"He is feeling big-time pressure": CFB Analyst on Mike Norvell's decision to fire 3 assistants
Florida State coach Mike Norvell announced last Sunday defensive coordinator Adam Fuller, offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, and wide receivers coach Ron Dugans have all been let go of their duties. Host of “CFB Smothered and Covered” and co-host of “College Sports Sunday” on SiriusXM college sports radio, Barrett Sallee, shared his take on the matter on social media platform, X (formerly Twitter).
Is Norvell feeling overwhelmed by Florida State’s poor performance?
According to reports, Florida State University is committed to making significant changes to its coaching staff as a season with little success comes to a close. These dismissals have been rapid considering it had only been a day since the Seminoles dropped to 1-9 with a 52-3 loss at Notre Dame. Reports indicate Randy Shannon is expected to take over defensive coordinator duties for the remainder of the season.
Commenting on the news, Sallee posted on X:
“Mike Norvell firing his OC, DC, and WR coaches shows that he is feeling big-time pressure.”
The blowout win for Notre Dame saw the Irish gain 453 yards on 62 plays. After taking a 21-3 lead into halftime, the Irish scored 31 points in the second half to cement their dominance.
This season has been a hallmark of futility for FSU. Currently, the Seminoles are the only top-level college football team in the country who haven’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season while ranking last in the litany of 134 FBS teams while averaging 13.3 per game.
Norvell defended the triple sacking in a statement.
“I appreciate the work these three men have provided over the last five years with me at Florida State. They are all great men with families who also have poured into our program. We had many great moments together here, and I have never doubted their passion for our players and (for) Florida State. Unfortunately, we have not upheld the Florida State standard with our results on the field this season. I did not make any of these decisions lightly, but I felt changes needed to be made to elevate our program back to where we all desire it to be.”
The controversial coach drew the ire of Florida State fans after the Seminoles' defeat. Many consider this to be among the school's worst losses in program history.
Florida State’s defense is responsible for giving up 30 points per game while allowing opposing offenses to average 5.8 yards per play. To make matters more difficult for the Seminoles, their offense has committed 17 turnovers while the defense has forced only three.
A columnist for the publication "OutKick," Sallee added:
“You don’t start shedding assistants in the middle of the season if you’re not feeling heat from above.”
Norvell's dismissal of coordinators at this point in the season is somewhat fruitless. However, there is a silver lining for Norvell —this gives him a head start on landing assistants for the 2025 season. The move comes only months after Norvell was locked into an eight-year contract extension worth $84 million.
Interestingly, this is not the first time that Sallee has been critical of Norvell this season. Earlier this September, he questioned Norvell’s treatment of DJ Uiagalelei:
The loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish extends Florida State's losing streak to half a dozen games, thereby giving incentive for Norvell to make some changes to the coaching staff. However, some die-hard fans are adamant that Norvell should be let go off as a part of those changes.