Norvell challenges team with a trip
Seminoles hold 2 practices at North Florida in Jacksonville
Florida State coach Mike Norvell wanted to challenge his football team, so he decided to take them out of their comfort zone. A week into fall camp, Norvell took his Seminoles on a trip to the University of North Florida to host a set of practices Thursday and Friday.
“I think it’s great,” Norvell said of the trip. “An opportunity to come somewhere where we have no control of the environment, no control over the weather, no control over anything that’s around us. You’re sleeping in a different bed.
“It’s a unique opportunity. We’re going to have to do the same thing as we go and play on the road this year, but it prepares you for what’s ahead.”
Norvell said the team responded well to the challenge of moving the camp nearly three hours away from the comforts of Tallahassee. He stressed there was plenty of intensity among the players and at times, it boiled over onto the field.
“I would say tensions were high at practice but an opportunity for us to learn and an opportunity for us to focus on our response moving forward,” Norvell said Thursday. “Some unnecessary lapses in our emotional control.
“It’s something that usually happens once a camp, where you’re going to see a day like today and it’s necessary because there’s been plenty of times this fall that we’re going to be in uncomfortable situations but our mental makeup, our mental focus, that’s good and that’s gonna make the difference.”
Quarterback McKenzie Milton said it’s not uncommon for emotions to run high during camp.
“There’s always some mid-camp blow and a lot of ups and downs throughout camp,” said Milton, who arrived in the offseason as a graduate transfer from UCF. “But to me, it’s just always about finding those answers. Your body’s not always gonna feel great day in and day out, but whether it’s in the film or on the field or an individual just trying to find something to get better at and I feel our guys are taking that approach.”
Added redshirt sophomore quarterback Jordan Travis on the trip, “It’s different, for sure. It’s different for everybody and I would say it’s a good change. It’s a little bit of adversity and it’s kind of like a game. We travel to away games and we’ve got to be able to perform in a different location than we’re not used to. So we’re trying to push and that’s all it is.”
FSU has five road games this season including against three teams ranked in the preseason coaches’ top-25 poll in North Carolina (Oct. 9), Clemson (Oct. 30) and Florida (Nov. 27). The Seminoles were winless (0-4) on the road last season and last won a contest away from home on Nov. 9, 2019, against Boston College.
“We’re going to be in a lot of close games and we’ve got to be able to be in control of ourselves throughout the challenging moments of each one of them and days like today help you through that,” added Norvell.
Milton, Travis push in camp
With a little more than three weeks until the season opener against Notre Dame on Sept. 5, the quarterback battle remains one of the top conversations throughout camp.
Milton and Travis appear to be front-runners for the starting job, with both players growing into the role.
“I feel extremely confident in the playbook,” said Milton, who is looking to make his first start since Nov. 23, 2018. “So whatever the coaches asked me to do, whether it’s taking it from the meeting room to the playing field, I’m just trying to progress every day, learning from what the other QBs are doing when they’re getting their reps and just learning by trial and error and keep working until we get to Sept. 5.”
“I’m pretty confident the boys around me are pushing me every single day,” said Travis, who started six games last season for the Seminoles. “McKenzie’s pushing me hard every single day, day in and day out, coming in here and just giving 100% and try to be the best player I can be for the team. That’s all it is. I’m just trying to work and get better every single day and try to learn from him and learn from other guys.”