Florida State

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Mike Norvell addresses challenges ahead as Florida State enters pivotal seasonour readTexas Tech Adds Tommy Castellanos as Transfer QBour readThe Florida rivalry

ACC · Mike Norvell, year 7 (39-35) · Doak Campbell Stadium · 67,277 · 63,011 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#92 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #44 (+6.9) · FPI #37
The marketAlabama by 19.5at Alabama · our model 11% Florida State · a number, not a pick

LastL 24–27 vs SMU · Mon Sep 7 · Ashton Daniels 125 pass yds, 1 TD, 71 rush yds

Nextat Alabama · Sat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ET · Bryant-Denny Stadium · Alabama by 19.5 · series 2-3-1 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 1

Zeitgeist staturePower Program II#10 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 89-61 12 seasons
Best season 13-1 2023
Top-10 finishes 5 AP polled only
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 13-1 '15 10-3 '16 10-3 '17 7-6 '18 5-7 '19 6-7 '20 3-6 '21 5-7 '22 10-3 '23 13-1 '24 2-10 '25 5-7

Florida State's 2014–2025 record is 89-61. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.593
Ranked seasons (AP)
9/12
Best AP finish
#2
THE RIVALRY · FLORIDA STATE × FLORIDA

Sunshine Showdown

70 meetings since 1904 See the whole history →
ALL-TIME 29-39-2 since 1904 · .414 win rate
STREAK L2 Florida holds the last 2
TROPHY The Rivalry Itself No trophy — the season is the argument
NEXT 2026 season date set by conference
Heat trajectory

Week-by-week rivalry heat isn't tracked yet for this matchup — check back as the 2026-27 season approaches and real fan-intel signal accumulates.

Fan Heat Index

Who's more worked up right now

Cross-fanbase rivalry sentiment for this matchup hasn't been measured yet this week — both sides show as neutral until real signal comes in.

Florida State
Awaiting
Florida
Awaiting
Florida State —
Florida —

THE LAST 5 · year-by-year

  1. L 2025 Loss 21–40
  2. L 2024 Loss 11–31
  3. W 2023 Win 24–15
  4. W 2022 Win 45–38
  5. L 2021 Loss 21–24

Program outlook

Florida State went 13-0 in 2023, won the ACC, and didn't make the Playoff. The committee chose one-loss Alabama and Texas instead — the only undefeated Power Five champion in history left out of the bracket. The Playoff expanded to 12 teams the very next season. The bracket that would have included Florida State came one year too late.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The fourteen-year top-five streak is real. From 1987 to 2000, Bobby Bowden's program finished in the AP top five every single year — a run no program in the sport has matched before or since. The war chant, the spear at midfield, Deion Sanders, Charlie Ward, Jameis Winston: Florida State has a real dynasty in its past and a real blueprint for what the program looks like at full power.

The wound from 2023 cut deeper than a loss. It cut deep because there was no loss. Florida State was 13-0, the ACC champion, and the committee voted them out anyway — then watched the Seminoles gut the roster in protest, opt out of the Orange Bowl (a 63-3 loss), and crater to 2-10 in 2024. The recovery in 2025 was uneven: an opening upset of Alabama 31-17 that pushed FSU to No. 7, then a 5-7 collapse that missed a bowl. Mike Norvell was retained after what the program called a comprehensive assessment, his seat genuinely warm, his record sitting at 36-30 in six seasons.

The 2026 question in Tallahassee is the hardest one the program has faced since the Bowden succession: is Mike Norvell the coach who builds the next Florida State dynasty, or is the 2023 team the last one he has in him? The roster is recovering. The recruiting footprint is intact. The internal fracture — between the faction that credits Norvell for building 2023 and the faction that watched 2024-2025 and wants a new name on the contract — is the most honest argument in the ACC right now.

On the field

Florida State football at its ceiling is speed, swagger, and the spear — the Deion Sanders cool grafted onto a program that hits. The 2026 scheme under Norvell is pro-style with tempo elements, reliant on Tallahassee's recruiting pipeline producing NFL-caliber athletes at the skill positions. Doak Campbell Stadium holds ~79,560; the war chant and Osceola planting the flaming spear at midfield before kickoff are among the sport's most recognizable traditions. The brand promise is still 'Unconquered' — the gap between that word and the recent record is the program's entire story.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Florida State

Florida State has won 65% of its games since 1903 — 74% at home, 55% on the road.

567-287-16 all-time · 78 seasons · 1903–2026

Home 333-109-9
Away 197-157-5
Neutral 37-21-2
3 g 1900s
49% 1950s
53% 1960s
53% 1970s
73% 1980s
89% 1990s
66% 2000s
72% 2010s
53% 2020s

Coaching Era · Florida State

Mike Norvell

Mike Norvell has held the program for 7 seasons — the era is established.

Era Mike Norvell · 2020–presentPrev: Willie Taggart (2018–2019)OC: Tim Harris Jr.Prev OC: Gus Malzahn (2025)DC: Tony WhitePrev DC: Adam Fuller / co-Randy Shannon (2022–2024)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
7 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1991

Wide Right I

A missed field goal hands Miami the game — the recurring heartbreak that defined the rivalry before the titles came

Heartbreak

1993

First national title

Bowden's breakthrough — the dynasty's coronation after years of near-misses

The 1999 title

Bobby Bowden's 12-0 team went unbeaten and took the 1999 championship

The 2013 title

Jimbo Fisher's 14-0 team won the 2013 national title

2023

The 13-0 snub

An undefeated ACC champion left out of the four-team Playoff — the program's modern grievance

Wound

Moment of the season — so far · Florida State · 2026

Won 34-17 vs New Mexico State

Week 1 of 2026. The early statement — the game this season gets measured from, for now.

Decisive Margin

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2026

Florida State has sent 15 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — 2 of them in the first round.

Strong. 2 first-round picks. Recruits with NFL ambitions notice.

15 picks · 2 in round 1
#19 Jared Verse Defensive Edge · 2024 · Los Angeles · #44/418 final season
#26 Jermaine Johnson II Defensive End · 2022 · New York · #258/370 final season
#33 Keon Coleman Wide Receiver · 2024 · Buffalo · #106/497 final season
#11 all-time · 47 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Program factsStadium, mascot, and the vitals that don't change season to season.
Program résumé
1CFP apps
Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Florida State is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
ConferenceWhere this team sits in this season's conference standings.

ACC standing · 2026

14th in the ACC

Florida State is 14th of 17 in the ACC at 0-1. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.

#ProgramRecord
1California1-0
2Miami1-0
3SMU1-0
4Virginia1-0
–Boston College0-0
–Clemson0-0
–Duke0-0
–Georgia Tech0-0
–Louisville0-0
–North Carolina0-0
–Pittsburgh0-0
–Virginia Tech0-0
–Wake Forest0-0
14Florida State0-1
15NC State0-1
16Stanford0-1
17Syracuse0-1
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Mike Norvell2020
  • Willie Taggart departs9-12, 2 seasons
  • Odell Haggins departs2-2, 1 season
  • Hired Odell Haggins2019
  • Hired Willie Taggart2018
  • Hired Odell Haggins2017
  • Jimbo Fisher departs83-23, 8 seasons
  • Odell Haggins departs2-0, 1 season
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Florida State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2017 · co-Randy Sanders / co-Lawrence Dawsey2018 · Walt Bell2019 · Kendal Briles2020–2021 · Kenny Dillingham2022–2024 · Alex Atkins2025 · Gus Malzahn2026 · Tim Harris Jr.
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2017 · Charles Kelly2018–2019 · Harlon Barnett2020–2021 · Adam Fuller2022–2024 · Adam Fuller / co-Randy Shannon2025–2026 · Tony White
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

The rituals that anchor a Saturday in this program's world.

Chief Osceola and Renegade

since 1978

more

A student rider, dressed as Seminole Chief Osceola, gallops onto Doak Campbell Stadium atop Renegade, an Appaloosa, planting a flaming spear at midfield. Sanctioned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida — one of the few college mascot performances explicitly endorsed by the represented Indigenous nation.

War Chant

since 1984

more

Tomahawk arm motion + the distinctive war-chant melody (the Marching Chiefs band leads it). Has been adopted, sometimes appropriated, by Atlanta Braves fans and others. FSU's version is the original and the one the Seminole Tribe sanctions.

Doak Campbell Sea of Garnet

since 1990s

more

Doak Campbell Stadium under lights, 79,000 in garnet and gold. The brick exterior is the most-photographed CFB stadium facade. The acoustics under the south end zone amplify the crowd into a tuned roar that visiting QBs cite as the harshest pre-snap environment in the ACC.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
Canon appearancesMoments that made college football's permanent record.

Featured in The Canon

#15
Jameis Winston
The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era
#31
Cam Akers
The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era
#43
Brian Burns
The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era
Browse The Canon →
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2023): 3-4

Most recent: 2023 — loss 3-63 (home). Last 5 postseason: 3-2.

20232022201920172016
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

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[Postgame Thread] Florida State Defeats LSU 45-24
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[Postgame Thread] SMU Defeats Florida State 27-24
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