Texas and Southern California would be higher on the marquee, but it’s quite possible Florida State will be the best available job in the college football carousel.
The Seminoles fired coach Mike Norvell on Sunday, nearly three years removed from a 13-1 ACC championship season. Since being stunningly shunned by the College Football Playoff, Florida State has gone 10-22 since with an Atlantic Coast Conference-worst 4-17 record.
Florida State remains one of the higher-upside jobs outside of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten. While the financial gap is growing larger each passing year, Florida State has the backing to be among the highest-funded ACC programs, even after paying Norvell’s hefty buyout.
These are the names to know as the search in Tallahassee gets underway.
–Jake Dickert, Wake Forest head coach
Few coaches have done more with less over the last few years than Dickert. He guided Washington State to three bowl games in four seasons from 2021-24 before leaving for Wake Forest, where he’s made one of the lowest-funded ACC football programs one of its most competitive.
The Demon Deacons won nine games in Dickert’s first season — the second-most at the school since 2007 — and are poised for an even better record this season at 7-1 (5-1 ACC) entering November.
He’s proven as an evaluator finding diamonds in the rough. That could make him a strong candidate to have great success with a larger budget at FSU.
–Manny Diaz, Duke head coach
Diaz is Florida through and through. The Florida State alumnus and the son of former Miami mayor Manny Diaz has experience at a large program. He went 21-15 at Miami from 2019-21 before he was chased off in favor of Mario Cristobal.
Perhaps some lessons learned from that stop have served him well at Duke, where he’s 24-11 in three seasons. Last year’s Blue Devils team brought home the program’s first ACC title since 1989, and Duke is squarely in contention to return to the conference championship in 2026 at 6-2 (3-2).
The question is whether Diaz wants another shot at a big-time job. There is nothing like going home. But the Miami experience might loom as a reminder to relish a place like Duke where expectations are lower. Press conference comments are always to be taken with a grain of salt on such matters, but Diaz told reporters Monday that he’s “really, really happy” at Duke.
–Glenn Schumann, Georgia defensive coordinator
Florida State would be a huge job for someone stepping into a head coach position for the first time. With someone like Schumann, though, who has worked under Nick Saban and Kirby Smart’s tutelage, the risk may be worth the reward.
Smart, after all, was a first-time head coach when Georgia brought him on in 2016 after nearly a decade working under Saban. He rewarded that belief with back-to-back national titles. Schumann similarly has been on Smart’s staff for his entire Georgia tenure, working his way up from inside linebackers coach (2016-18) to co-defensive coordinator (2019-23) to sole defensive coordinator (2024-present).
He’s proven to be an ace recruiter — one of the main complaints surrounding Norvell — and developed some incredible linebackers. The question, though, is how much credit he deserves for the Bulldogs’ consistently stellar defense or if more of that goes to Smart’s involvement.
–Jimbo Fisher, former Florida State/Texas A&M head coach
A decade ago, it would have been stunning that some Florida State fans would be in favor of giving Fisher another chance. He deserted the Seminoles in 2017 to take the Texas A&M job, with the Aggies’ near-limitless resources, less than four years removed from leading Florida State to its third national championship in 2013.
And yet, there’s a sizable portion of the fanbase, perhaps buoyed by nostalgia, which badly wants to give him another chance. Fisher, who has been working as an ACC Network analyst since he was fired by Texas A&M in 2023, has reportedly made his interest in the job clear.
Fisher’s first stint leading the Seminoles was exceptional.
He was 83-23 (48-16 ACC) with one national title and three conference championships.
Cracks started to show near the end, and success was harder to tackle at Texas A&M. Fisher’s record as Aggies coach was 45-25 (27-21) with no College Football Playoff or SEC championship game appearances. By the end of his time in College Station, it seemed the modern state of the game had passed him by.
Ironically, the sum of the buyout he’s still collecting from A&M would make Fisher a cheaper option.