Your Thoughts Thursday: FSU Gets an A for Norvell Hire

For the second time in as many years, Florida State has a new football coach.

On Sunday, the university introduced former Memphis head coach Mike Norvell as the new head man in Tallahassee. This week, we asked our social media followers what grade FSU should get for the hire.

Nearly 70 percent of the 208 accounts to respond graded the Seminoles an A. Almost 30 percent gave them a B. Just 2 percent said Norvell was a C hire and no one gave FSU a D or an F.

Our Take
We have a high opinion of Mike Norvell as a head coach, but not quite as high as the majority of those who opined.

Instead, we’ll give FSU a B+. Norvell was certainly a great coach at Memphis, compiling a 38-15 record, winning three division crowns and a conference title while leading the Tigers to this year’s Cotton Bowl.

There however, are a few question marks as Norvell has never coached at a major program nor has he had to recruit big-time prospects. Despite his on-the-field success, Norvell never finished higher than 56th nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite, and signed just one blue-chip prospect.

With that said, Norvell has done a great job utilizing the talent that he has had. Prior to his arrival, Memphis had just one top-25 finish and one 10-win season ever. Norvell has had two of each.

Memphis had defeated just one ranked team in the past 20 years when Norvell arrived. In four years, he has defeated six.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. Like The Daily Nole on Facebook. To pitch an idea, author a post or to learn more about The Daily Nole, email Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com.