Mike Norvell apologizes to FSU football fans after ugly loss to Florida

The Florida State Seminoles ended their 2025 campaign in Gainesville in unspectacular fashion. Florida ran the Seminoles out of the Swamp, winning 40-21 behind a dominant second half.

It was the Gators, not Florida State, who looked like they had something to play for on Saturday. You wouldn't have known that Florida was on a four-game losing streak, with three consecutive defeats by double-digits, coming into the annual Sunshine Showdown.

Following the defeat, head coach Mike Norvell couldn't do much else but apologize. The Seminoles have lost six straight games to rivals, falling by double-digits in five of those contests.

Mike Norvell: 'I Apologize'

Opening Statement: Extremely disappointing outcome tonight. Obviously, a game that we needed to win. Needed to go out and play our best, and it didn't show up. Didn't coach good enough, didn't play good enough. Obviously, a lot of opportunities throughout the course of that game.

Wanted to start fast, fell behind in the first quarter, proud of the guys and the response there in the second quarter. Made a defensive play, able to get a couple of touchdowns but third quarter, obviously, had some mistakes and fell behind. They were able to just really control the game through the end.

It's disappointing for every player, the work that's gone in, the expectations of our play, and when that doesn't show up, it's infuriating. I apologize to our fan base, everybody associated with the university, they deserve better than what we just showed. Just really disappointed in the outcome and the way that we played.

Mike Norvell On Offseason Changes: "Right now, just coming out of the game. Obviously, we've got to be better and we've got to be drastically better from what we've shown. There's a time and place for all that and we'll get to that here soon."

Mike Norvell On His Promised 'Quick Fix' Not Living Up To Expectation: "There's a lot of levels to that. I thought that we showed flashes, and I do believe in some of the areas of growth of what we showed. Some of the young players, some of the playmaking ability.

We still had too much inconsistency of that throughout the program. A couple new coordinators, some new faces, and we weren't good enough to sustain that. We played really well at times and obviously just lacked a consistency of just playing clean, complementary football. For us, I think the fight has been there throughout the course of the year.

I think the guys have showed response. I do believe in the young talent that we have and some of the playmakers that have emerged but it's just the importance of execution in the moment and the importance of making sure that we're consistently putting our guys in the best position for what they do. Obviously, what needs to be done throughout the course of the game.

All in all, we're not good enough in that. Starting the season, the way we began, some really good things. We did face some adversity and had some things that didn't go the way we wanted. A lot of close games and some of those details, some of the way that we handled those situations, just absolutely have to be better.

There's some things that happened that were outside of our control in some dynamics of it but for what showed up tonight, it just wasn't good enough in any regards. Coaches, players, any aspect of it. We've got to develop that consistency. I do believe in the talent, the ability, some of the things that we were able to put on display but we've got to be a more consistent football team."

Mike Norvell On If He Would Consider Coordinator Changes: "You saw flashes of improvement across the board and we saw some really bad moments of how we played. Obviously, it wasn't good enough. We know that. There will be a time and place for all parts of that evaluation but I do believe we've shown growth. For what we need and how we need to be able to play as a football team, it takes us all and we've got to do a better job of that, especially in these moments."

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