ORLANDO, Fla. — No doubt, it had already been a better-than-expected season for coach Mike Norvell and his Florida State Seminoles.
They came into the Black Friday Sunshine State showdown with the Florida Gators ranked No. 16 in the country and with at least eight wins for the first time in six seasons. They blew out their other state rival — the Miami Hurricanes — 45-3 earlier this month and have been playing as well as any team in the country in this November to remember.
Still, Norvell absolutely needed to beat Florida on Friday night to put a big, beautiful garnet-and-gold holiday bow on his breakthrough season in Tallahassee.
Mission accomplished.
Barely.
With quarterback Jordan Travis playing the role of Superman, Norvell’s Seminoles ended a three-game losing streak to the Gators with a hair-raising, heart-thumping, field-storming 45-38 victory that galvanizes Seminole Nation and leaves FSU fans feeling ultra positive about their program for the first time since Jimbo Fisher’s heyday.
“These games (against Florida and Miami) are critical for us,” Norvell said. “To be able to go 2-0 in the state and finish as state champs, I couldn’t be more proud of our team. We’re back in the national conversation ... but this is just the beginning.”
Normally, I would say it was totally inappropriate for FSU fans to storm the field after beating a 6-6 Florida team that lost to Vanderbilt last week, but, hey, Seminole Nation has been through hell over the last few years. It started with Jimbo bailing on the program and leaving his discarded Christmas tree on the curb as he bolted for the big money at Texas A&M. Then came the two-year Willie Taggart fiasco and the $20 million contract buyout.
“This was a celebration that was needed,” Norvell said of those FSU fans who raucously rushed the field.
It was also a victory Norvell himself needed to complete his breakthrough season. He took over in 2020 during COVID, contracted the virus himself and finished a disappointing 3-6 in his inaugural season. Now the Seminoles are 9-3 with a chance to get a 10th win a bowl game. They have indeed come a long way, baby, in Norvell’s third season. They’ve come so far, in fact, I believe Norvell deserves a raise.
A big, fat raise.
Especially when you consider what his state rivals — Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Florida’s Billy Napier — make on an annual basis.
Cristobal signed a 10-year deal worth $8 million annually to leave Oregon for Miami after last season while Napier signed a 7-year deal worth $7.1 million annually to leave Louisiana-Lafayette.
Norvell is making about $4.5 million annually to coach Florida State although his salary will increase to $6.7 million in 2026 based upon a one-year contract extension he signed at the end of last season.
Sadly, in today’s over-inflated world of big-time college football salaries, $4.5 million is chump change. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney ($10.5 million per year) finds $4.5 million in his coach cushions. And, no, I’m not saying Norvell should make as much as Swinney, Nick Saban and the other elite coaches in college football, but he should certainly be on par with Napier, Cristobal and coaches at perennial SEC also-rans such as Ole Miss (Lane Kiffin: $7.25 million per year before the reported raise he received Saturday) and Mississippi State (Mike Leach: $5.5 million).
He has slowly but surely turned around FSU’s program and has made the Seminoles one of the better teams in the country, The Seminoles were 9.5-point favorites against the Gators — their largest home point spread vs. the Gators since 2000. The victory over Florida was the Seminoles’ fifth straight win and their seventh straight game in which they have rushed for at least 200 yards.
And if there was any question who the best quarterback in the state is, FSU’s Travis answered it in this game. Travis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson traded big plays throughout the first half, but Travis slammed the door on the debate in the second half.
Richardson started the second half with 11 straight incompletions even though Florida still managed to stay in the game with big running plays like Trevor Etienne’s 45-yard TD run that tied the score 38-38 with 7:41 left.
However, Travis didn’t flinch and continued to will his team to victory by driving the Seminoles 65 yards for what turned out to be Trey Benson’s game-clinching 17-yard TD run.
Twice in the game, it appeared the Seminoles were going to be stopped near Florida’s goal-line and both times the Houdini-esque escapability of the Florida State quarterback led to an FSU touchdown.
With Florida holding a 21-14 lead and FSU driving in the first half, Travis broke three tackles and turned what looked like a sure sack into 10-yard scramble to the Florida 1. Travis scored one play later to make it 21-all.
Then again, with the score tied 24-24 in the second half on 3rd-and-11 from the Florida 12, Travis escaped a sack and ran for 12 yards to the Florida 1. Benson scored three plays later. Travis ended up with 353 total yards of offense, including 85 rushing yards and 2 TD runs.
“The things Jordan did out on the field tonight were truly special,” Norvell said. “I mean, wow!”
This was victory Norvell’s program desperately needed. It’s no secret that beating Florida on a regular basis is a must for any successful FSU coach (see Bobby and Jimbo). Yes, beating Miami might be more important in the conference standings, but beating the Gators is more important for the psychological well-being of the fan base. You see, FSU has always had an inferiority complex in regards to UF, which is older, richer, more arrogant and only agreed to play FSU back in the early days because the state legislature demanded it.
Norvell clearly had FSU on the right path even before beating the Gators, but don’t kid yourself:
Any Seminole reconstruction project must include dismantling a University of Florida program that has historically stood in Florida State’s way.
Mission accomplished on this breathtaking Black Friday.
Mike Norvell’s program has now officially arrived.
Give that man a raise.
