Florida State is making significant changes to its coaching staff as a disastrous 2024 season mercifully nears its conclusion.
Coach Mike Norvell announced Sunday that offensive coordinator Alex Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and wide receivers coach Ron Dugans had been fired. Their dismissals come a day after the Seminoles dropped to 1-9 with a 52-3 loss at No. 10 Notre Dame.
“I appreciate the work these three men have provided over the last five years with me at Florida State,” Norvell said in a statement. “They are all great men with families who also have poured into our program. We had many great moments together here, and I have never doubted their passion for our players and for Florida State. Unfortunately, we have not upheld the Florida State standard with our results on the field this season. I did not make any of these decisions lightly, but I felt changes needed to be made to elevate our program back to where we all desire it to be.”
Notre Dame had 453 yards on just 62 plays in the blowout win. The Irish scored 31 points in the second half after taking a 21-3 lead into halftime.
Florida State’s record says it all about how well the team has played this season, but it also somehow doesn’t describe just how bad the Seminoles have been. They are the only top-level college football team in the country that hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season and rank last among all 134 FBS teams with 13.3 points per game.
The defense is giving up nearly 30 points per game and opposing offenses are averaging 5.8 yards per play.
The Seminoles are also somehow minus-14 in turnover differential. The offense has committed 17 turnovers and the defense has only forced three. No opponent has turned the ball over multiple times in a single game this season and FSU hasn’t forced a turnover since a 42-16 loss to SMU. That game was on Sept. 28.
Changing coordinators at this point in the season is a bit like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. FSU’s season is a lost cause. But it also gives Norvell a head start on finding assistants for the 2025 season, even if the jobs don’t have nearly the luster they did a year ago. The Seminoles are experiencing the worst season-to-season collapse in modern college football history just months after Norvell signed an eight-year contract extension worth $84 million.
A year ago, FSU was 13-0 and won the ACC before missing the College Football Playoff largely because of QB Jordan Travis’ season-ending injury. The team added DJ Uiagalelei through the transfer portal to replace Travis, but Uiagalelei played extremely poorly before he suffered a hand injury.
His replacements haven’t been any better. Brock Glenn and Luke Kromenhoek have completed less than 44% of their passes and have thrown four TD passes and seven interceptions.
