On November 20th, 2023, Mike Norvell handed the reigns to quarterback Tate Rodemaker to lead the 11-0 Seminoles into the Swamp and keep their championship hopes alive, entering the ACC title game the following week. It would be daunting for most coaches to trust a backup quarterback, but the fourth-year Seminole gave the team confidence.

Norvell stated in his pre-Florida press conference that he was “excited for Tate. He did a wonderful job coming in (after Jordan Travis was injured vs. North Alabama). Didn’t shock anybody that was on our team because we’ve seen him do that before. We’ve seen him on the road. We’ve seen him have to lead us back from being down.” There was no need for coachspeak during that presser because it was true — after taking his lumps and growing from a disappointing start to his Tallahassee career, Rodemaker had shown an ability to answer the call.

The first player to join Norvell’s inaugural Florida State recruiting class, he brought FSU back against Louisville the year before and maintained his composure down two scores against North Alabama with the team’s heart and soul injured.

Rodemaker struggled in the Swamp, but he never made the egregious mistake and did enough to leave with a win. The son of a coach managed the game effectively, and after patiently waiting his turn for four years, he seemed destined to lead the Noles through a moderate rebuilding year in 2024, the grizzled veteran in charge of a young brigade.

It would be his final time in garnet and gold.

A fortnight after the snub, Norvell brought high-profile transfer quarterbacks Cam Ward and DJ Uiagalelei for an official visit. Rodemaker left a week later with the cake in the oven. A few days later, Ward declared for the NFL Draft, forcing Miami to increase their NIL offer, and Uiagalelei, the humble quarterback from California, committed to FSU, his only offer. Rodemaker, took a demotion and transferred to Southern Miss, where he threw two picks in his first game.

Looking back on it now, it seems as if Florida State’s playoff snub forced Norvell’s hand to abandon his off-season plans. Instead of allowing his two best recruiting classes to take their lumps in 2024, “The Portal King” attempted to fill every hole left open from the best Seminole roster in a decade, trying to overnight a roster in minutes.

Of course, after two years of seeing success, how could you not believe in what the coaching staff could do? The transfer portal became the engine on the car that drove Florida State back to the promised land. Even though most of these transfers were expected to contribute in only nine months, compared to the multiple-year runaway players like Jared Verse, Trey Benson, Tatum Bethune, and Johnny Wilson received, it felt like the coaches turned the portal from an educated guess to a science. The staff went all in on its belief that if they found underused but physical and athletic players, they could shape them into their potential — forgetting key parts of what made the magic happen.

Norvell deviated from his strategy as he brought in players he hoped would be impactful AND leaders this year. Even when Keon Coleman transferred in from Michigan State, he learned from Wilson, who got the chance to shape himself alongside a veteran, Pookie Wilson. The same can be said on the defensive side of the ball — Braden Fiske worked in Tallahassee because he observed the habits of Verse and Fabien Lovett, two transfers who had fully bought into uploading the Florida State standard, and they wrecked havoc in the trenches. But, this time, Norvell brought transfers into the program without the in-house leadership to teach them. The head coach took five transfers from Alabama, expecting four to compete for starting jobs right away, even though Nick Saban never trusted them in that role during their time in Tuscaloosa. His 17 additions were far and away his highest number ever, including 15 players from then-Power Five. His previous high reached 14 in 2022, but only 12 players earned snaps; four athletes came from Group of 5 programs or below.

The name that was the focus in the offseason and is now squarely in the spotlight, first as a bragging point and now the face of all that is going wrong (fair or not), is Uiagalelei. At first, his addition made sense. A dual-threat signal caller who faced adversity throughout his career, a reoccurring theme with players that Norvell has brought in and elevated, could have his on-the-field mistakes coached out by a staff focused on building “an offense for playmakers”. Any potential issues at receiver could be smoothed over by a running back room that was purported to be one of the deepest in the country, complemented by an offensive line that entering the year had 355 collegiate games played with 215 starts, both the highest totals in the country.

It took two weeks into spring practice to see the early cracks.

On multiple occasions in the offseason, starting before spring camp and leading up to fall, Mike Norvell said this year’s squad was “the strongest and fastest team we’ve had up until this point.”

However, during the first padded practice of the spring, Norvell publically called out his receivers, a tactic he rarely used a season ago. Even just three days into camp, the seeds of poor execution began to be planted.

“Too many drops today,” he said. “I thought that was something that was disappointing from watching practice. I think the guys are doing a good job trying to work themselves open; quarterbacks are doing a pretty good job locating the ball for the most part….give credit to the guys on the defensive side.”

After a few practices and the first scrimmage, it sounded like the offense began to find its groove. A heavy installation period at the beginning of practice meant that players, especially Uiagalelei, processed slower with all the new information. However, Norvell praised the offense during the first mock game of the spring after it was closed to the media.

“The quarterback play was really good: DJ had a couple long, extended drives [and the] offense had some explosive plays put in there…I thought today was his best day. He’s had some good days in spring practice, but today he operated at a very, very high level.”

The offense continued progressing throughout the spring until the lights turned on for the spring game. Roydell Williams effectively ran the ball, but that became the only bright spot. At the time, it was easy to chalk that up to spring camp trends, where the defense is normally ahead of the defense. Norvell again mentioned “missed opportunities” and “dropped balls” when meeting with the media after the game and called for dependability.

“I like the skill, I like the way the guys have battled, but you’re always looking for that consistency…Malik Benson has emerged as one of the top players we have on the offensive side. We have a really good sense of Ja’Khi.”

At the same time as the offensive roller coaster, the defense tightened the screws. All of spring camp, the group looked like man-eaters, perfectly blending physicality, depth, and speed into a group that honestly felt could be better than the 2023 unit that allowed one touchdown in 11 quarters to end the season. The addition of Marvin Jones Jr. on the edge seemed like the perfect compliment to emerging star Patrick Payton becoming a Jermaine Johnson clone after the departure of Verse. Norvell felt the same, saying the legacy player “has probably had some of the best progressions throughout spring practice.” With the two bookends on the outside and the return of Darrell Jackson Jr., hope quickly spread around the program that the defense would not take a step back. Players on all three levels fielded NFL bodies, and they excelled not just because of the competition but because they could actually play.

With a dominant group up front and lockdown corners in the back from the return of Fentrell Cypress, Fuller addressed the main concern on the defense: linebacker. After the spring game, the coaching staff hit the portal again and brought in senior Cam Riley to bring a veteran presence next to DJ Lundy in the LB room and raise the ceiling with his 6’5’’ 220-pound frame. The coaches called the backers one of the most improved units on the team from the beginning of spring practice to now with the emergence of Blake Nichelson, Omar Graham Jr., and Justin Cryer. Riley blended seamlessly with the group over the summer, and it seemed Randy Shannon’s unit could go five strong. Now, it seemed, the defense had all their bases covered, being able to play a style of game with the personnel and depth to maintain the grind of a season.

Here were my estimations at the end of the spring:

The defense sure looks the part, and the pass rush on display suggests this group could exceed last year’s performance. The secondary put the clamps on the receiving core, and the linebackers have become the most improved unit throughout the spring. Nothing from the Showcase changed my feelings about Adam Fuller’s unit; they are ahead of the offense at the end of spring camp.

Norvell brought three homegrown players with him to ACC Media Days, all on the line of scrimmage: a telegraphed move to emphasize he wanted FSU to bully teams up-front and let the “Second-Half Seminoles” wear you down for the second year.

Despite the accolades ranging from awards to lofty draft projections given to players on both sides of the ball in the trenches, Norvell flashed the warning signs at the start of fall camp. On the fourth day, again, he challenged the guys in front of the media.

“I thought offensively, there was some stuff today that definitely was not as clean as we need them to be. I’ve got a little empathy for the workload and knowledge that’s going in, especially for those newcomers, but I just want more.”

The defense dominated, leading into the Jacksonville practices at the beginning of August. The Seminoles could not move the two anchors of Joshua Farmer, who missed all of spring with an injury, and Darrell Jackson Jr., and the secondary led by Shyheim Brown became a no-fly zone. While spring tends to lean towards the defense, by the time the season creeps closer, you want your offense clicking — something yet to be seen at that point.

After the first closed scrimmage, the head gave an honest answer to the winner of the mock game: “I thought, all in all, the defense, especially the first defense, came out ahead if you were picking a side.”

A few days later, FSU headed off to Jacksonville for its annual Duval visit. The trip to the 904 brought teams together before and became a hallmark of Norvell’s off-season program, emphasizing brotherhood and hammering home consistency in every situation.

At first glance, it did the trick.

The wide receivers and Uiagalelei finally got on the same page and threw the first counter-punch in August. The team battled through two days of sweaty, muggy, and humid practice, with Norvell shutting off the AC inside the Jacksonville Jaguars facility on the first day and the Seminoles practicing on what looked like a prison yard the next day. Positive signs were emerging as the team seemed to start to gel together.

After the second scrimmage, the headman praised the underclassmen for their improvement.

“The young group of skill players on offense has really emerged. All of the younger receivers were able to make impactful plays. Amaree Williams had a great touchdown catch. I thought he had a huge jump from a week ago to what he was today.”

So far this season, even without the offense rendered stagnant, Elijah Moore, Lawayne McCoy, and Amaree Williams have not received a snap.

Two weeks later, the Seminoles boarded the buses to get to Aviva Stadium to face off against a physical Georgia Tech team that, on the one hand, only won seven games a year ago and, on the other, returned the bulk of its production. The winner of the game would be whoever controlled the line of scrimmage, a directive dictated by FSU, who had sent the message that it would be a ground-and-pound B1G-type bruiser in 2024.

For the first drive, the Seminoles could not be stopped.

Lawrance Toafili capped off an excellent opening sequence with a 28-yard TD score, and it felt that Norvell did it again, putting a championship contender on the field for the second season in a row.

The next 113:00 proved otherwise.

The Aer Lingus Classic turned into a sloppy slugfest, with the excitement taken out of the air as both teams employed a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust gameplan. The Seminoles went into the break tied, but that felt comfortable for a team that trailed by double-digits multiple times last year (through the first seven games, FSU was outscoring opponents 150-50 in the second half before the defense turned into the 2000 Ravens in the latter part of the season).

Except, this time, the defensive adjustments never worked.

One team took over the line of scrimmage, and not the one wearing garnet and gold.

On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, Fuller brought Shyheim Brown on a safety blitz, a patented move that worked wonders when FSU needed more bodies in the run game a season ago.

Georgia Tech ripped off a gain of 36 yards on the ground, and the Yellow Jackets continued to control the clock, shortening the game to just three drives a side in the second half. They won the second-half rushing advantage 89-20 after FSU kept it close in the first (101-78). Fuller could not find a way to get his defense off the field, and back-to-back scoring drives that lasted over six minutes meant Florida State flew back to Tallahassee 0-1 in the ACC, wasting a mulligan before 99% of teams kicked their season off.

At his post-game press conference, Norvell came off frustrated but not discouraged. He still believed in what this group could do, especially on offense, where multiple fourth-down conversions from Uiagalelei sparked belief that the offense had life.

“We’ve got to do a better job setting the edge…That was definitely the X-factor in this game.

Up front, there are times that, offensively, we have to do a better job maintaining leverage…they did a good job changing up our schemes. We had our chances.”

“I thought DJ did some good things. I think he did a great job there with that fourth-quarter drive. I thought he delivered at that moment… At the end of the day, we have to be more explosive, and that’s not just on one player.”

Five days later, the head coach and coordinators met with the media. Norvell pulled back the curtain after the loss and said he heard “ownership” from multiple players in the locker room. While Sunday’s film study was “not fun,” it seemed to be a wake-up call. The head coach mentioned that Saturday “was not our best,” but he still believes in his team.

A few minutes later, Fuller took the stand and believed bad tackling, a theme that permeated during fall camp, contributed to the lack of defensive success and will be the focus heading into Boston College week.

“There are times I think we’ve taken good steps, but when the lights come on, what you see is what you get…In today’s age of football, with the amount of space that’s put on, you better be the aggressor in tackling.”

Fuller and the players also noted a lack of communication, a concern that plagued the 2023 team early last season. GT easily found running room by using smoke-and-mirrors and getting the ball to the outside. They avoided the strength of the FSU defense, supposedly their pass rush and secondary, and instead forced them to cover every blade of grass and throw them off with pre-snap motion.

Hearing coaches talk about a need to be aggressive and then looking back on quotes from before the season where the physicality and speed of this team were lauded, it is mind-numbing to see the two sentiments juxtaposed.

After practice the following day, Norvell lauded how good it felt to get back on the field, focusing on getting better instead of outside noise. Twenty-four hours later, emotional dust-ups flared on the second day of practice, which displayed signs of life at the time but looking back, sowed the seeds of undiscipline against BC on Monday.

A weekend off allowed the Seminoles to reset from the jet lag, and with a home matchup against Boston College as double-digit favorites, Florida State found itself in the perfect position to return to form and get the season back on track.

At 11:13 P.M. on Labor Day, a dejected Norvell slowly entered the press conference room inside Moore Athletic Center, flanked by his usual convoy of his S.I.D., a Tallahassee police officer and athletic director Michael Alford. If after Georgia Tech he seemed frustrated, then today he looked lost. The usually structured head coach, who starts his 11:30 midweek press conferences at 11:30:05 every time, rambled about what went wrong, searching for answers of his own when coachspeaking his way through questions at a higher clip than usual. When asked about a quarterback change, he did not offer insight, and when pressed about whether he made the wrong evaluations in the portal, Norvell responded in 22 words, his shortest answer of the night. The head coach took full responsibility for what transpired, knowing that year five was not supposed to look like this.

After Norvell left, DJ Lundy, Kentron Poitier, and Cam Riley entered. Lundy stated that his head coach always takes responsibility but insisted the issues result from the players. Those in uniform Monday clearly quit for one reason or another, and the leadership inside the locker room failed. Lundy stated a “disconnect” defensively, but the problems inside seem to be more profound than that.

On Tuesday morning, the sun appeared amazingly in Tallahassee, considering the sky had fallen eight hours before. The Seminoles sit 0-2 and do not resemble a team that can compete for a bowl game. At least the team that started 0-4 in 2021 displayed fight and effort, recovering from an emotionally devastating start to the season and taking their coach’s words to heart about getting 1 percent better every day, no matter the circumstances. Norvell’s teams have historically had a specific look to them, an identity centered around the CLIMB, and this team does not. Against Boston College, Bill O’Brien did not even need to run the ball on the edge or trick the defense; he smashed it up the middle time after time with no fightback. A defense destined to be one of the best in the ACC cannot get off the field to save its life.

In 2024, the team has not responded, failed to keep their discipline, and seems to have lost all trust in their training. An offense that never found its footing dating back to spring practice looks over its heads with no chemistry or identity. On the other side of the ball, a quick glimpse at the defense proves they are broken after giving up 453 rushing yards in two games combined with no clear answers. In 2023, Fuller’s unit did not look sharp until Kalen DeLoach’s scoop-and-score against Clemson. But this season, they are not close, and they are almost more disappointed than their counterparts because of the NFL-level talent on that side of the ball.

With the personnel in disarray, a coaching staff that cherished bringing all ten members back, a stat relatively unheard of in today’s age of college football, looks over its skis. If growth comes from being uncomfortable, then it makes sense the staff stagnated. Each instructor received a raise in the off-season, but the checks coming soon will be a buy-out. It is not just that the scheme does not work anymore, but no part of the team does.

In just ten months, Florida State went from being the pinnacle of the ACC to becoming the laughing stock of the country. Whether or not the snub affected this group cannot be said confidently, but that is water under the bridge now. The personnel on the roster does not work, the team is shaken in confidence and approach and the coaching staff at the moment does not seem to possess answers to fix any of it.

Just four days into September, 0-2 feels like 0-200.