Florida State University has fired head football coach Mike Norvell, initiating a search for a new leader as the program grapples with a dramatic decline following an undefeated regular season in 2023. Norvell led the Seminoles to a 13-0 regular season and an ACC championship, becoming the first undefeated Power Five champion excluded from the College Football Playoff. Since that peak, Florida State has gone 10-23 over 33 games, including a 4-17 record in ACC play since the start of 2024, and has lost 12 consecutive road games, tying a school record.
The financial implications are substantial. Norvell's buyout is estimated between $47.1 million and $50.3 million, which would rank as the third-largest in college football history. Combined with assistant coach buyouts, the total could exceed $65 million. The athletic department closed fiscal year 2025 with $437 million in athletics-related debt, up from $237 million a year earlier, largely tied to bonds for the renovation of Doak Campbell Stadium and a new football operations building. The school also fired athletic director Mike Alford in September and has yet to name a permanent replacement.
Potential Candidates
Industry sources have identified several leading candidates for the vacancy.
Manny Diaz, currently head coach at Duke, started his coaching career in Tallahassee as a graduate assistant under Bobby Bowden. He is 24-11 at Duke, guiding the Blue Devils to bowl eligibility for a third straight season and an ACC Championship Game victory in 2025. Diaz previously served as head coach at Miami (21-15) and has deep recruiting ties in South Florida, though his tenure with the Hurricanes may concern some Florida State supporters.
Eli Drinkwitz, head coach at Missouri, owns a 64-32 career record with a 12-1 season at Appalachian State and an 11-2 campaign at Missouri in 2023 that included a Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State. His contract averages $10.75 million annually through 2031, but his buyout drops to $5 million before December 1 and $4 million after. Drinkwitz has ACC experience from his time at NC State and a roster-building philosophy that mixes portal additions with player development. However, he is 3-10 against AP Top 25 teams since 2024.
Jake Dickert has Wake Forest off to a 7-1 start and sole possession of second place in the ACC. He is 16-5 in two seasons at a program picked to finish near the bottom. His first team went 9-4, the most wins by a first-year coach in school history. Dickert's defensive approach has the Demon Deacons ranked sixth nationally in rush defense (82.9 yards per game). A potential complication is a noncompete clause in assistant coaches' contracts that may also apply to the head coach; Wake Forest, a private school, has not disclosed details of Dickert's December contract extension.
Kenny Dillingham, head coach at Arizona State, served as Norvell's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida State in 2020-21. He took over his alma mater in 2023, went 3-9, then won the Big 12 and reached the College Football Playoff in 2024. Dillingham is 26-21 overall and recently signed a five-year deal averaging $7.5 million annually. His offensive acumen and familiarity with the program are assets, though his close relationship with Norvell could complicate discussions.
Jason Eck, head coach at New Mexico, is 16-5 over the last two seasons at the Group of Five level, with his defense leading the nation at 11.9 points allowed per game. He is 42-18 overall as a college head coach, including three FCS playoff appearances at Idaho. Eck's background as an offensive lineman under Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin suggests an emphasis on line play, an area where Florida State struggled under Norvell. However, he lacks experience leading a power-conference program and has no ties to the Southeast.
Blake Baker, defensive coordinator at LSU, is the highest-paid assistant coach in the country. He turned down head coaching opportunities at Tulane and Memphis last December. Baker has revived defenses at every stop: LSU's scoring defense improved to 18.3 points per game in 2025, the program's best since 2016. He previously coordinated defenses at Miami under Diaz and at Missouri under Drinkwitz, where the Tigers held Ohio State without a touchdown in the Cotton Bowl. His recruiting connections across the Southeast are extensive.
Glenn Schumann, defensive coordinator at Georgia, was born in Valdosta, Georgia, less than 100 miles from Tallahassee. His grandfather, Jack Haskin, coached at Florida State and is in the school's Hall of Fame. Schumann, 36, has spent his entire career under Nick Saban at Alabama and Kirby Smart at Georgia, serving as co-defensive coordinator on back-to-back national title teams in 2021 and 2022. He is regarded as an elite recruiter but has never been a head coach. Georgia's defense ranked 117th in sacks last season but has rebounded to average over three sacks per game this year.
Wild-Card Options
Two additional names have surfaced as wild cards. Rhett Lashlee, head coach at SMU, is well compensated with deep NIL resources and signed a new contract last December, making a move difficult. Jimbo Fisher, who left Florida State in 2016 with an 83-23 record and a national championship, was fired by Texas A&M in 2023 after a 45-25 tenure. Some boosters are reportedly intrigued by a potential return, possibly at a reduced cost, given Fisher's intimate knowledge of the program and his continued residence in Tallahassee.
