FSU Leaders Explain the Norvell Firing: A 'Big Business Decision,' One Firm Running Both Searches, and Stockstill for the Final Four
President Richard McCullough and interim athletic director Bruce Warwick faced the media Sunday evening: the Clemson loss was the defining moment, Parker and Associates will run the athletic director and coaching searches at the same time, and Rick Stockstill's job is the last four games.
Florida State's president and its interim athletic director put the program's Sunday upheaval on the record Sunday evening, with Richard McCullough calling the decision to fire head coach Mike Norvell a 'complicated' one and a 'big business decision,' and pointing to Saturday's 36-24 loss to Clemson as the defining moment after weeks of conversations with fans, trustees and others around the program.
The search structure is already set. The university hired Parker and Associates on Friday to find its next athletic director — the search that began Friday — and the same firm will also handle the coaching search, which McCullough said has begun immediately. He set no defined timeline but called both searches a top priority, and interim AD Bruce Warwick stressed the calendar pressure: National Signing Day falls in December and the transfer portal opens in January, which Warwick said is exactly why programs 'jump-start' a firing — to protect next year's roster.
For the remaining four games, the program belongs to Rick Stockstill. Warwick said the interim head coach, an experienced former head coach with a 'good pulse' for the team, gives Florida State the 'best chance' to win the final stretch — at Boston College on November 7, at Pittsburgh on November 13, home against NC State on November 21 and home against Florida on November 27. Tom Herman was among the interim candidates considered. Around Stockstill, FSU announced Ernie Sims as interim defensive coordinator, Greg Moss coaching safeties, and Tim Harris Jr. as the primary offensive play caller, after defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper were fired alongside Norvell.
Norvell did get a goodbye: Warwick said the fired coach addressed the team, met with McCullough and called his wife, in a meeting Warwick described as emotional, leaving the players with the words, as Warwick relayed them: 'Don't let up. I'm here to support you. I love Florida State football.' McCullough, for his part, called Norvell a 'class act' and said the next coach must be a 'Florida State person' — character that fits the institution, in the mold he praised in basketball coach Luke Loucks. Norvell leaves with a 41-39 record across seven seasons, the peak a 13-1 season in 2023 and the end a 3-5 team in 2026.
