A look at Florida State’s CLIMB under Mike Norvell

Florida State’s CLIMB under Mike Norvell has been quite impressive when you step back and look at the year-over-year progress. He inherited a program that needed a full-on rebuild and had to start the process during the disjointed 2020 season that came with obvious challenges. Despite a rocky start, FSU stuck with their guy, and the persistence has paid off. Let’s take a look at the progress in the graphic below.

After they finally found traction towards the end of the 2021 season, winning 5 of their final 8 games, things have skyrocketed for the Noles. They now had proof of concept to sell and following that up with a 10-win season in 2022 provided them with success on the field to pitch to prospects. FSU had never struggled to get the top-ranked recruits on campus but that was the one aspect that they were waiting to see.

As you can see in the graphic, the on-field success and rise in the blue-chip ratio of their incoming recruits (transfers included) have gone hand in hand. The last two classes (transfers included) have a combined blue-chip ratio of 62.5%, over double that of the previous three. Although the 2025 class only has 4 commitments at this time, they are all blue-chip recruits.

Over the past two seasons, Norvell had led FSU to a 23-4 record, which included a 19-game win streak and a conference championship, FSU’s first in almost 10 years. They have beaten both rivals in back-to-back seasons (3-game win streak vs. Miami) and took down Clemson in Death Valley for the first time since 2013.

Norvell and company have reloaded the roster for 2024, and if they can put together another successful season, the momentum will continue to snowball. Keep in mind that this has been with a roster that has not been ranked inside the top 15 of the 247 team talent rankings at any point during his tenure. Just imagine when he has a roster full of blue-chip talent to work with! In fact, they have beaten nine teams in the past two seasons that were “more talented” than FSU on paper.

Sometimes trusting the process pays off in a society where everyone wants immediate success. The turnaround under Norvell has been impressive, and the future is only getting brighter in Tallahassee. Thanks for reading and Go Noles!