FSU Football's Mike Norvell Lands On Top-5 Head Coaches List

Norvell is held in high regard by a national analyst.

J.D. PicKell of On3 released his “Top 5 Coaches In CFB (College Football) Right Now” list. The configuration included Florida State head coach Mike Norvell at the #5 slot.

The list has Kirby Smart #1 – Georgia, #2 Brian Kelly – LSU, Steve Sarkisian #3 – Texas, Ryan Day #4 – Ohio State, with Norvell rounding it out.

My top 5 coaches in college football right NOW

What changes are you making? pic.twitter.com/UXuV9tID3x

— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) February 7, 2024

This list likely invokes a mixture of emotions in the FSU faithful.

At first glance, FSU fans will celebrate seeing Mike Norvell on a list as a top-five coach in the country from a source that covers college football every day. Simultaneously, all four men ahead of him have coached in a national championship game either as a head coach or as a coordinator (Sarkisian was the OC at Alabama – 2020).

There shouldn’t be a large amount of pushback against Kirby Smart appearing at #1. His Georgia teams have won two of the last three national championships and lost their first game to Alabama in the 2023 SEC Championship since the 2021 season. He has been nothing but spectacular for the Bulldogs.

However, names such as Brian Kelly at #2 could be puzzling for fans of the Seminoles. While Norvell is 2-2 against Kelly all-time, the FSU head coach has won the last two games despite Kelly having an eventual Heisman winner on his sideline.

At the same time, Kelly took his squad to the SEC Championship in 2022 winning the SEC West in the process. But at #2, three spots ahead of Norvell, who won an ACC Championship in 2023 without his starting quarterback for the final two-and-a-half games? It could be questionable to some.

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Finally, some FSU fans probably are wondering why newly minted Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer isn’t on the list. Florida State fanatics were put in a weird place of not wanting their coach to leave but also had to defend to others why he should be considered for the position.

Remember, Alabama beat writer Mike Rodak for Bama247 insinuated Norvell was the frontrunner for the Crimson Tide’s head coaching vacancy.

In an appearance on SiriusXM’s “College Football Sunday” program, Rodak gave some insight regarding how Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne answered questions concerning the Crimson Tide’s head coach hiring process.

“The question that he got was, was Kalen DeBoer your first choice? I don’t think any AD is going to answer one way or the other on that one, especially if it’s the guy that wasn’t your first choice,” said Rodak.

"And Byrne kind of dodged the question in terms of not even really trying to make the claim that he was, and I think we realized just kind of through those 49 hours that there were certainly other names out there. I think the realest one was probably Mike Norvell [with] everything that I’ve heard," Rodak continued.

Does this mean Alabama didn’t get “the guy” they wanted?

Not necessarily.

PicKell’s list is just one person’s list. Additionally, his rankings emphasize who the best coaches are at this very moment.

PicKell believes that Norvell is better than DeBoer right now. The list makes that clear. However, the exclusion of DeBoer doesn’t mean PicKell (or anyone for that matter) believes that Norvell was the better fit for the Crimson Tide.

Despite FSU fans sweating out the coaching carousel this offseason, deep down they must’ve felt elated that their coach was heavily considered for the Alabama coaching job.

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