Florida State coach Mike Norvell went off on a three-plus-minute rant Monday as he defended a Seminoles team that is winless through four games.
A 31-23 loss to Louisville on Saturday assured the Seminoles of their worst start since the 1974 squad opened the season with eight consecutive defeats.
“We’re continuing every day to go out there and improve. Put our guys in position to go out there and be successful. We’re continuing to go out there every day and go through the process, and it’s not what anybody hoped for, it’s not where anybody wanted to be. But there are a lot of areas in our program where we’re seeing growth.”
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell
When asked about his message to recruits, the second-year coach also spoke about what he’s seen from his current squad.
“I’m pissed off that we’re 0-4, and we can bring up how many years it’s been,” Norvell said. “I can’t control that. I can control this team at this moment and right now with the opportunity. So we’re going to work our butts off to go get better, and we’re going to do it the right way. And we’re going to have a standard how we operate, the same standard of everything that we do.
“I’m going to hold myself to it because I’ve got to be the example. Does that mean I’m not gonna make a mistake? I’ll probably make a mistake. Might make one today, might make one tomorrow, but I will respond to that. That’s the team I want, because I’ve seen it work.”
Florida State trailed 31-7 in the first half against visiting Louisville before making it close.
“If I was a fan, I’d be pissed off, 31-7,” Norvell said. “Some of them stayed. Some of them didn’t. The ones that did got to see a team that came back and responded, and played their butts off until the end. Were we successful? No, it was a failure. We did not win that game. …
“Yes, we are 0-4, but we have today. Then, Lord willing, wake up tomorrow, we’ll have tomorrow. And what we do with that, man I’ve got a lot of confidence in.”
The Seminoles are 3-10 under Norvell, who was 38-15 in four seasons at Memphis before being tapped to replace the fired Willie Taggart in December 2019.
Florida State faces Syracuse on Saturday in Tallahassee.
–Field Level Media