FSU fans got surprising news on Monday morning as offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn announced he is retiring from coaching, effective immediately. Although the timing made it a surprise, this had been on the table for some time.
Rumors of a potential retirement began during his final season at UCF and resurfaced at the tail end of the season last year as Malzahn was dealing with some family health issues. It was also reported that he interviewed for other jobs this offseason, so it became clear his desire was not to remain in Tallahassee either way. His press conferences were often awkward, hinting at possible tension or unhappiness.
Many had questioned whether Mike Norvell himself had soured on the move, which was believed to be a forced one after the disastrous 2024 season. So, long story short, after 35 years of coaching, Gus Malzahn is retiring and will not return to FSU in 2026. So, now what?
The news also came with the announcement that co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Tim Harris Jr. will be promoted to the sole offensive coordinator position. Harris served as the offensive coordinator at UCF under Malzahn in 2024 as well as the OC at Florida International in 2020.
I suspect this move was known about by FSU for some time as they promoted Harris to co-oc seemingly out of nowhere last month. Also, two of FSU’s recent quarterback commits (Jaden O’Neal and Malachi Marshall) are not your typical run-first Malzahn style quarterbacks.
Sources have indicated that Mike Norvell will be the primary play caller for the Seminoles going forward. I imagine that Harris Jr. will serve in an Alex Atkins type of role assisting Norvell with game planning, etc.
There could be a bright side to this move as Malzahn’s outdated offensive system came into question last season. Sure, they did show improvement from 2024, but that was coming from one of the worst offenses in program history. FSU was held under 21 points in four of their final six games last season and couldn’t break the 14-point barrier on the road in three of their final four road games.
There are two main concerns I have with Mike Norvell taking over play-calling duties again. First, which version of Mike Norvell are we going to see? He was the primary play caller with the same OC setup in 2023 when the Noles produced a top 20 offense. The Noles also had a top 20 offense in 2022. He has a history of being a good offensive mind, and that was one of the primary reasons he was brought to Tallahassee to begin with. However, he also produced one of the worst offenses we’ve ever seen in 2024. The main difference was having a veteran field general quarterback (Jordan Travis) who came up in the system at the helm in 2022 and 2023. He did not have that in 2024 and will not have that in 2026, which concerns being we know his success with and without Travis at quarterback.
My second concern is the personnel that has already been acquired. The timing of this announcement is strange to say the least. Mike Norvell’s offense is rooted in the concepts he learned under Malzahn as a young coach, but Norvell includes more passing concepts than Malzahn.
This decision was announced after the portal closed and FSU already signed its perceived starting quarterback, Ashton Daniels, who is more of a run-first Malzahn-style quarterback. It feels like it would have made more sense to make this move while FSU was shopping for multiple quarterbacks so they could have obtained a more proven passer to fit Norvell’s style of offense. In fairness, Norvell had his most success at FSU with a dual-threat quarterback, so a mobile quarterback is not a bad thing, but Travis was a plus passer, and Daniels has not shown to be of that caliber.
This begs the question: Are we going to see a shift back to the Norvell-style offense or a hybrid of a Norvell-Malzahn mix given the personnel? FSU also opted not to pursue any additional receivers in the portal and saw Lawayne McCoy transfer out. This made sense in the Malzahn system as Duce and Danzy were back, and you only need one to two main receivers to run that system.
This makes things even more uncertain in an already uncertain time for the program, although we have previously discussed that Norvell should be calling plays if Malzahn departed. After all, he was brought in as an offensive mind, and he makes a pretty penny for someone who is not running an offense. The CEO head coach role didn’t seem to fix much last year, so as FSU moves forward, it makes sense schematically and financially to let him assume the play-calling duties once again. We just don’t know how that is going to turn out.
Honestly, I like Norvell’s offense better, and a host of problems fed into what we saw in 2024. Better receivers, a better offensive line coach, and taking a year off from the added weight may lead to better results. With FSU employing a new front office format, there will be less responsibility from an off-the-field standpoint in 2026 than in 2024, giving him more time to focus on the offense.
FSU did average 34.6 points per game in 2023 and 36.1 points per game in 2022 under Norvell (with Jordan Travis), which was better than what Malzahn averaged in any single year at FSU and UCF. Malzahn’s offenses were notorious for moving the ball and racking up yards, but as we say here at PTS, yards don’t win games point do, and his offenses often struggled to score against better competition.
It’s an oddly timed move for the news to drop, but I suspect FSU knew this was coming, and they have time to pivot from a planning standpoint. From my understanding, this will not affect the roster as players are only allowed to leave if a change is made at the head coach position, and technically, Malzahn wasn’t even considered a position coach. With Harris’s promotion, there is not expected to be any additional hires being made. We’ll be on watch for any further developments. Stay tuned to your source for fan-focused FSU coverage here at Plant The Spear. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!
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