell values higher in his team than just about every other trait, so much so that he has quite a few FSU-branded shirts that have just one word, work, on them.

Even on a team with so many new faces and new leaders, Norvell has been very encouraged by how his 2024 team has approached the work this offseason.

"This team has been about the work. That's what I always desire is that you have a team that you don't have to push. These guys, you put the work in front of them and they go running after it. I really have been proud of them for their approach to it. This is not a team that sits around and complains about what's in front of them. They go and work and attack it," Norvell said. "I cannot wait to watch this team play and I really am, with everything that I have, just excited about the moment and the opportunity. I like this team. I like how this team has come together. I really do respect these young men for who they are and what they're all about.

"It's just like I told them you do all the work and you build it up for so few games, but now you get to go put it on display. There's going to be great moments. There's going to be challenging times in of course every contest, but it's that response. You can build confidence through the work that they've done and their preparation, but you get to go out there and execute it and that's what we get to see come Saturday and what a stage to be able to do it on."

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