Florida State athletics director Michael Alford cooled off coach Mike Norvell’s hot seat — at least for now — with a statement released on Monday morning outlining a “comprehensive assessment of the football program will be completed at season’s end.”

FSU opened 2025 with a win over Alabama and picked up a pair of guarantee-game wins before dropping four straight ACC games. That included a tough-to-watch 20-13 loss at Stanford.

“Florida State football benefits from unmatched passionate support from the entire FSU family, and the commitment to our football program is unwavering,” Alford said in a statement released by FSU. “We rightfully have high expectations in everything we do to represent Florida State in the manner that built our reputation as one of college football's best programs, cultivating an extraordinary group of supporters nationally and globally. We embrace those expectations while also sharing the deep disappointment when results on the field are short of that standard. As we continue to move forward this season, our comprehensive assessment of the football program will be completed at season's end. Meanwhile, we are fully committed to helping Coach Norvell and the 2025 Seminoles strongly rebound in the coming weeks.”

FSU fell to 3-4 and 0-4 in ACC play heading into the bye week, with November five games remaining: Wake Forest, at Clemson, Virginia Tech, at NC State and at Florida.

Norvell is 36-31 in six seasons at FSU but that includes inexplicable losses in guarantee games (to Jacksonville State in 2021 and Memphis in 2024) as well as going 1-11 in ACC games the last two seasons.

There was cautious optimism for FSU in 2025 after hiring coordinators Gus Malzahn and Tony White, bringing in four more assistants and landing nearly 50 new players between transfers and high school signees. The optimism went into overdrive with FSU's 31-17 win over Alabama on Aug. 30, which now feels like far more than eight weeks ago.

Norvell's buyout would be massive, surpassing the $48 million that Penn State owes James Franklin but short of the record-setting $75 million that Texas A&M paid Jimbo Fisher. The buyout is projected in the $58 million range.

Penn State, Florida, Arkansas and Virginia Tech are among the Power 4 schools hunting for new coaches.

Of note, the early signing period has moved up to Dec. 3. That will also make decisions on Norvell, as well as other coaches, a tight timeline.

Thanks for reading the Osceola. Subscribe now for less than $70 annually to enjoy a full year of coverage of FSU athletics. You’ll also earn discounts at the Osceola’s merch store and Alumni Hall.