Norvell says Noles at start of climb back to excellence

Mike Norvell’s voice rose to a crescendo, capturing the full attention of high school football coaches on hand to hear the new Florida State coach share his coaching philosophy.

The 38-year-old coach didn’t need a microphone to get his message across to the participants.

“We’re at the very beginning,” Norvell said of the job that faces him and his coaching staff after taking over an FSU program that is coming off back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1975-76. “Our standard at Florida State is excellence, no matter what we do.”

Norvell is 74 days into his tenure at Florida State and the new coach hit the ground running. Between offseason workouts and recruiting, Norvell has spent much of his time focused on building a new foundation for a program that has slid backward in national relevance.

“There’s a lot of things to do,” Norvell said during a visit to the Nike coaching clinic in Orlando. “We’re trying to make sure we are utilizing all the resources that we have to grow in every aspect of our program. The No. 1 focus has been to our current players and to their development and investing in those relationships.”

Relationships have been a crucial building block in Norvell’s coaching career, all the way back to seventh grade when he knew he wanted to be a football coach.

From his time as a player at Central Arkansas to becoming a graduate assistant at Tulsa under Gus Malzahn to becoming a head coach at Memphis, Norvell identified at an early age the importance of building lifelong connections.

“I’m grateful for every person who impacted my life,” Norvell told the attendees. “The game of football has been the most consistent thing in my life.”

Some of those in attendance Sunday were decked out in Florida State gear and Norvell said the response he’s received from fans since he arrived has been outstanding.

“As we’ve gone throughout the state, the support for our university and program is pretty remarkable,” Norvell said. “I think there is a lot of excitement. We’re excited as a staff and as a football team, but we know that it’s all part of the process of getting to know each other, understanding the expectation and working every day to be the best version of ourselves as we go through the process.”

Florida State begins spring football practice this week, but Norvell already has seen firsthand the enthusiasm from his players as they prepare for the 2020 season.

“There’s an excitement and there’s a passion to grow and to develop,” Norvell said. “Any time there’s change, these guys have been trying to figure out exactly what we’re looking for. We’re setting the standard and we’re holding them to that standard.

“They’ve done a really good job throughout the process but we know we have a really long way to go but all we can control is the day that’s in front of us and they’ve done a nice job to be the best on those opportunities.”

He told the clinic coaches the goal is to help Florida State get back to where the Seminoles are supposed to be. If his players play smart, play fast, play physical and play to finish, he believes they’ll get there. His message to his players is a familiar one.

“You maximize the day,” Norvell said. “Everything that we do, you try to put forth your best effort and maximize the potential that we have and each and every day, try to get 1% better.”

MATT BAKER/TAMPA BAY TIMES New FSU coach Mike Norvell and his staff were in Orlando this weekend at a coaching clinic speaking with about 200 high school coaches from the state of Florida.