Florida State opened its 2026 season with a 34-17 victory over New Mexico State on Saturday night, August 29, at Doak Campbell Stadium. But head coach Mike Norvell was far from happy. Winning by 17 points against a Conference USA team that won just four games last year felt more like a warning sign than a celebration for Seminoles fans.
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When asked about the performance, Norvell did not dodge the question, as he expressed his dissatisfaction. He pointed to miscommunication as the root of it, as it showed up clearly on defense. Norvell said blown coverages were directly responsible for both of New Mexico State’s touchdowns.
“It didn’t go exactly how we wanted in certain aspects,” he said, according to a post from Logan B Robinson.
He cited “that can’t happen” again, while adding that he believes the coaching staff can clean it up before the Seminoles open ACC play, per an X post by Warchant.com. It’s a fair thing to say out loud, but it’s also the same explanation fans have heard before during Norvell’s tough stretches in Tallahassee in 2023 and 2025.
Norvell also brought up penalties as part of the problem, while complimenting the “team’s ability to move on to the next play.”
“A wonderful way to start the 2026 season — as we got in the game, some good and bad that showed up. Didn’t go the way we wanted in certain aspects…some penalties put us in difficult situations,” Norvell said, according to an X post by Tomahawk Nation
Norvell believes coverage issues on defense and costly penalties on offense gave the Aggies too many chances in a game Florida State should have won comfortably.
The pressure around Norvell goes well beyond one game. He enters the 2026 season after back-to-back losing seasons, including a 5-7 finish in 2025, while FSU lost 18 of its last 25 games dating back to the 13-0 start in 2023. Andy Staples of On3 already has Norvell on his list of coaches under the most pressure this season, and it’s easy to see why. His contract carries a $45.6M buyout after the 2026 season, making a coaching change costly.
A win over New Mexico State wasn’t going to quiet the hot-seat talk, as one fan argued that his stock value has considerably gone down despite the Week 0 win.
“Norvell was on the hot seat coming into the season; his Week 0 performance against NM State did not change any opinions. Norvell and FSU never separated from the CUSA squad; in fact FSU was lucky to escape with a 17 point victory,” Drew Scuilla posted on X.
The bigger test comes quickly as the Seminoles host No. 19 SMU on Labor Day night (September 7) before traveling to Alabama in Week 3, giving Norvell two early chances to show whether the problems from Week 0 can be fixed. For now, Norvell believes that those mistakes are correctable, while the play against SMU will be the real chance to prove it.