Why Mike Norvell makes sense as a candidate for Alabama head coach
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Why Mike Norvell makes sense as a candidate for Alabama head coach

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Alabama football’s search for its newest head coach to replace Nick Saban continued on Thursday. Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that the search was beginning to focus on two candidates, Kalen DeBoer of Washington and Mike Norvell of Florida State.

The Crimson Tide will need to move fast in getting a coach in place, in order to keep as much of the roster as possible together as the 2024 season approaches. Alabama players are currently in a 30-day transfer portal entry period triggered by Saban’s departure.

As athletics director Greg Bryne’s choice looms, here’s why Norvell could become the next coach of the Crimson Tide, and why he might not.

Why Norvell?

Florida State was having major trouble when Norvell showed up from Memphis. The Seminoles had gone 5-7 and 6-7 in Willie Taggart’s two seasons in Tallahassee.

That was fresh off Jimbo Fisher going 7-6 in his final year before fleeing to College Station for the Texas A&M job. The program was in trouble.

Enter Norvell. He joined the Seminoles after a successful stint in his first head coaching job at Memphis. It started slow at FSU, which went 3-6 during the COVID-impacted 2020 season before a 5-7 mark in 2021.

Then, The Seminoles served notice, going 10-3 in 2022 and returning many top players for the 2023 campaign. This past season, Norvell’s team went undefeated through the regular season and won the ACC championship before being controversially left out of the College Football Playoff in favor of Alabama.

Norvell has the right agent in Jimmy Sexton, a college football kingmaker who built his empire through representing Saban. He’s also likely motivated to get out of Tallahassee, given Florida State’s difficult financial position in the ACC, a conference with a bad TV deal that schools are unable to break free of.

Why not Norvell?

On Thursday, news broke that Florida State is facing NCAA penalties for NIL violations that occurred during Norvell’s tenure. While he wasn’t named in the report, it is yet to be determined how the penalties could impact his ability to take his staff with him.

Beyond that, Norvell made quite an issue over the fact that the Seminoles were left out of the playoff. While he did not directly insult Alabama during that process, it’s possible that there’s some animosity remaining over the slight to his team.

Like all coaches under consideration for the job, Norvell will have to decide whether he wants to be the one who succeeds Saban. He would be a candidate for other high-profile jobs as they open, and most of those won’t carry the same pressure as taking over for a man who won six national titles in Tuscaloosa.