What FSU fans feared has unfortunately come through in Tallahassee. Despite the Seminoles going 5-6 this season, Mike Norvell will continue as HC for the seventh season, the school has confirmed.

Calls to fire Mike Norvell have been ringing for a long while in the Doak. The Seminoles’ 11-21 loss to NC State had fans convinced that he was on his way out. But, FSU continued to gamble on the coach. Ross Dellenger confirmed that the troubled Norvell will be staying on for 2026.

“The university president, AD and board are aligned in support of Norvell, who has pledged to make changes in areas of recruiting and player evaluation to enhance FSU’s roster,” his tweet read. The coach is 38-33 at FSU.

The news is both surprising and expected. Fans wanted Norvell gone after the 2024 season itself, when FSU went just 2-10. This seemed like a different program that year, after registering 2 back-to-back double-digit winning seasons. They also won the ACC Championship in 2023. If FSU’s top brass found it within itself to keep Norvell after such a poor result, 5-6 was more than a safe number for him to continue. Plus, he did pull off an Alabama upset this year.

“We’re not even close to living up to expectations,” Norvell said after the NC State game, visibly disappointed with the result. “No, we have not lived up to expectations. [A] fully capable football team, and that’s not good enough. It’s not been good enough for the six losses that we have. And it’s extremely frustrating. I can’t answer the question of how or why, but hell yeah, it’s frustrating,” he added.

Over the past two years, Florida State is 7-16 (3-13 in ACC play) and winless on the road. Florida State has gone from among the worst offenses in the country — ranking No. 132 in the nation last year — to one of the best, ranking No. 8 this year and out-gaining opponents in 10 games. He’s done well on the recruiting side of things as well, as the 2026 class sits within the Top 20 in the country. Mike Norvell is now off the hot seat until the 2026 season. This could directly be tied to the huge financial complication.

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Mike Norvell’s buyout figures

If FSU fired him, Norvell’s buyout would dethrone Brian Kelly’s buyout. The Seminoles have already cycled through 2 head coaches before him. However, neither of them ever had such a controversy.

Norvell is entitled to $58.7 million under his contract. That’s a staggering amount for someone who has just scraped by this season. But there is more.

FSU would actually have to part with $72 million to fire Norvell and his staff. That price was probably why fans had doubts about the program firing

Mike Norvell. The athletics department has already tried to make this work after Willie Taggart, failing to try to get back to the place they deserved. Even Peter Collins, Chairman of the Florida State University (FSU) Board of Trustees, focused on financial stability.

“We will address performance deficiencies in the program,” Collins said. “These deficiencies may include structural changes to the very large and complex program FSU football has become, and these areas are where we will focus and invest.”

Mike Norvell has a silver lining to this year. But next year, all eyes will be on him once again, much before the season starts. Fans have already given up on him.