‘You felt the emotion today’ … Mike Norvell satisfied as Florida State enters final spring practices
The Florida State Seminoles are wrapping up their final week of spring practices after an up-and-down week before summer workouts.
“Ask, and you will receive. That was a good day. I told the team afterward: mindset, approach, physicality, toughness — you know, it was one of those days we needed,” head coach Mike Norvell said after Friday’s practice.
Norvell challenged his team to respond this week following a Tuesday that wasn’t up to his expectations. The Noles will need to string together multiple productive practices to succeed in 2025, and it seemed, from Norvell’s standpoint, they’re doing just that. However, there is still a lot of work to be done in the offseason.
“Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done, but I like the mentality today. I know some bodies are sore. You’re at practice 12; you’re near the back end of spring. I said yesterday that this was a big day, and I thought they answered the call.”
FSU has three practices remaining, and although the defense seems to have the upper hand, the offense made some strides under new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.
“Fight and grit. There’s plenty of times when you’re on offense — might not block them all, but I thought Roydell Williams ran really hard, Caziah Holmes are guys that really did some good things,” Norvell continued. “I saw defensive guys straining their butt off to get off blocks, to get knockback when that ball gets down to about the one-inch line… That is what you hope to see”
Norvell has high aspirations for the 2025 team, and playing with a controlled intensity and emotion has been one of his points of preaching throughout his tenure as a head coach. Friday marked one of the better practices this spring, and he emphasized that every rep needs to look like you’re in a national championship.
“You felt emotion today, but I don’t think there was a time when we lost control of them. Because there’s still some young guys that are growing through it, and they got to. And you got to bring the game intensity. It’s got to be a national championship rep. I mean, that’s what — that’s what it has to be.”
The controlled emotion that Norvell is seeking could be what leads his next championship team. It seems that, as many teams in spring are, it is still a work in progress. Only time will tell how the Seminoles will fare as they prepare for fall of 2025.
Norvell’s full interview can be seen below.
