FSU players rally around Mike Norvell, speak out in support of their coach

Florida State players rallied around Mike Norvell, with multiple standouts from Saturday's 42-7 win over Wake Forest stepping up to publicly support their coach.

"I know a lot of people are against him right now, but that's our coach," veteran safety Earl Little Jr. said. "We're going to continue to keep fighting for him, we're going to continue to keep playing for him, we're going to continue to keep pushing for him."

The victory put FSU back at .500 entering the final third of the season, and it ended a four-game skid as well as gave the Seminoles their first win in conference play.

FSU's streaky start to the season – the Seminoles started the year 3-0 with wins by a combined 144 points, including a convincing win over Alabama, only to drop four conference games by a combined 24 points – sparked angst among large sections of the fan base. Calls for Norvell's job echoed through message board posts, through podcasts. FSU and AD Michael Alford released a statement after a road loss to Stanford as a double-digit favorite acknowledging the disappointing results while supporting Norvell through the remainder of the season before conducting an end-of-year review.

It could've been a tense couple of weeks during the bye week, it sure felt that way externally.

But internally, players said that Norvell remained the same every day with his standard "good morning" screams bellowing through the halls of FSU's new football facility and his energy remaining high at practice.

"Coach Norvell, man—he's one of the most consistent people I've ever been around. I told him, he and Coach Gus Malzahn are the only two men I've seen who are that consistent every day," quarterback Tommy Castellanos said. "The way he pours into us, pushes us, even after losses—it's the same energy every morning. He blocks out the noise and keeps pushing us.

"People don't see that. Everybody blames the coaches, but those four losses were on us. We were put in position to win and didn't execute. That's on us. Tonight, we got it done for him."

Little Jr. and fellow defensive back Ja'Bril Rawls – both of whom had takeaways on Saturday night – echoed similar sentiments as Castellanos about Norvell's approach.

"Man, I know where the dude's heart is at," Little Jr. said. "Us being with the man every day, we know where his heart is. It's like an 'if you know, you know' thing, man. I know a lot of people on the outside don't really see it — they see L's and stuff like that. But man, that dude, he's a dog. He keeps pushing for us, and that's what I love about Coach Norvell. We're going to keep fighting for him. Like I said, we're going to keep doing what we've got to do to keep stacking days. I'm proud to be coached by him, and we all love him"

"Yeah, Coach Norvell — just him coming in every day, not giving up on us, how he loves us, and how he pushes us to the best of our ability each and every day," Rawls said. "He doesn't short us, not a single day. Just how he loves us and how we all come together as one."

Norvell said a point of emphasis during the week of practice was to just show appreciation – coaches to players, players to coaches – through energy.

He felt good about the way the team practiced during the week. He didn't know how it'd translate for sure on Saturday, but he told the team before their pre-game meal that he was grateful regardless of how they handled this tumultuous time.

And they showed on Saturday that they still have his back.

"I wish you guys could've seen our practices these past two weeks. There was frustration and anger because all those games were winnable," standout Duce Robinson said after his 148-yard receiving performance. "...I think we did a really good job tonight playing complimentary football and putting the game away when we should. Coaches didn't change anything—their effort and intent have been the same since week one. It's always been on us to go out there and play Florida State football, and we did that tonight."

Added Castellanos: "Keep believing, keep fighting, and keep playing for each other."

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