Top ACC Head Coach Viewed as 'Fired Coach Walking’ Before College Football Season Starts

There are 170 days between now and Florida State's Week 1 game against New Mexico State, but the energy around the program feels like that of a team stuck in the middle of a 0-12 season.

The Seminoles posted a 5-7 record after a hot 3-0 start to the season, which began with a win over Alabama. This drops the program's record to 7-17 over the past two seasons, which has been quite the fall from grace, as we are now a couple years removed from them narrowly being left out of the College Football Playoff.

While head coach Mike Norvell has been the subject of much scrutiny and relentless hot-seat chatter, the Seminoles opted to retain him for the 2026 season. Although a winning season would certainly ease tensions in Tallahassee, On3's Any Staples has little to no confidence that Norvell has a future at Florida State.

"The problem is now he's in a situation where I think a lot of the college football world views him as fired coach walking," Staples said on "Crain and Cone". "And what happened last year, where there were legitimate discussions of 'Do we want to pay this buyout? Can we afford this right now?' People don't forget that and it makes it very difficult for you to operate."

“Mike Norvell is viewed as a fired coach walking”

-@AndyStaples pic.twitter.com/IrJs6qiKEa
— Jake “JBOY” Crain (@JakeCrain_) March 11, 2026

When Danny Kanell, who played quarterrback at Florida State was posed the same question as Staples, he didn't mince words by any means.

"The vibes around Tallahassee are as bad as I've seen them at probably any time," Kanell said. "Even the Willie Taggart era, which was very short...Like it was bad, but it was kind of done, but they ripped the band-aid off."

Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell. — Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell looks on against the Florida Gators. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Kanell, who was a part of Florida State's 1993 championship team and was named an All-American and ACC Player of the Year in 1995, admitted that this is the most "checked out" and "negative" he has ever seen the Florida State fans.

The Seminoles won't have an easy path in 2026, as they missed on multiple high-profile transfer quarterbacks like DJ Lagway (Baylor) and Anthony Colandrea (Nebraska), and were forced to settle for Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels.

In addition to the underwhelming portal add at quarterback, the Seminoles will face Alabama, Louisville and Miami on the road next season. It's certainly not impossible for Norvell to turn things around, but it's hard to imagine he isn't working with a short leash.