FSU Football's Mike Norvell Expected To Be Among Candidates At "The Center" Of Alabama's Search

ESPN's Pete Thamel says Norvell is among the candidates coming into focus for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama is in the process of searching for Nick Saban's replacement in Tuscaloosa. With Oregon's Dan Lanning publicly vowing that he plans to remain in Eugene, the Crimson Tide are expanding their list of candidates.

On Thursday evening, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that he expects Alabama to begin to focus on Florida State's Mike Norvell and Washington's Kalen DeBoer over the next 48 hours. He believes that Norvell and DeBoer will "become the center of the search" for Saban's successor.

"The first day of this Alabama search, at least the full day, can be considered a windowing day," Thamel said on SportsCenter. "Alabama obviously had some aspirational candidates and they were going to make their calls to the Kirby Smarts of the world, essentially make people force them to say no. They're going to eventually whittle down to the candidates where there's strong mutual interest. My expectation over the next 48 hours is that Mike Norvell at Florida State and Kalen DeBoer at Washington come into focus."

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"Internally at Alabama, Greg Byrne, the Athletic Director has used 72 hours with the players and staff as a timeframe for which he'd like to get something done," Thamel continued. "Obviously, with the portal open, that's an important timeframe because players are anxious. Those early enrollees who just got to campus, they came to play for Nick Saban so look for those two to become the center of the search here in the near future."

Latest from ⁦@SportsCenter⁩ with ⁦@elleduncanESPN⁩ and ⁦@KevinNegandhi⁩ on the Alabama search. The expectation is for Washington’s Kalen DeBoer and Florida State’s Mike Norvell to emerge as focal points of the search. pic.twitter.com/X6ZDrzG4WB

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 12, 2024

Norvell was the betting favorite to be the next head coach at Alabama earlier in the day but DeBoer has now moved into the top spot. It remains to be seen if either coach officially interviews for the job.

Florida State has won 28 of its last 35 games dating back to the middle of the 2021 season. The Seminoles are coming off back-to-back double-digit victory campaigns that included an ACC Championship in 2023. During that timeframe, the program has defeated LSU (x2), Florida (x2), Miami (x2), Louisville (x2), Duke, and Clemson.

It wouldn't be a surprise to see FSU's administration pursue another extension with Norvell. He agreed to terms last February that pushed his contract through 2029 and his average salary to $8.05 million per year. The Seminoles' assistant coaches recently had their contracts extended through 2026 so Norvell, assuming he remains in Tallahassee, likely has more money coming his way in the near future.

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