Michael Norvell (born October 11, 1981) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at Florida State University (FSU), a position he has held since the 2020 season. He was previously head coach at Memphis, and has coached for Arizona State, Pittsburgh, Tulsa, and Central Arkansas. He played wide receiver at the University of Central Arkansas from 2001 to 2005 and is the school's all-time receptions leader.
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Playing career
Norvell played wide receiver at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas, coached by former Houston Oilers tight end Mike Barber. After graduating, because of his small physical stature, he decided to wait a year before walking on to a college football team. He enrolled in online college courses and became an assistant coach at Grace Prep in the early fall of 1999 at the age of 17 (turning 18 in October 1999).
Norvell then walked on at Louisiana Tech in 2000 and then transferred to the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) from 2001 to 2005 and played wide receiver. He set the school's all-time reception record with 213 pass receptions for 2,611 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and 2 passing touchdowns during his career.
During his senior season in 2005, Norvell was part of a UCA Bears team that won the Gulf South Conference championship, and made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs, finishing the season 11–3.
Coaching career
Early career
In 2007, Norvell was hired for his first coaching role, with Tulsa, working under Gus Malzahn. His first offensive coordinator position was at Pitt with Todd Graham. The next season, he worked as the offensive coordinator for Arizona State, following Graham.
Memphis
On December 4, 2015, Norvell was introduced as the 24th head football coach of the Memphis Tigers. The youngest FBS head coach in the nation at the time of his hiring (aged 34), Norvell had overseen one of the nation's most explosive offenses at Arizona State under Todd Graham. Like Justin Fuente, Norvell was a young, up-and-coming offensive coordinator who employed an up-tempo, pass-oriented spread offense and brought the high-octane system with him to Memphis.
One of Norvell's first moves as head coach was to retain Darrell Dickey from Fuente's staff, naming him associate head coach/co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach. The University of Memphis signed Norvell to a five-year contract that paid him a base salary of $1.8 million for his first year that would increase slightly each passing year.
The Tigers finished with an 8–5 record in 2016. With Riley Ferguson taking over as the team's starting quarterback, Memphis began the Norvell era with a 35–17 victory over FCS opponent Southeast Missouri State on September 3. The next week, Norvell's team defeated Kansas by a margin of 43–7. In the season's third game, the Tigers defeated Bowling Green 77–3 behind Ferguson's six passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the game's first half. On October 1, Ole Miss handed Memphis its first loss of the season in a 48–28 rout. Five days later, the Tigers defeated Temple by a score of 34–27. That was followed by a 24–14 victory over Tulane on October 14. Memphis lost its next two; dropping a 42–28 contest to #24 Navy and a 59–30 blowout to Tulsa. On November 5, the Tigers defeated SMU by a score of 51–7. The next week, Norvell's Tigers lost a shootout to South Florida by a margin of 49–42. They closed the regular season with a 34–27 win over Cincinnati on November 18 and a 48–44 victory over #18 Houston in a shootout. The Tigers accepted a berth in the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl, a game they lost to Western Kentucky by a score of 51–31. In 13 starts in 2016, Riley Ferguson threw for 3,698 yards and broke Paxton Lynch's single-season record with 32 touchdown passes set the previous season. After the 2016 season, co-offensive coordinator Chip Long left the Tigers to take the same position on Brian Kelly's staff at Notre Dame. To replace Long, Darrell Dickey was named the team's sole offensive coordinator. On May 12, 2017, it was announced that the University of Memphis signed Norvell to a one-year contract extension though the 2021 season and gave his assistant coaches raises. Kicker Jake Elliott was selected in the fifth round with the 153rd overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Florida State
On December 8, 2019, Florida State University formally announced Norvell as its head football coach. His contract was initially for $26.5 million over 6 years. On October 17, 2020, Norvell led the Seminoles to a win over North Carolina, becoming the first ACC coach to defeat a Top 20 opponent in their first year; the team finished with a record of 3–6 in Norvell's first season. However, Norvell tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the rivalry game with the University of Miami, and was not the acting head coach.
In Norvell's second season with the Seminoles, the program finished 5-7, despite an 0–4 start, and showed remarkable improvement in the rebuild of the organization.
In his third season, Florida State started off strong with a 4–0 record and entered the rankings at #23. This included a 24–23 victory over the eventual SEC West champion LSU in the first edition of the Louisiana Kickoff in New Orleans. They then lost three consecutive games to ACC Atlantic foes Wake Forest, NC State, and Clemson before handily defeating Georgia Tech, rival Miami, and Syracuse. They became bowl eligible for the first time since 2019 following their 45–3 defeat of Miami, and reached #19 in the College Football Playoff rankings following their 38–3 defeat of Syracuse. Following a 49–17 home victory against Sun Belt Conference foe, Louisiana, FSU jumped four ranked spots in the AP Poll to #16, a season high since week 4 of the 2017 season. The Seminoles notched their first victory over Florida in four years, and fans rushed the field in celebration; it marked the highest scoring game in the rivalry and completed a sweep of the Seminoles' rivals, the Hurricanes and Gators, for the first time under Norvell.
The result in 2022 was 2nd place in the ACC Atlantic. Florida State was invited to the Cheez-It Bowl, where they defeated Oklahoma by a score of 35–32 for Norvell's first career bowl win. The Seminoles finished 10–3, the first season of double-digit wins since 2016, and were ranked #11 in the final AP Poll and #10 in the final Coaches' Poll, finishing as the highest-ranked ACC team in the country.
In the off-season of his fourth year, Florida State extended Norvell to a new contract averaging $8.05 million per year.
At the start of the 2023 season, Norvell and the Seminoles were ranked #8 in the AP Poll. Florida State defeated then #14 Louisville Cardinals in the ACC Championship Game, and claimed their first conference championship since the 2014 season, the school's nineteenth conference title. Norvell and Florida State ended the season with a 13–0 record and the Seminoles were ranked fifth in the College Football Playoff committee’s final rankings, becoming the first undefeated Power Five conference champion to be left out of the Playoff. The Seminoles were instead invited to the Orange Bowl to face the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia subsequently defeated Florida State by a score of 63–3. For the team's accomplishments, Norvell was named ACC Coach of the Year, won the Bobby Dodd Trophy, and was awarded as the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year.
Personal life
Norvell is married to Maria Norvell (Chiolino), with whom he has a daughter.