How do you destroy a football team in less than a year? Ask Florida State University (FSU) head coach Mike Norvell. After an impressive campaign during the 2023 season, going 13-1, Norvell’s Seminoles have dropped their first three games of the season, all to unranked opponents. Oregon State transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has proven to be a disappointing replacement for last year’s team captain and fifth-year senior Jordan Travis, and the running game has been non-existent against the subpar defensive lines of Georgia Tech, Boston College and Memphis, respectively. 

​     Last year, the Seminoles went 12-0 in the regular season before defeating the University of Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship but fell short of making the College Football Playoffs (CFP). There was mass outrage among players and fans, as they believed if you’re an undefeated team that beat several ranked teams in the regular season, you deserve a chance to compete for a championship. This outrage led to many players sitting out the team’s bowl game against the University of Georgia, which marked the fifth-ranked Seminoles lose 63-3 in an absolute blowout that saw the first signs of the program’s eventual downfall. The unwillingness of players to prove the CFP committee wrong went unchecked by Norvell, setting a precedent for the culture of the program going forward.

​     That culture has carried over to this team. The complete and total lack of perseverance when faced with a first-half deficit, the lackluster offensive line and the usually top-notch defensive line letting up 263 yards and two touchdowns to the below-average rushing attack of Boston College has further proven that Norvell has created a team without any heart or willpower. 

     Sure, losing 15 out of 22 starters from last season, but take a look at how legendary coaches like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Bobby Bowden were able to replenish with quality underclassmen to maintain relevance within the college football landscape. Norvell has been hailed as a “quarterback whisperer,” as he helped Travis grow into a pro-level talent, as well as made former Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch look like a first-round draft pick despite his horrendous throwing motion and awful football IQ. He was in conversations to be one of the best coaches in the nation. However, his lack of production without a team full of fifth-year seniors has proven him as a fraud and an average coach at best. 

​     Norvell can’t play on Saturdays, though. The quarterback play of DJ Uiagalelei has been nothing short of an absolute disaster. Uiagalelei’s inability to throw the ball down the field, coupled with his questionable-at-best decision-making, has been a large part of the Seminoles’ atrocious start to the season. After a decent 2023 campaign with Oregon State, Uiagalelei was hyped up to be one of the best quarterbacks in the transfer portal, but he has quickly proven to be one of the most overrated prospects the college game has ever seen. 

     This FSU team has been an abomination to the garnet and gold and has looked like one of the worst teams in the abysmal ACC. The entire program, from Athletic Director Michael Alford to the janitor who cleans the locker room, should be embarrassed to be associated with a team that lacks any sense of urgency to be anything better than aggressively mediocre. If this pattern continues, Norvell should be unemployed by Thanksgiving.