What's next for Mike Norvell? Potential paths for ex-FSU coach, including high-profile coordinator options

Armed with a massive $50 million buyout, the former Seminoles coach could target an open head coaching role, reset as a coordinator or take a full year off

Nov 2, 2026 at 2:13 pm ET • 4 min read

Mike Norvell is out of a job after Florida State fired him Sunday following a 36-24 loss to Clemson that dropped the Seminoles' record to 3-5.e

Florida State will owe Norvell nearly $50 million, subject to mitigation, in what is the third-largest buyout in college football history. Losing your job is never easy, though that substantial amount of money can afford Norvell the ability to be choosy in what he does next.

There seem to be three main paths Norvell can take in 2027.

Take another head coaching job

It may not have worked out in the end, but Norvell has some strong resume points. He has four seasons of 10 or more wins (2 at Memphis, 2 at Florida State) and will always have that perfect 13-0 2023 regular season. Norvell has a reputation for a strong offensive mind and X's and O's expertise, too. 

Options for this cycle might be limited for Norvell, however. Unless the carousel really gets swinging and we see a significant domino effect, there just may not be that many Power Four and Group of Six jobs that feel like a fit. The most obvious would be a return to Memphis if Charles Huff gets a Power Four job elsewhere. Norvell has already had success at the school and knows it has the resources to do well at that level. 

North Carolina State is focused on Philip Rivers, which seemingly eliminates the Wolfpack as an option. It's still early in the Maryland and Baylor searches, though he could emerge as a possible candidate depending on the route those schools take. 

Last cycle we saw two fired coaches (Billy Napier, James Franklin) and one quasi-retired, quasi-pushed-out coach (Kyle Whittingham) quickly jump into new head coaching roles. This would be Norvell's preference, according to industry sources, but it'll need to be the right fit. Don't expect Norvell to pursue the vacant Sam Houston State job. 

Take an offensive coordinator job

If there's not a viable, attractive head coaching opportunity, perhaps Norvell goes the offensive coordinator path. 

Oregon and Oklahoma, for instance, are in the market for new offensive coordinators after firing Drew Mehringer and Ben Arbuckle, respectively. Norvell and Oregon head coach Dan Lanning have a long-standing friendship, dating back to their days working on Todd Graham's Pittsburgh staff. They worked together at three different schools, including most recently at Memphis when Norvell hired Lanning as his inside linebackers coach. 

For both Oregon and Oklahoma, Norvell would be working for a defensive-minded head coach, which could be appealing and an easier transition as he moves from the big chair to an assistant role. In critical upcoming seasons for Lanning and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, they need to nail the OC hire and could spend big to do so. 

There's not a financial incentive to work – Norvell could actually lose money having to pay state income taxes from a new job that would reduce FSU's buyout obligations – but it'd keep the fired coach in the mix. If he lands at the right program and has success, it could be easier to leapfrog into a new head coaching job than if he takes the year off. There's real value, even from just a public awareness standpoint, in reminding people what made you such a hot coaching candidate in the first place and not the one who got fired. 

Last coaching carousel, there were three coaches -- Neal Brown (North Texas), Blake Anderson (Southern Miss) and Will Hall (Tulane) -- who all got head coaching jobs as assistant coaches one year after being fired. Anderson and Hall seemed to especially pick the right landing spots, as each was an internal promotion to the head job after Huff left for Memphis and Jon Sumrall took the Florida job. 

Factoring in his previous success with FSU being on the hook for a massive buyout, Norvell would be a very attractive option for any school in the market for an offensive coordinator. 

Take a year off

This isn't Norvell's preference, but there can be value gained in getting a chance to reset, thoroughly understand what did and didn't work at Florida State and build a plan to succeed at the next job. That plan should include a well-thought-out coaching staff and personnel department after the struggles in his final seasons in Tallahassee. 

Norvell could visit friends at different schools and get a holistic sense of what is and isn't working in college football. Maybe he could even work as an unofficial consultant to keep his finger on the pulse and feel like he was still involved in the sport. 

The downside is it seems harder these days to jump from out of coaching directly into a head coaching opportunity. Pat Fitzgerald pulled it off last year with Michigan State, but his circumstances were unique. The previous cycle, Bill Belichick got the North Carolina job after spending an off-year working in various media capacities. His situation, too, was unique as the most successful coach in NFL history. 

Elsewhere, former Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher has been out of coaching since 2023 and hasn't gotten much traction in searches. He is expected to be a candidate for the Florida State job but didn't have any luck in last year's very busy cycle. Neither did Ed Orgeron, who had expressed public interest in the Oregon State job that ultimately went to JaMarcus Sheppard. Orgeron is now on Lane Kiffin's LSU staff. 

Former Notre Dame and LSU coach Brian Kelly, now working as a CBS Sports analyst, could be a good barometer this cycle. 

The longer a coach is out of the space, the harder it seems to be to get back in. There are exceptions, however, including former Nebraska coach Scott Frost, who took a year off and then spent a season with the Los Angeles Rams before returning to UCF as head coach.