At the risk of wasting months of symptomatic therapy and reopening old wounds across South Florida, it’s worth taking a moment to remember just how badly Florida State lost at the end of last season. In the space of just a few weeks, the school went from undefeated to humiliated to devastated. As the 2024 season begins Saturday in Dublin against Georgia Tech, the Seminoles are doing their best to forget that crushing disappointment.
“I like this team. I like the cohesion of this team,” Florida State head coach Mike Norvell said earlier this week. “I really respect the character of these young guys and who they are. Like I told them, we’re going to work hard and put in the work to build this team. … We’ve only played a few games, but now is the time to show it.”
It will be the first time people outside Tallahassee have seen the Seminoles since the Georgia Bulldogs’ cleats were stained garnet and gold in the Orange Bowl in January. The 63-3 loss and the Seminoles’ humiliating exclusion from the College Football Playoff seriously undermined Florida State’s hopes of recapturing the national championship glory of the Bobby Bowden era.
There are two ways a team can bounce back from such an ego-shattering, reputation-staining defeat: they can look to the future or embrace the past. Norvell is wise to know he can’t keep playing the “poor us” card. First, a very important part of his team – new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei – didn’t even wear a Florida State uniform in the Orange Bowl. Plus, focusing on the negative is a mindset that leads to more negativity…right?
“Our goal this year is to go even further,” Norvell said at ACC Media Day in July. “Going 13-0 in the regular season and championship game has been really special for our entire program. This gives us a platform and an opportunity to continue to improve and elevate this program to the level it ultimately deserves, which is one of the elite in the country when you look across all of college football.”
Another idea is to use the snubs and stomping as energy. Accept the pain. Keep saying the stupid things.
Remember how it felt to be discarded. Put up a “63-3” sign in the weight room. Be outraged that the College Football Playoff committee, ad-hoc, and frankly, somewhat cruelly, used former QB Jordan Travis’ season-ending injury as a reason to be ignored. Remember, in every quarter of every game, the goal is to control your own destiny, not put it in the hands of a committee.
(Granted, there were plenty of good reasons for Florida State to be out of the playoff; the team that beat them in Miami had a good reason, too. Plus, when five conferences are competing for four spots, there’s always the possibility someone won’t have a seat at the table. The College Football Playoff is lucky it took 10 years for that to happen. But motivational speeches don’t include counterarguments, so let’s set all that aside for now.)
Fortunately for Florida State, the path to the College Football Playoff is much broader this year. If a 12-team playoff had taken place last year, No. 5 seed Florida would have welcomed No. 12 seed Oklahoma to Tallahassee in the opening round.
Unfortunately for Florida State, it’s a crowded field and no one is going to let the merger slide. The Noles are the favorites to win the conference, but only just ahead of Clemson and Miami looming large in the rearview mirror. The ACC will not send more than three teams to the playoff and, depending on the strength of the SEC and Big Ten, may not send more than one team via the guaranteed bye conference champion slot.
Missing the playoffs and a disappointing Orange Bowl defeat have led to a major turnover in Tallahassee that’s unclear how it will end. Florida State had 10 players drafted by the NFL in April, including Travis. (He went on to the Jets, but is blissfully accustomed to disappointment.)
Unlike their main ACC rivals, Norvell was proactive in utilizing the transfer portal, acquiring Uiagalelei and 16 others from Oregon State, and Norvell also secured his own job security by using rumors of interest from Alabama to sign a new eight-year contract extension that will pay him more than $10 million annually.
Will these changes translate to similar success? That remains to be seen. Florida State will have to fight to make it through the ACC this year, with conference games at home against Clemson and on the road against Miami and SMU (yes, they’re in the ACC now). Add in games against Memphis (at home) and Notre Dame (away), both 10-win teams in 2023, and you have a tough schedule to make the playoffs.
So the path forward is clear: sprint, no brakes, all winning, no disappointment. Florida State knows exactly what happens when a committee gets involved in decisions that should be handled on the field.