Mike Norvell
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Michael Kelly Norvell (born October 11, 1981) is an American
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...
coach who is currently head coach at
Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
. Norvell was previously the head coach at
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...
. He has coached at
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
,
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
, and
Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...
. He played wide receiver at the
University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only n ...
from 2001 to 2005 and is the school's all-time receptions leader.


Playing career

Norvell attended the
University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only n ...
(UCA) from 2001 to 2005 and played wide receiver. He set the school's all-time reception record with 213 pass receptions for 2,611 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown, and 2 passing touchdowns during his career. During his senior season in 2005, Norvell was part of a UCA Bears team that won the
Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mid ...
championship, and made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs, finishing the season 11–3.


Coaching career


Memphis

On December 4, 2015, Norvell was introduced as the 24th head football coach of the Memphis Tigers. The youngest FBS head coach in the nation at the time of his hiring (aged 34), Norvell had overseen one of the nation's most explosive offenses at
Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
under
Todd Graham Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2020–2021). Graham has served as the head football coach at Rice ...
. Like
Justin Fuente Justin James Fuente (born July 30, 1976) is a former American football coach and player. He was the head football coach at Virginia Tech from 2016 to 2021. He was the 2016 ACC Coach of the Year. Fuente was the head football coach at the Universit ...
, Norvell was a young, up-and-coming offensive coordinator who employed an up-tempo, pass-oriented
spread offense :''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.'' The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the defense horizontall ...
and brought the high-octane system with him to Memphis. One of Norvell's first moves as head coach was to retain
Darrell Dickey Darrell Ray Dickey (born December 6, 1959) is an American football coach who most recently coached for the Texas A&M Aggies football team. Before joining the Texas A&M staff he was the offensive coordinator at Memphis from the 2012 to 2017 s ...
from Fuente's staff, naming him associate head coach/co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach.
The University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...
signed Norvell to a five-year contract that paid him a base salary of $1.8 million for his first year that would increase slightly each passing year. The Tigers finished with an 8–5 record in 2016. With
Riley Ferguson Riley Logan Ferguson (born January 19, 1995) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at University of Memphis, Memphis. Early years Ferguson attended David W. Butler High School in Matthews, North Carolina. He had ...
taking over as the team's starting quarterback, Memphis began the Norvell era with a 35–17 victory over FCS opponent Southeast Missouri State on September 3. The next week, Norvell's team defeated
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
by a margin of 43–7. In the season's third game, the Tigers obliterated
Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
by a whopping 77–3 behind Ferguson's six passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the game's first half. On October 1, Ole Miss handed Memphis its first loss of the season in a 48–28 rout. Five days later, the Tigers defeated
Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
by a score of 34–27. That was followed by a 24–14 victory over
Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
on October 14. Memphis lost its next two; dropping a 42–28 contest to #24
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
and a 59–30 blowout to
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
. On November 5, the Tigers pounded SMU by an overwhelming 51–7. The next week, Norvell's Tigers lost a shootout to
South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
by a margin of 49–42. They closed the regular season with a 34–27 win over
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
on November 18 and a 48–44 victory over #18
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
in a shootout. The Tigers accepted a berth in the 2016 Boca Raton Bowl, a game they lost to
Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...
by a score of 51–31. In 13 starts in 2016,
Riley Ferguson Riley Logan Ferguson (born January 19, 1995) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at University of Memphis, Memphis. Early years Ferguson attended David W. Butler High School in Matthews, North Carolina. He had ...
threw for 3,698 yards and broke
Paxton Lynch Paxton James Lynch (born February 12, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at University of Memphis, and was drafted in the first round of th ...
's single-season record with 32 touchdown passes set the previous season. After the 2016 season, co-offensive coordinator
Chip Long Chip Long (born May 1, 1983) is an American football coach, who is currently an assistant at Louisville. He previously was the offensive coordinator for Tulane University, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Memphis and Georgia Te ...
left the Tigers to take the same position on Brian Kelly's staff at Notre Dame. To replace Long,
Darrell Dickey Darrell Ray Dickey (born December 6, 1959) is an American football coach who most recently coached for the Texas A&M Aggies football team. Before joining the Texas A&M staff he was the offensive coordinator at Memphis from the 2012 to 2017 s ...
was named the team's sole offensive coordinator. On May 12, 2017, it was announced that the University of Memphis signed Norvell to a one-year contract extension though the 2021 season and gave his assistant coaches raises. Kicker
Jake Elliott Jake Daniel Elliott (born January 21, 1995) is an American football placekicker for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Memphis Tigers football, Memphis. He was part of the Eagles' Super Bo ...
was selected in the fifth round with the 153rd overall pick in the
2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...
by the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
. Memphis went 10–3 in 2017. They started the season on August 31 with a 37–29 victory over
Louisiana-Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Ce ...
. The Tigers were supposed to play
UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
on September 9, but due to
Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...
, the game, which originally had been moved up one day to September 8, was rescheduled for September 30. In order to reschedule the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
game, Memphis canceled their game with
Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...
, leaving the team with only 11 regular season games as opposed to the usual 12. On September 16, the Tigers picked up a 48–45 upset victory over #25
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, marking only their second victory over a ranked opponent in 21 years. After a 44–31 victory over
Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...
opponent
Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...
, Norvell's Tigers suffered their first loss of the season in the form of a 40–13 defeat in the rescheduled
UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
game. On October 6, Memphis obliterated
UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...
by a margin of 70–31. That was followed by a 30–27 victory over #25
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
, marking the first time the Tigers had ever defeated two ranked opponents in a single season in school history. Ranked #25 in the country in the AP Poll, the Tigers won their third consecutive contest with an exciting 42–38 win over
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. A fourth straight win followed on October 27 with a 56–26 blowout victory over
Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
. Norvell's Tigers made it five in a row with a 41–14 victory over
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
. On November 18, the Tigers defeated SMU in a high-scoring 66–45 contest to clinch the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
's West Division and a berth in the
2017 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game The 2017 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was held on Saturday, December 2, 2017. This was the third year that the AAC Championship game is played. The game was a rematch of the September 30 matchup, which UCF won 40-13. T ...
. Memphis finished off the regular season with a 70–13 beat down of
East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...
, recording their seventh consecutive victory. In the
2017 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game The 2017 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was held on Saturday, December 2, 2017. This was the third year that the AAC Championship game is played. The game was a rematch of the September 30 matchup, which UCF won 40-13. T ...
, the Tigers lost a hard-fought 62–55 double overtime contest to
UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...
. Memphis accepted a berth in the
2017 Liberty Bowl The 2017 Liberty Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game played on December 30, 2017, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 59th edition of the Liberty Bowl featured the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 C ...
on their home field, losing the game to
Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
by a nail biting margin of 21–20. On December 5, 2017, Memphis signed Norvell to another contract extension, a five-year addition to his deal worth $13 million. The extension increased Norvell's annual pay to $2.6 million and made him the highest paid Group of 5 head coach in the country. Following the 2017 season, offensive coordinator
Darrell Dickey Darrell Ray Dickey (born December 6, 1959) is an American football coach who most recently coached for the Texas A&M Aggies football team. Before joining the Texas A&M staff he was the offensive coordinator at Memphis from the 2012 to 2017 s ...
left Norvell's staff to take the offensive coordinator position on newly hired head coach
Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies Football, Texas A&M Aggies. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State Seminol ...
's staff at
Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
. Kenny Dillingham was promoted from graduate assistant to replace Dickey. After starting the 2018 season 4–4 overall and 1–3 in conference play, Memphis would win their last 4 games, including a 52–31 victory over Houston in the final week of the regular season to finish in a 3-way tie for first in the West with Houston and Tulane. After tiebreakers, Memphis was awarded with the West conference berth to the 2018 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, facing off against UCF again in Orlando. Despite having a 38–21 lead at the half, the Tigers would only manage to score 3 points in the second half and ended up losing 56–41. Memphis accepted a berth in the 2018 Birmingham Bowl, losing to Wake Forest 37–34 to finish the season 8–6. The 2019 season was one of the best seasons in the program's history, as the Tigers went 11–1 in the regular season and clinched a spot in the
2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game The 2019 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 7, 2019, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, to determine the 2019 champion of the American Athletic Conference. Th ...
on December 7, the team's 3rd championship appearance in a row, this time they went up against
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, whom the Tigers defeated 34-24 the previous week to clinch home-field advantage for the championship game. After a back and forth battle between the two teams, Memphis quarterback
Brady White Brady White is an American football quarterback for the Memphis Showboats of the United States Football League (USFL). He began his college football career at Arizona State University, before becoming a graduate transfer to the University of Me ...
would connect with Antonio Gibson for a go-ahead touchdown with 1:14 left in the 4th quarter to give Memphis a 29–24 victory over the Bearcats to win the conference championship. Since they were the highest ranked group of 5 team in the final CFP poll, they were awarded a new years' 6 bowl berth to the Cotton Bowl against
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
. The next day, Norvell left Memphis to become the new head coach at
Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
.


Florida State

On December 8, 2019,
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
formally announced Norvell as its head football coach. His contract is for $26.5 million over 6 years. On October 17, 2020, Norvell led the Seminoles to a win over
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, becoming the first ACC coach to defeat a Top 20 opponent in their first year; the team finished with a record of 3–6 in Norvell's first season. However, Norvell tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the rivalry game with The University of Miami, and was not the acting head coach. As such he finished the season with a 3–5 record as head coach. In Norvell's second season with the Seminoles, the program started 0-4 for the first time in 45 years and suffered its first ever loss to an FCS program in a 20–17 defeat to Jacksonville State. In his third season, Florida State started off strong with a 4-0 record and entered the rankings at #23. This included a 24-23 victory over the eventual SEC West champion LSU in the first edition of the Louisiana Kickoff in New Orleans. They lost 3 consecutive games to ACC Atlantic foes Wake Forest, NC State, and Clemson before handily defeating Georgia Tech, rival Miami, and Syracuse. They became bowl eligible for the first time since 2019 following their 45-3 defeat of arch-rival Miami, and reached #19 in the College Football Playoff rankings following their 38-3 defeat of Syracuse. Following a 49-17 home victory against Sun Belt Conference foe, Louisiana, FSU had jumped four ranked spots in the AP Poll to #16, a season high since Week 4 of the 2017 CFB season. The Seminoles notched their first victory over arch-rival Florida since 2017, and fans rushed the field in celebration. They finished in 2nd place in the ACC Atlantic, ahead of NC State and Wake Forest, which were 2 of the 3 teams they lost to (the other being Clemson); NC State and Wake Forest both had losses of their own after beating Florida State, and finished 4-4 and 3-5 in ACC play, respectively, allowing the 5-3 Seminoles to claim 2nd place in the division standings and get a better bowl bid. Florida State was invited to the Cheez-It Bowl, where they defeated Oklahoma by a score of 35-32. The Seminoles finished 10-3 and were ranked #11 in the final AP Poll and #10 in the final Coaches Poll, finishing as the highest-ranked ACC team in the country. Florida State extended Mike Norvell in 2023 to a new contract averaging $8.05 million per year.


Personal life

Norvell is married to Maria Norvell (Chiolino), with whom he has a daughter.


Head coaching record

* Departed Memphis for Florida State before bowl game.


References


External links


Florida State profile

Memphis profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norvell, Mike 1981 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Central Arkansas Bears football coaches Central Arkansas Bears football players Florida State Seminoles football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches People from Irving, Texas