Florida State is in total chaos after firing Mike Norvell, facing a massive $50 million buyout with no athletic director to lead the search. But while the Seminoles sit at 3-5, a head coach out in New Mexico just led his team into the AP Top 25 for the first time ever. Reports claim that he is quickly rising to the top of FSU’s target list.
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Norvell was fired about 12 hours after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson. The seat has been warm since 2024, when a 13-0 ACC title run turned into a 2-10 season, and it got hotter once athletic director Michael Alford was fired in September. Norvell is owed about $50.3M, the third-largest buyout in college football history, though it shrinks by whatever he earns at his next job. Director of scouting Rick Stockstill is the interim coach, with FSU starting its head coach search from now.
CBS Sports reporter Brandon Marcello called Jason Eck the hottest Group of Six coach, while multiple team insiders also view him as the leading candidate to replace Norvell.
Eck played offensive line at Wisconsin, took Idaho to the FCS playoffs in all three seasons, and is 42-18 as a head coach. FSU’s lines never got settled under Norvell. However, Eck has never coached in a power conference and has no Southeast ties. New Mexico is 7-1 and 4-0 in the Mountain West after a 21-16 win at San Jose State, its first there since 1969, and it now sits at No. 22.
According to an X post by ESPN College Football, New Mexico has entered the AP Top 25 for the first time in program history, with the poll dating back to 1936. The financial picture at Florida State is far less encouraging: buyouts for Norvell and his assistants could exceed $65M, while the athletic department carries $437M in debt. Eck earns $1.75M annually, a fraction of Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz’s $10.75M average salary.
Norvell still sounded like he believed that he could lead the program to wins after the Clemson loss. “If we can consistently do that as a football team, program, players, coaches, everybody involved, then we will rise up, and I absolutely believe that’s going to occur,” Norvell said, according to Andrea Adelson of ESPN.
It didn’t happen. Florida State was favored by about five points and lost by 12, with the stadium mostly empty in the fourth quarter. The Seminoles are 1-5 against Power Four teams this fall; the defense was giving up around 28 points a game, and Ashton Daniels threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, for four turnovers. FSU hasn’t won a road game since November 2023.
Eck isn’t alone on the list
Though Eck sits on top of the list of coaches replacing Norvell, there are few other names making rounds as well. Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert is 16-5 in two years and has the Deacons at 7-1. Duke’s Manny Diaz, an FSU alum, is 24-11.
“We’re at the point now, like, ‘How can we afford not to do this?'” University president Richard McCullough said, according to Andrea Adelson of ESPN. “The time has come. We owe it to so many of our constituencies. We need to put a highly competitive team on the field, and we have to do whatever it takes to get to that place.”
Kenny Dillingham, Drinkwitz, and Georgia’s Glenn Schumann also appear. FSU wants a coach before early signing day on December 2 and the portal on January 4. New Mexico plays at Nevada on Friday night.