It’s wild how fast college football can turn you from hero to headline. One minute, Mike Norvell is leading Florida State to a 13-0 season, flexing with an ACC title and screaming playoff snub with the receipts to back it. The next? FSU is out here putting up 2-10 stinkers and tanking like they’re trying to dodge postseason responsibility entirely. The 2024 campaign wasn’t just bad—it was historically disastrous. The worst since 1974. No bowl. No momentum. Just a face-plant that left the entire Seminole Nation wondering what in the world went wrong.

If Norvell thought the offseason would be a quiet time to regroup, he got a rude awakening. On June 4, Blake Ruffino and Joe DeLeone went straight for the jugular on The Ruffino & Joe Show. Ruffino didn’t hold back: “Florida State coming off arguably one of the worst years that they’ve ever had… They had more inches of snow in at Florida State than they did wins.” Brutal. And that was just the intro.

Florida State’s offense in 2024 looked like it was running in cement. Averaging just 1.5 yards per carry early in the year and ending up ranked 131st nationally in total offense, the team managed only 15.4 points per game. Defensively, they weren’t much better, giving up a solid 28 points a game while letting locker room chemistry implode and transfers flee like the building was on fire.

DJ Uiagalelei? That experiment flamed out in real time. The offense never clicked. Injuries piled up. And by the time January rolled around, Norvell was left standing in the ashes of what was supposed to be a national contender. Cue the overhaul.

Norvell went full reconstruction. Out went the stale schemes, in came Gus Malzahn as an offensive coordinator. That’s a chess move. Malzahn knows tempo, he knows creativity, and he’s got something FSU desperately lacked: a modern, functional offense. Then there’s Tony White, the new DC, tasked with shoring up a defense that couldn’t stop a breeze last year.

The portal wasn’t just a tool—it was the blueprint. Norvell stacked up over 20 new transfers, including electric former Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos. The man is chaos in cleats. Not a traditional passer, but a playmaker who can improvise like a few others. Add Oklahoma RB Gavin Sawchuk, 5-star TE Duce Robinson from USC, and Tennessee WR Squirrel White? That offense suddenly looks like it might remember how to score.

But here’s the catch: the portal is a gamble. Joe DeLeone kept it painfully honest: “You brought in a quarterback who was a–, who was not good, and a roster that was not bought in, and it sunk faster than anything…They brought in some completely new players at multiple positions that were liabilities for them last year. That is why I want to look at this in a new lens.” 

In 2022, they went portal-heavy and ended up 10-3. In 2023, they hit the jackpot and finished 13-1 with Jordan Travis and Keon Coleman running the show. But in 2024? They tried to do the same, but it didn’t quite work out. And now the question isn’t whether Norvell can build a roster, it’s whether he can rebuild trust. DeLeone hammered that point home: “I don’t want to just lean into ‘it’s not good to build a team through the portal,’ because the time they did it before that, they went undefeated.”

FSU has hit both ends of the portal spectrum. And as we head into 2025, the goal isn’t to recreate 2023 overnight. The realistic hope? Find the middle ground. Joe DeLeone kept it real: “I think that we need to figure out what the middle ground is. And where this middle ground is for this team, it is plausible for this team to be an eight-and-four team and to get back on track and to start chugging forward. But I think that we need to be as careful as possible for the expectations for what Florida State does in 2025 because of everything that has changed in a single offseason.”

Be an 8-4 team. Stabilize. Show progress. Because if this year turns into another disaster, Mike Norvell might not get another offseason to fix it.

Jordan Travis is likely to be back on campus to help Mike Norvell in their Big 2025 season?

One of the most electric ‘Noles to ever lace ‘em up is back in Tally. Jordan Travis didn’t just put up numbers—he carried a broken program on his back for years. After bouncing from Louisville in 2018, Travis went full beast mode at FSU. The numbers? Stupid good. 99 total touchdowns, 10,665 yards of offense, and enough highlight reels to make a Netflix series.

But it all came crashing down on November 18, 2023. One bad tackle. One freak injury. Dislocated and fractured left ankle. It wasn’t just the end of his season—it nuked FSU’s Playoff hopes. Even at 13-0, the committee straight up ghosted them because No. 13 was done. Drafted by the Jets in the 5th round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Travis tried to bounce back. But the ankle didn’t. Rehab stalled. He was put on the reserve/non-football injury list and eventually retired on April 30, 2025, at just 24.

But that ain’t the end. Travis might be back, and the interest has been made explicit by both Norvell and Travis. The head coach said, “If that’s a path that he wants to go, I’m going to work really hard to make sure that becomes our reality.”

And though he might not be throwing passes, don’t be shocked if he’s coaching ‘em. Whether it’s breaking down film or whispering in Castellanos’ ear on the sideline, the man’s presence alone can bring gravity. Respect. Legacy. And Mike Norvell? He’s gonna need every ounce of it.