Snubbed from playoffs last year, FSU Seminoles ready to ‘get better’ in Year 5 under Norvell

As the Florida State Seminoles wrapped up practice on Sunday, Mike Norvell took a moment to reflect on how far his team has come.

He likes what he sees.

“This team has been about the work,” said Norvell, who is entering his fifth season as FSU’s head coach. “That’s what I always desire, is that you have a team that you don’t have to push. These guys, you put the work in front of them and they go running after it. I really have been proud of them for their approach to it. This is not a team that sits around and complains about what’s in front of them. They go and work and attack it. I cannot wait to watch this team play.”

He doesn’t have to wait much longer.

The Seminoles, ranked No. 10 in the AP top 25 preseason poll, kick off their season — and the college football season overall — at noon Saturday against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland.

It’s their first game since a spectacular 2023 season ended in utter disappointment. A 13-0 run and Atlantic Coast Conference championship resulted in being snubbed from the four-team College Football Playoff. FSU then proceeded to get blown out by the Georgia Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl when more than a dozen starters did not play in the season finale.

FSU players choose to ignore that ending. Instead, they’re focusing on building on everything that led up to that point and making sure the newcomers on the team understand what it took to make the run they did.

“We went 13-0 last year,” defensive lineman Joshua Farmer said. “Whatever we did last year worked.”

Now, the Seminoles won’t have to worry about a playoff snub this year if they make that type of run again. The playoff has expanded to 12 teams, and the five highest ranked conference champions automatically make the field of a dozen teams.

There are a lot of new faces on this Seminoles team compared to last year, most notably DJ Uiagalelei taking over at quarterback after transferring in from Oregon State (following three seasons at Clemson before that).

Norvell said he is impressed with the chemistry the team has built since the start of spring practices.

Now, it’s a matter of parlaying that into results again.

“It’s so few games,” Norvell said, “but now you get to go put it on display. There’s going to be great moments. There’s going to be challenging times in of course every contest, but it’s that response. You can build confidence through the work that they’ve done and their preparation, but you get to go out there and execute it, and that’s what we get to see come Saturday, and what a stage to be able to do it on.”

A lot of their success very likely could hinge on how Uiagalelei performs. He enters the season having completed 59 percent of his career passes for 8,132 yards and 57 touchdowns with 23 interceptions over 48 career games.

“DJ has played in a lot of football games. He’s seen it all,” Norvell said. “He’s been through highs. He’s been through lows. I could not be any more pleased with what I’ve seen since he got here in January, even just his growth. You go through spring practice, we tried to put him in some really challenging situations. Some of the things we wanted to see, we wanted to see him respond to a disappointment. We wanted to put him in the hardest looks to see what was his decision making, how would he go and then how would he grow from that. I think he’s just done an outstanding job. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. I’m excited to go see him play like he’s prepared. If he does that, I think he could have a very special season. He’s a great young man. He’s a great leader. The work that he’s put in, and he’s got all the talent. I’ll tell him the same thing I’ve been telling him: Just go out there and be himself. We’ve got a lot of excitement and confidence in what that’s going to be.”

Beyond Uiagalelei, FSU will look to seniors Roydell Williams and Caziah Holmes to lead the charge at running back. Seniors Malik Benson and Ja’Khi Douglas plus redshirt freshman Jalen Brown should be Uiagalelei’s top receivers. The offensive line returns three starters, including left tackle Darius Washington, center Maurice Smith and right tackle Jeremiah Byers — all redshirt seniors.

Defensively, four starters from last season return in Farmer, defensive end Patrick Payton, cornerback Fentrell Cyress and linebacker Shyheim Brown.

“Our objective this year is to go get better,” Norvell said. “Coming off what was a 13-0 regular season and championship game was something that was really a special experience for our entire program. It sets the stage and opportunity for us to continue to push and continue to elevate this program to ultimately where it deserves to be. That’s among the nation’s elite, when you look across the course of college football.”

Norvell doesn’t have to wait much longer for FSU’s first chance to show that. The season kicks off on Saturday.