Florida State seemingly still hasn't recovered from the committee leaving them out of the 2023 College Football Playoff. The specter of the snub looms over the program until Mike Norvell & Co. can show sustained positive momentum on the field.
The Seminoles' head man is back in an old role, hoping that the third time is the charm to replace the offensive magic he had with Jordan Travis.
In this edition of our 2026 bounceback series, how does Florida State return to contention after two seasons in the wilderness, trying to rebound from deep disappointment?
Front office overhaul
General manager Darrick Yray is now at UCLA, and under new head coach Bob Chesney, the Bruins have been resurgent on the recruiting trail.
FSU has overhauled its front office in the wake of Yray's absence, including hiring a new GM in John Garrett, as well as executive director of football and player acquisition, Taylor Edwards, director of high school scouting, Mitch Ciombar, and director of college scouting, Joe Mannion. All were part of a major push to give Norvell what he needed off the field to better focus on the field.
Jon Sumrall's 'good' mindset fuels Florida rebuild amid Gators' recruiting surge, QB battle Richard Johnson
FSU was more than ready to meet the NIL moment that came in 2021. Stars like Keon Coleman, Jared Verse, and Johnny Wilson were the catalysts to the ACC Championship run in '23. But as player scouting and compensation markets in college football matured, the Noles didn't keep pace.
Athletic director Michael Alford, who previously came from the Dallas Cowboys, was a true believer in a leveling of the playing field in the post-House settlement world. He told reporters just last year that "it'll be a hard cap" regarding the $20.5 million number. What Noles brass, and others within college sports, perhaps didn't anticipate was how willing and able teams would be to go above and beyond that with third-party NIL, as many serious title contenders are expected to have rosters higher than $30 million in 2026, and a few were over that number in 2025. Florida State, among others, had questionable contract structures for their rev share deals as CBS Sports reported last year.
But what about the on-field?
One can't help but wonder what could have been if FSU could have landed Cam Ward in 2024. Instead of waiting on Ward at the time, who entered the NFL Draft before withdrawing and heading to Miami, Florida State went with DJ Uiagelele, who visited Tallahassee in the days following Ward, and the rest, unfortunately, is history for FSU.
With the 2-10 season behind them and new defensive coordinator Tony Gibson and new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn in the fold for 2025, things were better on offense under QB Tommy Castellanos, but not good enough to avoid a 5-7 record. Early returns hinted they would be with a shocking win over Alabama to start the season, before old fragility returned and a four-game losing streak tanked the season. FSU had 19 true freshmen who played four games or more, according to Norvell, and the comparatively young team struggled to bounce back from adversity.
This year's hope behind center is quarterback Ashton Daniels, who previously played for Auburn and Stanford. JUCO quarterback Malachi Marshall has not gotten to campus yet, but his arrival provides an intriguing backup option as the former JUCO offensive player of the year. Daniels will play behind a heavily portaled offensive line (as many as four projected starters), including Xavier Chaplin, who is looking to reset his NFL Draft stock with a strong year after faltering at Auburn.
Daniels was announced as the starter coming out of spring practice, beating out Kevin Sperry for the role. Norvell spoke to Andrew Luck about Daniels in person at the ACC's spring meetings to get impressions of what the former All-American and Pro Bowler saw in his new QB. Daniels struggled mightily at Stanford, throwing 12 interceptions in 2024, among the nation's leaders in picks. For Norvell, it's about diagnosing the exact cause of the interception.
"What I liked about this spring is even the turnovers that he had, some of those were a last play of the game situation, two-minute drive," Norvell told reporters at ACC meetings. "When you get down to it, you gotta try to force the issue. If that's going to be the one, then at least you understand this is where you grow in that situation, but I like the fact that you gave him a chance. On the flip side of it, just trying to eliminate the unnecessary turnovers. If you get in a red zone you know you got points, let's make sure we're owning the football. And that was something that hurt us a year ago, just the red-zone turnovers, and making sure that we are owning these situations. We know when it's time to force it. We know when it's time to you know, your easy outlet, maybe even just a throw away. I thought he did a really good job of that. Only had a handful of, you know what I'd say decision interceptions that you got to grow from, but coming in and learning a new offense that's going to happen."
The hope for Norvell is that Daniels won't have to press as much because of some of the talent around him. Michah Danzy and Duce Robinsson return as playmakers on the outside. Running back Quintrevion Wisner comes from Texas at running back.
Quarterback Ashton Daniels arrives at Florida State after previous stops at Stanford and Auburn. Getty Images Norvell returns to play-calling
Norvell will again call plays after Gus Malzahn retired in February. Malzahn's offense was a classic QB run-friendly system with Tommy Castellanos behind center, who attended NFL minicamps in May as a receiver. Norvell has called plays in eight of the 11 seasons he's been a head coach, and he'll be back at the controls with Daniels. Norvell says that all the front-office hires actually help him devote the time necessary by taking responsibilities off his plate.
"I've been really good at calling plays throughout my coaching career," Norvell said. "I don't say that in any way, other than that it's true. I believe in who I get to coach. I believe in the position that we're going to be able to put these guys in, I believe in the coaches that I have helping put all that together. I feel very confident in the ability and who we get to coach.
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't [believe in myself]."
But if Florida State officials had their way, they might have a different play-calling head coach.
As ESPN reported, Noles' brass made a stealth run at Lane Kiffin in November before bringing Norvell back for another year. FSU joined Wisconsin and Maryland as schools that opted to retain their head coach rather than pay a lofty buyout. FSU would have owed Norvell around $54 million and, all in, a total of $72 million, when assistant buyouts were factored in. Wisconsin and Maryland have made exceedingly public overtures about increased investment in rev share. The Badgers went on a major shopping spree in the portal, while the Terps played the retention game.
FSU was again active in the portal, with hopes that its new front-office staff and some young core pieces will pay dividends. But Norvell and his boss, Alford, will be feeling the heat if the season goes as poorly as either of the previous two, and the bounce-back effort again falls flat.
Join the Conversation comments
