Danny Kanell Reacts To Florida State Football’s Struggles
Florida State football is in a bad place, after a blowout loss to Wake Forest a week after the Seminoles fell to Jacksonville State on a Hail Mary. Former ‘Noles quarterback Danny Kanell isn’t jumping ship on head coach Mike Norvell yet, but he’s concerned about where things stand for the program.
Norvell and FSU went 3-6 last year, his first with the program. It was a bad season by Florida State standards, but considering things were being treated as a serious rebuild post-Willie Taggart, and all of the issues presented by COVID-19, it seemed like most fans were willing to back him moving forward.
Week 1 of this season looked like it might be the start of FSU turning a corner. The ‘Noles fell to a top-10 Notre Dame team in overtime. The Jacksonville State game sapped all of the goodwill from that near upset win, and things are hurtling back towards square one for the franchise.
“I thought last year was going to be Mike Norvell’s biggest coaching challenge of his career. I think it’s going to be this year,” Kanell said this week, on the Cover 3 College Football Podcast, via 247.
A little “Noles to Go” discussion at the end with @BudElliott3 https://t.co/SGZzjVpkmc
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) September 20, 2021
Kanell has two major concerns moving forward this year: 1.) Norvell keeping the current players engaged on a weekly basis, and 2.) “maintaining his recruiting class and keeping them from bailing on a program that looks like it’s coming apart at the seams.”
He hopes that fans will stay engaged though, because he can already see them starting to turn on the Norvell era, just a few weeks into year two.
“I feel like my job from the outside is to keep everybody from jumping off the Mike Norvell ship. It’s way too early to try to do that. I’ve already seen some dissension out there between the fans. … We do not want a rotating door of coaches going through Tallahassee. We can’t afford it. Every time you do that, you set it back.
“This is a foundational year for Mike Norvell that has taken some hits to that foundation. Now he has to make sure it doesn’t come crumbling down on him.”
Florida State football was one of the most consistent powers in the sport under Bobby Bowden, and returned to national championship heights under Jimbo Fisher. While things began to slide on his watch, the struggles under Taggart and Norvell are basically unprecedented for the program over the last few decades.
FSU will look to rebound against Louisville on Saturday. Kickoff for that game in Tallahassee is at 3:30 p.m. ET.
[Cover 3 College Football Podcast]
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