North Florida Sports Network Podcast
North Florida Sports Network Podcast
Firing Mike Norvell After Another Embarrassing ACC Loss
Let me ask you one question.
SPEAKER_00:The north blow is bored, north is boring, floating, the north floor is boring, you gotta give us a shot, you know what I do?
SPEAKER_02:The north blow is boredom, and more the day after, because the game was late, but it is another loss. Alright, another ACC loss. Three and four on the season, oh and four in the conference, nine straight ACC losses. One and eleven. One and eleven. Since winning the ACC title. And I think that's it. Yo fire. I have not made the announcement yet. I haven't made it. But I'm but I'm gonna do it right now. I'm telling you right now, this just it. He's fired. Mike Norvell is out of here. You have to hit the reset button. You can't keep doing it. Can't keep yelling at your team to meet them at halftime when they're about to go everybody just halftime. And he just stood there like, yeah, come back. Please go back. Crazy, you know, it's I I was trying to honestly I fell asleep. It was too aggravating to watch, but just the penalties, the undisciplined ball just kept a team that you shouldn't have let beat you hang around, and you can't freaking score on a bad defense. Yeah. Well, 13 frickin' points.
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, team that's even halfway good goes in there and beats Stanford even if they're not playing their 444 yards of offense to 283.
SPEAKER_02:That's what Gus does, man. 311 yards passing, 133 yards rushing. But I think it's just that long drive in the third quarter where they went down the whole field and went up by two scores. It was over in the first half. Yeah, man. First play penalties. First play of the game was a delay of game. Yeah, just delay of games and it's just ugly football. All right. You almost don't want to win because you just want it to be over. That that's pretty much Yeah. Because he was in. Right. He was in. I mean, and he got the first down. You got a chance to tie the game and blah, blah, but who cares?
SPEAKER_01:It probably could have won, but it's just awful.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think there's anybody that I mean 5.7 yards per play to 4.2, 22 first downs to 8.
SPEAKER_01:Important to note also that Stanford played the entire second half with their backup quarterback.
SPEAKER_02:You didn't turn the ball over either. No, you just sucked. You just didn't do anything.
SPEAKER_01:Play calling was terrible. Um way way too much way too much throwing of the football.
SPEAKER_02:Why are we playing Tommy? I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:Doesn't you know there's nobody that's going to be able to do it?
SPEAKER_02:He does not look like himself. He looks.
SPEAKER_01:He looks exactly like he looked everywhere else, man. He might make some dazzling plays and he's got speed, but he's not a fucking big time quarterback. There's just not any good.
SPEAKER_02:Florida State is in the bottom of the ACC with Boston College both at 0-4.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, there's a real chance of going 0-8 in in conference. You know, you're you're only real you got Virginia Tech coming in here. They'll have an interim head coach. Hopefully, we'll have our interim head coach by then. And that that's probably your best chance at getting a conference win. But I wouldn't, I wouldn't hold my breath. I think you're looking at three and nine after two and ten. So it's kind of yeah.
SPEAKER_02:There you go. It's unbelievable, man. Yeah. Like you can't win a freaking ACC game. No. And it was just bad.
SPEAKER_01:And it just They looked a lot like the team looked last year. Yeah. In terms of effort and just stupidity everywhere. So I mean that that, you know, like I said, dude, they they knew the coach's job was at risk, and then they showed up with that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. They didn't put a foot on the throat, they didn't do anything. Just very, very disappointed. Very disappointed.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, you know, at this point, the sooner they announced that he's shit can't, the better. They announced that uh Billy Napier has officially been fired at Florida. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:That's been brewing here for a couple of weeks. So I think now it's that Mike's gone. They won they won yesterday, but if Jeff Levy wasn't an idiot, they would have lost to Mississippi State at the very end. Yeah. Well within field goal range to win by one, and then they decide to to throw the ball. 20 seconds left and it's intercepted. So yeah, I mean, technically he's fired after a win, but it it you know you won in spite of Billy Napier if you're a Gator fan. They all realize that.
SPEAKER_02:Yep. Well, there's gonna be a lot of speculation.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know. Big grains of salt, man.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, speculation, grain of song.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, I would be shocked if it's not announced by this time tomorrow. Yeah. I mean, do you rarely do you see all of the stuff online, all of the different because they took so long to come home? Media out. Well, I mean, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Or they just didn't want to I mean things like that aren't made instantly.
SPEAKER_01:You know, they've known Napier's gonna be out, you know. They're reporting on it last week that yeah, they expect to be his last game this week. I don't think anybody actually believed that they would go out there and lose to Stanford. Like deep down, I think the administration probably understood that you know we we may have to fire this guy if he loses at home to Wake Forest.
SPEAKER_02:But this So do you think he'll coach that game? No. Yeah, so he's done. Yeah. I mean, you if you fire a guy, he's done immediately. Get the fuck out.
SPEAKER_01:I know, I know that. And they're and they have a bye, so right. You're not gonna wait. There's no re like the only reason to wait would be if you're not gonna make a move. And at this point, I don't think there's any way that you can do that. Uh it I just don't. And judging by the tone of his voice and his demeanor after the game, I think he probably knows it's coming. Um that's just it, man. You can't you can't be this bad. I don't care how much money you're owed. Like eventually it's gonna start hurting other areas of the university. So I just oh my god. Yeah. I mean, he'll get paid. That'll be that. Move on to the next guy. My bigger issue is that you got the same guy that locked in that contract that's gonna be in charge of making the next hire. Yeah. So I don't really have any confidence that it they're gonna get it right.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, he's here for the money anyway.
SPEAKER_01:So I think you gotta you gotta start at the top and clean house, but that's not gonna happen. So get ready for somebody really, really, really uninspiring to be hired. Like Barry Odom at Purdue. Okay. No.
SPEAKER_02:Just it. I don't think so. Who do you want if you could have anybody? Anybody? I mean, who's your who's your guy that you want to get? Could we hire fucking Kirby Smart? No.
SPEAKER_01:Dan Lanning?
SPEAKER_02:No.
unknown:No.
SPEAKER_02:No, they're not getting any sitting head coach no powerful. Mike Elko's not leaving AM. Right, none of that.
SPEAKER_01:Um, you know, the the group of five coaches are gonna be very sought after. You know, a guy like Summerall at Tulane, he's probably gonna end up at Old Miss or Auburn. We'll see what happens with Old Miss, what Lane Kiffin does. Um I don't know, man. I think they're gonna have to go and and throw money at a at a coordinator and hope that that the guy turns out to be a good head coach, much like Jimbo. But uh I who knows? There's some guys that I hope they don't look at. You know, Alex Golish at USF, Ryan Silverfield at Memphis. I think you hire somebody like that and you're just it's just another Mike Norvell situation. You know, so I don't know, man. I think we're I think we're dicked. So blessed to coach these guys. Yeah, I will not miss his uh just his just nonsensical postgame and and talking about the opportunity and being excited about it. You know, so blessed and excited about the opportunity we have today. So blessed and excited to coach you guys. Yeah. Well great, man. Good. Excited about the opportunity to get fired and collect all those millions of dollars for doing nothing. You suck.
SPEAKER_02:I'm sure he's a nice guy, though. Well, they won't be on the field until next month, November 1st. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:That'll be a fucking bloodbath. I mean, Wake's got a good defense. They're like top ten defense in the country. So good luck with that. It can't be overstated how bad Stanford is.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, no, they did not look good.
SPEAKER_01:No, they're not. And that that's the thing. Yeah, yeah. They needed a heroic effort just to win against San Jose State by one point at home. And they, you know, they didn't even look stressed playing against Florida State. So it's sad. Right. That, like, again, they looked exactly like the team last season. Nothing but quit. You got a few guys that are out there just playing for themselves.
SPEAKER_02:It's about as bad as it gets. I don't understand how it's gotten so bad. Where it's just like the bottom of the whole crap conference. I mean, what's the I mean, are they not spending money? Because I think they are.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know. I mean, if you believe they got, you know, top 12, top 15 in in NIL, you know, they're spending top ten in an assistant coach salary pool, you know Mike Norvell's getting paid. So you just start looking at it and it's gotta be twofold, man. Your your talent evaluation is off, and your coaching and development is lackluster. It's not it's not cutting it. So I mean you can count probably on you got maybe eight to ten players that show ability. That's just pathetic.
SPEAKER_02:I love Rick, Chris Ricks is just thinks he's like, we got robbed again.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, you know, that's fan, man. Yeah. But you right. We did. I mean, you know, they got they got screwed on on more than one call. But the the thing is, is like, dude, they're gonna screw you. Dude, you sued the conference. Right. And they know that you coming in with way better players, and like, dude, you guys are gonna let Stanford no, we're not gonna give you any benefit of the doubt. You know, you call a shovel pass in the last play of the game, and it looks close. We're gonna tell no, you know what, you didn't get in. Fuck off the field. You guys lose. You know, so whatever. This is like I think I don't think Norvell is as bad or as clueless as Willie Taggart is, but this shit is worse than anything we saw out of Willie Taggart. This kind of losing to teams like Stanford. And to me, you know, he he came in after Jimbo and he was here for such a short period of time. To me, that still says that it's a talent issue, and that starts from identifying talent in high school and in the transfer portal, and I think they have people that are not very good at that. I'm looking at you, GM Derek Ray, who hopefully is shit-canned right along with Mike immediately. Um, that you know, there's a very clear difference. You know, all those good players that came in in 22 and 23, he was here for maybe one or two of them. You know, Keon and Fisk. And those are no-brainers. You know, everybody else that was good that came in in 2022 was before he got here. And their approach to the transfer portal, their approach to building the roster, it just sucks.
SPEAKER_02:So they gotta go. Yeah, it's it's just bad, man. The six-win dream is over. Oh, it's over. Yeah. This was a must-win. Yeah, this this was a must-win. This was a must-win to keep your job. And I said before the season, six wins, and and you keep it. Yeah, well, he's and I didn't I didn't know what was gonna happen if they were or not, but he's not getting there. No. He's got three. There's no way they're winning three.
SPEAKER_01:They're not winning another game. Whether he's coaching or not.
SPEAKER_02:Right.
SPEAKER_01:They're not winning again.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So it it did So is this job still desirable?
SPEAKER_01:I mean, yeah. Do guys hate money all of a sudden? Like, these are coaches with egos. Right. I mean, it's still the ACC. It's not like you're talking about the NFC East.
SPEAKER_02:There's something about what's going on with that. Like, you can't just be all of a sudden this bad in this league. And then you beat LSU, you beat Alabama. Those were I know those were the first game of the year. Maybe that's it.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, well, I mean, you you had a different team when you beat LSU.
SPEAKER_02:No, you beat LSU, you had good players both years. I know, but you gotta get out of the ACC. You gotta continue to try to get the hell out of this. Sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. It's not gonna matter. You know, that this team would be a two-win team in any conference.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I know.
SPEAKER_01:It's the it it's the players and the coaching and the lack of development. Like you they have done a really shitty job. So you know, for instance.
SPEAKER_02:I want to play big time matchups. This team one I I think it would do better in a bigger conference with bit bigger games and bigger matchups like this ACC crowd. If you had a better coach, yeah. Well, that's that's what I'm saying. Like the new coach needs to come in here with that mindset, like, hey, we're gonna we need to try to get into a new league.
SPEAKER_01:Well, the only way you're gonna do that is if you stop going, you know, one and eleven in a two-year stretch. Like, you nobody's taking a bottom feeder just because you guys were good when you had Bobby Bowden and Jimbo. Like, we're not we don't care. Like the only thing still keeping Florida State alive right now is that people like to tune in and watch us either get the shit kicked out of us or win. But that's gonna go away.
SPEAKER_02:I I wouldn't propose bringing Jimbo back. This is a guy, I don't think he's too old yet. I think he looks good, he looks healthy, he's a proven winner, he can recruit. He's that's all he can do is recruit. He is I mean, he's always recruited. Yeah. Everywhere he's been, he's recruited.
SPEAKER_01:So he's gonna recruit. Well, the thing is, is is recruiting now is less about that, you know, being how Jimbo is, and more about just like how much money do we have. Yeah, it's I mean So I mean you bring him in as a general manager just to put the roster together.
SPEAKER_02:Um the a winning high school coach then.
SPEAKER_01:That's what Texas Tech did. Yeah. I mean if you t but you're in the state of Florida. So, you know, high school coaching in the state of Florida is atrocious because you don't pay a dick to your coaches. That's why Georgia gets everybody atrocious loss.
SPEAKER_02:Twenty to thirteen, the nose go down.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I mean that was just Hey, but we got the biggest upset of the season in week one. So we'll always have that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. If he you think they go for two if they get called that touchdown correctly.
SPEAKER_01:I know. I don't.
SPEAKER_02:No, we're gonna go to overtime.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I and you know, to thank God, honestly. I didn't want to stay up and watch any more of that shit. Like if you if you you can't beat Stanford and regulation.
SPEAKER_02:I mean they should have got the fourth down the previous sure.
SPEAKER_01:Who cares? Who cares? Like, this was not the game to like just have a close win and feel good. Like the only good feeling was coming in and beating the shit out of him. And as soon as that was off the table, you're gonna have to fire this guy.
SPEAKER_02:Well, we gotta get on out of here. Solid gold-plated limousine picking him up. As it's been downhill ever since the announcement was made. I think there's a it wasn't working for him. You know, I think there's that goes into it. That's part of the story. When you talk about Mike Norbell's time here, can't talk about it without this terrible ending and then the worst losing that this program's ever seen. Yeah, given given but coming off the resources, yeah. You gotta give him the benefit of the doubt, I guess, and just say, hey, you got screwed like nobody else was screwed before, and and you and it and it killed you. He didn't respond at all from it. Well, you didn't know what to do. I mean, it like Yeah, it it it was broke. It broke you, it broke this regime, and it almost like you had to reset the whole program after that. They they've been chasing up Hill ever since then.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because you you had no answers for all the guys you lost. Yeah, you had no ability to replicate it.
SPEAKER_02:Yep, and that's where you gotta start. You caught lightning in a bottle again. Somebody that can evaluate and lock in this talent for sustainability that you can win four games in the SC, hopefully.
SPEAKER_01:Oh my god. It's gonna suck, man. We got an idiot running things. Like he's gonna get played by somebody. We'll end up with another slap dick. Maybe when we're in our 50s, they'll start being good again. But probably definitely got played by uh sexy. Dude, you don't commit money that would cripple your athletic department. It was like ridiculous. With no no offset language in it. Nothing like, dude, if you start losing a bunch of games, this buyouts none of that. Right. Again, it's gonna cost Florida State just north to 62 million.
SPEAKER_02:Once you cost once you sign the contract, you haven't won shit. One game. It's over. One game! That's all you want. Well, we'll watch it, we'll react to it, maybe we'll have some efficiency, we'll have a football Monday tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01:We'll talk to you in the Better Be Fire Shit Can Monday.
SPEAKER_02:Right here on the North Florida Sports Network.
SPEAKER_03:You gotta give us a shot.
SPEAKER_02:You know what you're doing.
