Expected hiring of Norvell draws praise

FSU generally got positive reviews from ESPN College Gameday analysts Saturday morning amid reports the Seminoles are poised to hire Memphis coach Mike Norvell.

While the school has not commented on the process since hiring a search firm, Norvell has been viewed as the front-runner for the job much of this week. ESPN.com was the latest to report Friday night a deal could be struck between FSU and Norvell shortly after the American Athletic Conference championship game between Memphis and Cincinnati that kicked off Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

FSU announced it is holding a press conference at noon on Sunday to formally introduce its next head coach, clearing Norvell to immediately begin recruiting ahead of the Dec. 18 early signing day. The Seminoles have the No. 22-ranked recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings, after losing three recruits in the past 48 hours.

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit suggested Saturday that Norvell’s offense could be fun to watch at FSU. The Memphis coach has fielded prolific offenses throughout his tenure leading the Tigers.

“I also love to see Florida State, if that ends up going down, Mike Norvell [is] really an innovative offensive mind,” Herbstreit said. “Always attacking, knows how to recruit. He has got a game himself, as you said, that will be a focus for him to just try to win this game, win a championship.”

Fellow analyst Desmond Howard hinted at a question raised by many who are unsure how Norvell will perform with limited recruiting ties to the state of Florida.

“Norvell, I want to see how he recruits for Florida State,” Howard said. “That is a very interesting mix to me, Norvell up there in Tallahassee.”

FSU fired coach Willie Taggart on Nov. 30 after a tumultuous 23 months leading the football program. Taggart went 9-12 overall at FSU, including 4-5 this season, and was 0-3 against in-state rivals. His final game was a sloppy 27-10 loss to rival Miami in Tallahassee.

Were Memphis to beat Cincinnati in the AAC title game, the Tigers are expected to earn a New Year’s Six bowl bid. It’s unclear whether Norvell will try to mirror Scott Frost’s plan when he jumped from UCF to Nebraska, returning to coach the Knights during a bowl win over Auburn.