Florida State can’t afford to fire Mike Norvell — and can’t afford to keep him

They’ve hit a unique inflection point at Florida State with coach Mike Norvell, one that perfectly and terrifyingly explains the transactional state of college football.

Can’t afford to fire him, can’t can’t afford to keep him.

“We can’t get caught up in what happened yesterday,” Norvell said last week. “Other than to learn from it.”

Welcome, everyone, to the excruciating financial reality of choices have consequences.

They’re feeling it at Florida State and Florida. At Auburn and Oklahoma, and Wisconsin and Southern California. And even Michigan, less than a year after winning the national title.

Bloated, guaranteed coaching contracts don’t translate to success.

Nowhere is this undeniable truth more prevalent than at Florida State — because of its unique connection to the new era of player procurement.

The highs of hitting it big in the transfer portal, and the ugly lows when swinging and missing.

This time last season, Florida State was polishing off a 19-game winning streak, and would become the focal point of the sport after missing out on the College Football Playoff.

Then Nick Saban retired at Alabama, and Norvell may or may not have been an Alabama candidate. So Florida State did what just about any university in the same situation would do: it threw a boatload of long-term, guaranteed cash at Norvell to convince him to stay.

Now that cash – an estimated $64 million in buyout money – is an anvil around the neck of the program. Because the coach who had the transfer portal figured out, who embraced the new shortcut to winning like no other and had high-level success doing so, has failed miserably a year later.

Florida State coach Mike Norvell reacts during his team’s game against Miami at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 26, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Fla.

And by miserable, I mean the worst season for…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-state-cant-afford-fire-110937806.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-14 11:09:37

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