“The pressure’s on, not only because of your record, but what the product looks like.” That’s what Gerald V. Dixon said about the Seminoles back in February. 2024 was a really tough year for Mike Norvell. After a 13-1 season and an ACC Championship in 2023, Norvell’s team had a tough turn in 2024, ending with a rough 2-10 record. His buyout figure of $63.8 million started circulating, and maybe that huge number actually saved his job. After all, the Seminoles probably couldn’t afford to rebuild from scratch. Moving into 2025, Norvell can’t afford any more big slip-ups, especially at quarterback. So, he’s really focused on landing a 5-star one.

But why was Dixon so doubtful about Norvell’s 2025 season in the first place? For that, he summed up the Seminoles’ last year. “They brought in the wrong quarterback. Didn’t pay the right quarterback, and their defensive line, that they paid so much money for to apply pressure and stop the run, got run through.”

One game perfectly showed how bad things were for Norvell’s team last season: their face-off against Notre Dame. Quarterbacks Brock Glenn and Luke Kromenhoek were sacked a combined eight times. This was the worst record in Norvell’s program history, as they allowed 15 total sacks in just two weeks. So, from now on, they simply cannot make a mistake with the quarterback position.

The FSU Seminoles are now hunting for the quarterback of their 2026 recruiting class, and they’re aiming high. They’ve already offered a scholarship to 5-star Keisean Henderson back in January. Even though Henderson seemed committed to the Houston Cougars, he’s now set to take an official visit to Tallahassee on June 9.

Mike Norvell’s team is also lucky to have their new offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, who joined Tallahassee after 13 years as a head coach at Arkansas State, Auburn, and UCF. On the May 31st episode of the Florida State Football-Warchant TV podcast, host Aslan Hajivandi shared that for Malzahn, developing quarterbacks is a piece of cake. “Gus Malzahn’s track record shows he doesn’t necessarily have to have one of these prized high-level quarterbacks in order to succeed.” And yes, that’s true.

Norvell’s new offensive coordinator successfully turned defensive back Nick Marshall into a strong quarterback at Auburn. But for the 2025 season, it’s a different situation for Malzahn, as Florida State has already found its starting QB in Thomas Castellanos. The analyst then raised concerns: “You’re talking about somebody who’s not exactly 6’5 or was a five-star coming out of high school.” But so what? The analyst assured, “Gus can make it work.”

Still, the Seminoles are swinging for the fences to bring in Keisean Henderson, a 6’3” and 185-pounder from the Legacy School of Sport Sciences. Earlier this year, they offered scholarships to a trio of top QB prospects: Henderson, along with Bowe Bentley and Landon Duckworth. Bentley has since cut the Seminoles from his list, but four-star talent Jaden O’Neal has now entered the picture. And co-host Michael Langston added, “There is nobody out of those three that fits FSU’s offense or what they gonna run or what they gonna do than this kid [Henderson].”

Even though Malzahn has a golden reputation for molding quarterbacks no matter the challenges, Norvell still needs to ensure the NIL offer he puts out for this quarterback is the absolute best. After all, there will be many teams chasing Henderson, who caught 74 passes for 1,135 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman in high school. But maybe it’s not the time to focus just on money.

Landing Henderson is truly the best way for Norvell to secure his position. As Hajivandi noted, “This would create incredible momentum for Florida State all of those benefits but then also for job security. There’s DJ Lagway, helped save Napier’s job in Gainesville. The fact that he was there on campus helped them stick it out with Billy Napier.” So, can Henderson be that crucial person for Norvell?

Time for Mike Norvell to buckle up, as Billy Napier shows blueprint for success

November 30, 2024, the Seminoles’ 2024 campaign ended in ugly fashion with a 31-11 loss to the Florida Gators. Tempers flared between the two teams postgame after the Gators tried to plant a flag at midfield. That’s when Norvell was captured exchanging words with Billy Napier before pulling the Florida flag off midfield and throwing it.

Just like Norvell, Napier was also walking on thin ice when it came to his head coaching job at the Gators last season. However, he was fortunate enough to have his quarterback, DJ Lagway, who catapulted the program from the abyss. Fitting into Graham Mertz’s shoes was not an easy task.

Mertz was sidelined after falling prey to an upper-body injury during the third quarter against the Miami Hurricanes last season. Lagway then stepped in, throwing for 456 yards with an 18-25 completion record, completely crushing Samford. Along with this, the quarterback in his inaugural start broke the record that was held by Chris Lewis, who back in 2003 had racked up 286 yards in his first start vs. Kentucky.

Now entering his sixth year at the helm, Norvell carries a 33–27 overall record with just two winning seasons, a single bowl victory, and two top-15 finishes. With this, he slipped badly in the CBS Sports Power Four head coach rankings.

In 2024, he was ranked No.8, but after the lackluster season, he dropped straight to the 25th spot. Unfortunately, this does not provide any hope. As Tom Fornelli noted, “The really bad news is Google Trends has seen a spike in ‘Mike Norvell buyout’ queries in northern Florida.” So it’s either hunting down Keisean Henderson or hitting the exit door for Norvell.