Florida State’s revenge tour has been canceled, and Mike Norvell appears to have a bit of a mess on his hands.
Forget what the College Football Playoff committee and Georgia did to the 2023 ACC champions last December. That is in the past.
Georgia Tech and Boston College, over the last two weeks, have revealed some ugly truths about the present and future of this program.
After an 0-2 start — with losses to teams picked to finish ninth and 14th in the preseason ACC poll — this feels much more like the start of a painful rebuild than a reload.
The irony, of course, is that FSU is still fighting in court to get out of the league and into a conference with a more lucrative media rights deal.
At this point, athletic director Michael Alford might be better served to bring ACC commissioner Jim Phillips a bouquet of roses, some chocolates and an apology letter.
FSU showing up to court next week… pic.twitter.com/stz2xgbRSs
— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) September 3, 2024
The Seminoles — picked to repeat as ACC champions — were expected to look a bit different after losing 10 players to the NFL Draft, including three who earned first-team All-ACC honors and six others who were on the second or third team.
But the fact that FSU has been so bad early in the 2024 season makes you wonder if maybe Norvell simply hit the jackpot in the transfer portal a few times and isn’t necessarily the kind of CEO who can build a sustainable winner.
The 2024 Seminoles look more like the teams Norvell coached through 3-6 and 5-7 seasons than the last two that finished 10-3 and 13-1.
“I’m just sick about how this season has started … that does not look like Florida State football,” Norvell said after Boston College, a 16.5-point underdog, ran for 263 yards against his defense and controlled the clock for almost 40 minutes at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“Obviously, I haven’t done a good enough job of putting them in a position to showcase what I believe that they are. I’ll be better.”
High school recruiting still matters in today’s portal-dominated game. And there simply have not been enough high school recruits who have developed into stars in Norvell’s program over the last few years.
His four full recruiting classes have an average national ranking of 18.5 in the 247Sports Composite, with a high of No. 12 in the 2024 cycle. That’s solid but hardly the type of recruiting that will build the foundation of an elite roster.
Entering this season, only eight players he signed out of high school have started double-digit games for Florida State.
Dear Florida State fans, let’s have a quick balcony chat.
Let me tell you about the time, at Texas, I went 13-1, and the next year went 5-7… pic.twitter.com/shUhyZhdMN
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) September 3, 2024
The six quarterbacks Norvell has signed from the high school ranks have combined to start five games for the Seminoles. And three of the six — AJ Duffy, Tate Rodemaker and Chubba Purdy — have transferred out.
The Seminoles badly wanted Cam Ward out of the portal in the offseason but settled on DJ Uiagalelei when Ward announced he was entering the NFL Draft. Miami waited for Ward to change his mind and landed the better quarterback.
Uiagalelei’s downfield accuracy has been a consistent issue throughout his career. It hasn’t improved.
The quarterback is hardly the only person to blame for Florida State’s struggles.
The Seminoles have the most experienced offensive line in the ACC in terms of combined career starts but haven’t opened nearly enough holes for their running backs.
The biggest disappointment, though, has been the front seven.
A defensive line expected to be one of the best in the country was carved up for 190 yards in the opening loss in Dublin and shredded again on Monday by Boston College.
“I apologize to our fans, apologize to everybody associated with the program,” Norvell said. “It’s extremely disappointing we’re not better.”
Norvell doesn’t believe what happened at the end of last season has affected this group.
“This team is this team,” he said. “Obviously, we have high expectations here and there’s always gonna be and there needs to be. But when things don’t go how you want them to go … you can almost abandon the training you have.”
Or, maybe, this group just isn’t as good as the last one.
None of the 17 transfers appear to be the type of impact players that Norvel landed in previous cycles.
Auburn transfer Cam Riley had 10 tackles and a forced fumble and was the most effective of the new defensive arrivals on Monday. But Marvin Jones Jr., a former five-star prospect who began his career at Georgia, still doesn’t have a sack through two games.
FSU’s leading receivers on Monday — Ja’Khi Douglas and Kentron Poitier — were backups to Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson last season. Alabama transfer Malik Benson hasn’t been as impactful as the team hoped (three catches, 33 yards Monday).
And FSU’s leading rusher against Boston College was freshman Kam Davis.
The Seminoles have a chance to turn things around. The College Football Playoff now takes 12 teams.
But it’s difficult to have faith in this program after what we’ve seen through two games.
(Photo of Mike Norvell: Melina Myers / USA Today)
