Mike Norvell
Mike Norvell went 79–53 as a head coach, 2016–2026, at Memphis and Florida State. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 3–3); by them his record is 79–52. Share
- Record
- 79–53 career
- Seasons
- 11
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 1 season
- Born
- Oct 11, 1981
- Best season
- 2023 13–1, No. 6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Memphis | 8–5 | T–3rd | Boca Raton Bowl L | ||
| 2017 | Memphis | 10–3 | 1st | Liberty Bowl L | 25 | |
| 2018 | Memphis | 8–6 | T–1st | Birmingham Bowl L | ||
| 2019 | Memphis | 12–1 | T–1st | Cotton (not coached) | ||
| 2020 | Florida State | 3–6 | 13th | |||
| 2021 | Florida State | 5–7 | T–4th | |||
| 2022 | Florida State | 10–3 | 2nd | Cheez-It Bowl W | 11 | |
| 2023 | Florida State | 13–1 | 1st | Orange Bowl L | 6 | |
| 2024 | Florida State | 2–10 | 17th | |||
| 2025 | Florida State | 5–7 | T–13th | |||
| 2026 | Florida State | 3–4 (Wikipedia: 3–3) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Jordan TravisFifth in the 2023 Heisman vote- Alex MastromannoConsensus All‑American, 2024
- Jermaine Johnson IINo. 26 pick, 2022
- Jared VerseNo. 19 pick, 2024
- Dillan Gibbons2022 Wuerffel Trophy
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 30 | 11–19 | 37% |
| Against top-10 teams | 14 | 3–11 | 21% |
| Against rivals | 24 | 11–13 | 46% |
| Conference games | 84 | 47–37 | 56% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 5 | 1–4 | 20% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 45 | 22–23 | 49% |
| At home | 72 | 52–20 | 72% |
| On the road | 52 | 23–29 | 44% |
| At neutral sites | 8 | 4–4 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 79 | 63–16 | 80% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 53 | 16–37 | 30% |
His own 132 games on file, 2016–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philip Montgomery 2016–2025 | 4–1 | Tulsa, Virginia Tech | 5 | |
| Mario Cristobal 2022–2026 | 2–3 | Miami | 5 | |
| Dabo Swinney 2021–2025 | 1–4 | Clemson | 5 | |
| Willie Fritz 2016–2019 | 3–1 | Tulane | 4 | |
| Ken Niumatalolo 2016–2019 | 2–2 | Navy | 4 | |
| Brian Kelly 2020–2023 | 2–2 | Notre Dame, LSU | 4 | |
| Dave Clawson 2018–2023 | 1–3 | Wake Forest | 4 | |
| Dave Doeren 2020–2025 | 0–4 | NC State | 4 | |
| Dino Babers 2021–2023 | 3–0 | Syracuse | 3 | |
| Jeff Hafley 2021–2023 | 3–0 | Boston College | 3 |
Mike Norvell’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Miamiseries | 7 | 3–4 |
| SMUseries | 6 | 4–2 |
| Floridaseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Louisvilleseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Wake Forestseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| Clemsonseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| Houstonseries | 4 | 4–0 |
| Boston Collegeseries | 4 | 3–1 |
National coaching awards
The awards- 2023 Florida State: Bear Bryant Award and Bobby Dodd Award
How he was hired
- Hired by Florida State for the 2020 season from Memphis, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Central Arkansas | Graduate assistant | |
| 2007–08 | Tulsa | Graduate assistant | |
| 2009 | Tulsa | Passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 2010 | Tulsa | Passing game coordinator, wide receivers coach and DR | |
| 2011 | Pittsburgh | Co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach and DR | |
| 2012–13 | Arizona State | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2014–15 | Arizona State | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2016–19 | Memphis | Head coach | |
| 2020–present | Florida State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Clint ConqueCentral Arkansas
- Todd GrahamTulsa, Pittsburgh, Arizona State
- Keith PattersonPittsburgh
Assistants who became head coaches
- Chris BallNorthern Arizona
- Dan LanningOregon
- Darrell DickeyNorth Texas, Memphis
- Kenny DillinghamArizona State
- Ryan SilverfieldMemphis, Arkansas
- Reggie HowardMemphis
- Will HallSouthern Miss, Tulane, West Alabama, West Georgia
- Adam FullerAssumption
- Pete LemboBall State, Buffalo, Lehigh, Elon
- Odell HagginsFlorida State
- Randy ShannonMiami, Florida
- Rick StockstillMiddle Tennessee
- and 3 more
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clint Conque | Central Arkansas | 2006 | Graduate assistant | |
| Todd Graham | Tulsa | 2007–10 | 2007–08: graduate assistant; 2009: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2010: passing game coordinator, wide receivers coach and DR | |
| Todd Graham | Pittsburgh | 2011 | Co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach and DR | |
| Keith Patterson | Pittsburgh | 2011 | Co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach and DR | |
| Todd Graham | Arizona State | 2012–15 | 2012–13: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; 2014–15: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (15)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Ball | Memphis, 2016–18: defensive coordinator | Northern Arizona | |
| Dan Lanning | Memphis, 2016–17: inside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator | Oregon | |
| Darrell Dickey | Memphis, 2016: assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 2017: offensive coordinator and running backs coach | North Texas, Memphis | |
| Kenny Dillingham | Memphis, 2016: graduate assistant; 2017: quarterbacks and tight ends coach; 2018: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; Florida State, 2020–21: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Arizona State | |
| Ryan Silverfield | Memphis, 2016: offensive line coach; 2017–18: running game coordinator and offensive line coach; 2019: assistant head coach, running game coordinator and offensive line coach | Memphis, Arkansas | |
| Reggie Howard | Memphis, 2017: defensive assistant | Memphis | |
| Will Hall | Memphis, 2018: assistant head coach and tight ends coach | Southern Miss, Tulane, West Alabama, West Georgia | |
| Adam Fuller | Memphis, 2019: defensive coordinator; Florida State, 2020–24: defensive coordinator | Assumption | |
| Pete Lembo | Memphis, 2019: assistant head coach and special teams coach | Ball State, Buffalo, Lehigh, Elon | |
| Odell Haggins | Florida State, 2020–24: assistant head coach and defensive tackles coach; 2025–26: assistant head coach | Florida State | |
| Randy Shannon | Florida State, 2021: senior defensive analyst; 2022–24: co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach; 2024: interim defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Miami, Florida | |
| Rick Stockstill | Florida State, 2024–26: offensive assistant | Middle Tennessee | |
| Gus Malzahn | Florida State, 2025: offensive coordinator | Arkansas State, Auburn, UCF | |
| Zach Arnett | Florida State, 2025: analyst | Mississippi State | |
| Tom Herman | Florida State, 2026: assistant head coach | Houston, Texas, Florida Atlantic |
Other assistants under him (16)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Chip Long | Memphis, 2016: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Marcus Woodson | Memphis, 2016–17: defensive backs coach; Florida State, 2020–22: defensive backs coach | |
| Paul Randolph | Memphis, 2016–18: defensive line coach | |
| Scott Symons | Memphis, 2018: linebackers coach | |
| Kevin Johns | Memphis, 2019: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Alex Atkins | Florida State, 2020–21: offensive line coach; 2022–24: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | |
| Brandon Harris | Florida State, 2020: defensive assistant | |
| Chris Marve | Florida State, 2020–21: linebackers coach | |
| John Papuchis | Florida State, 2020–24: special teams and defensive ends coach; 2025: special teams and linebackers coach | |
| Ron Dugans | Florida State, 2020–24: wide receivers coach | |
| Anthony Midget | Florida State, 2023: defensive analyst | |
| Ernie Sims | Florida State, 2024–25: assistant linebackers coach and defensive analyst; 2026: linebackers coach | |
| Gabe Fertitta | Florida State, 2024: offensive coordinator | |
| Herb Hand | Florida State, 2025–26: offensive line coach | |
| Tim Harris Jr. | Florida State, 2025: passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2026: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Tony White | Florida State, 2025–26: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Memphis | head coachbonuses up to $570,000; $125,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $4,379,667 | $1,860,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Memphis | head coachbonuses up to $570,000 | $1,800,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Arizona State | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $490,000 | $950,085 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Arizona State | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $490,000 | $901,560 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Norvell’s teams went for it on 26% of fourth downs and on 44% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 49% of plays and took 24.5 seconds a play, 2016–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 13 g | Memphis | 22 of 104 21% | 32% | 53% | 21.3 | +0.10 | |
| 2017 13 g | Memphis | 20 of 87 23% | 38% | 55% | 21.4 | +0.24 | |
| 2018 14 g | Memphis | 17 of 95 18% | 30% | 43% | 22.6 | +0.20 | |
| 2019 14 g | Memphis | 24 of 88 27% | 55% | 47% | 25.2 | +0.15 | |
| 2020 9 g | Florida State | 28 of 78 36% | 45% | 50% | 25.0 | +0.01 | |
| 2021 12 g | Florida State | 21 of 94 22% | 38% | 48% | 25.6 | +0.05 | |
| 2022 13 g | Florida State | 23 of 75 31% | 50% | 46% | 26.2 | +0.19 | |
| 2023 14 g | Florida State | 21 of 108 19% | 38% | 52% | 26.9 | +0.10 | |
| 2024 12 g | Florida State | 32 of 105 30% | 51% | 56% | 25.9 | −0.12 | |
| 2025 12 g | Florida State | 29 of 73 40% | 67% | 43% | 24.1 | +0.19 | |
| 2026 7 g | Florida State | 15 of 46 33% | 56% | 46% | 26.2 | +0.16 | |
| All 133 g | 252 of 953 26% | 44% | 49% | 24.5 | +0.12 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.