Mike Norvell’s once-promising Florida State tenure has gone off the rails.
In two seasons since he led the Seminoles to a 13-0 regular season and Atlantic Coast Conference championship before they were left out of the College Football Playoff in 2023, Florida State is 7-17.
Norvell begins a possible do-or-die campaign at Florida State when New Mexico State enters Tallahassee on Saturday for the season opener.
Ashton Daniels is the latest quarterback transfer who will helm the Florida State offense. He brings a wealth of experience from Stanford (2022-24) and Auburn (2025), having played in 37 games (23 starts) and completed 60.2% of his passes for 4,783 yards, 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Seminoles’ last two QB transfers — DJ Uiagalelei and Tommy Castellanos — didn’t work out as anticipated. But Norvell has liked what he’s seen from Daniels and the experience he brings, and has reclaimed the play-calling role from his coaching roots.
“I’ve been really pleased with just his mindset and seeing his confidence of what we’re asking him to do, seeing his confidence in what he knows he can do and how that’s really spread throughout just our football team,” Norvell said.
The good news for Daniels is he has standout wide receiver Duce Robinson back after he amassed 1,081 yards and six touchdowns for the Seminoles in 2025.
The bad news? Robinson is the only Florida State player on the preseason All-ACC team, and the Seminoles were picked to finish 11th in the conference by media members.
New Mexico State also enters a prove-it year of sorts for third-year head coach Tony Sanchez. Leading a program which has had just four winning seasons this century, the Aggies won three games in his first season and four last year.
While Sanchez said his locker room is excited for the “opportunity” ahead, he also paid close attention to the playmakers on the FSU roster. Robinson is one that stood out.
“You’ve got to know where Duce is, that big ol’ receiver. He’s a stud, so you’ve got to know where he is on the field,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez believes his program can be competitive in the revenue-sharing era.
“A year ago, the conversations were hard,” Sanchez said, “because we just did not have the ability to keep those guys home. This year, we’re keeping guys. … It gave us the ability to go compete and recruit.”
CUSA voters don’t seem to have the same confidence in the Aggies, giving them a 20% chance to make the postseason in the conference’s bowl index.
Trey Hedden was named the starting QB after throwing for 4,734 yards, 30 TDs and 22 picks over the last two seasons for Furman at the FCS level.