Mike Norvell on the proverbial hot seat as Florida State tries to avoid another losing season

Updated Aug. 19, 2026 6:10 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Florida State

2025 record: 5-7

Expectations

Mike Norvell is coaching for his job and surely needs his team to be more than just competitive in Year 7, especially on the road and within the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Seminoles have lost 11 in a row away from home and are 3-13 in league play the last two years. FSU is 7-18 since getting left out of the 2023 College Football Playoff, and Norvell has endured as many losing seasons (4) as predecessors Willie Taggart (2), Jimbo Fisher (1) and Bobby Bowden (1) had in the previous 44 years combined.

Norvell is betting on himself to make a difference in 2026. He reclaimed play-calling duties following Gus Malzahn’s retirement and will direct an offense led by Auburn transfer QB Ashton Daniels and standout WR Duce Robinson.

“I expect this year to be the best year of my life,” Norvell said. “You learn lessons, and there’s times you get knocked down — I’ve been there — and you get to come up and go get better through it.”

Strengths include a promising pass-catching tandem

Robinson was named to the preseason All-ACC team after catching 56 passes for 1,081 yards and six TDs last season. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Arizona native returned for his senior season in hopes of improving his NFL draft stock.

The Seminoles chose not to add a receiver in the transfer portal because they believe Micahi Danzy could take a jump as a sophomore and give them one of the league’s top receiver tandems. Danzy totaled 787 all-purpose yards and six TDs as a freshman — 571 yards receiving and 216 yards rushing. He averaged a league-leading 21.2 yards per reception. He’s up to 194 pounds this year, believing the extra bulk will make him better in short and intermediate routes.

Weaknesses include revamped secondary

SS Ashlynd Barker and CB Ja’Bril Rawls Jr. are back, giving FSU some carryover from last year’s passing defense that ranked second in the ACC. But the Seminoles have three transfer starters to integrate into the mix – CB Nehemiah Chandler from South Alabama, FS CJ Richard Jr. from Illinois State and nickelback Ma’Khi Jones from Duke.

Depth in the secondary took a hit when Notre Dame transfer safety Karson Hobbs tore a knee ligament during camp and had season-ending surgery.

New faces

LT Xavier Chaplin (transferred from Auburn), DE Rylan Kennedy (transferred from Texas A&M) and RB Quintrevion Wisner (transferred from Texas).

Key losses

DL Darrell Jackson Jr. (fourth-round NFL draft pick), S Earl Little Jr. (transferred to Ohio State) and DE Amaree Williams (transferred to Mississippi State).