Coach Mike Norvell
Press Conference
Florida State 66, Kent State 10
MIKE NORVELL: First off, just a great night for us. A
great weekend here for Florida State. Family weekend, it
was a wonderful crowd. Really proud of our players, the
work that they’ve put in throughout the bye week coming
into tonight.
We’ve really been challenging them. Tried to really force
uncomfortable situations throughout the bye week. Got
some good speed on speed work. Just trying to continue
to develop that growth, that edge, just overall execution.
I thought our guys rose to the challenge. You really felt
them play, once again, fast, physical. I thought we had
explosive plays. It was an extraordinary night offensively,
to be able to have great balance. I think we ran for close to
500 yards, which broke a school record.
What they were able to do, just really with all of the things
that showed up, whether it was the lightning delay,
obviously some challenges that presented themselves, our
guys just didn’t get shook by the circumstances. They just
continued to focus on the next play, and I thought they did
an outstanding job in their performance.
It’s something that we needed to see, and I’m really proud
of them for what they’ve been able to do coming off our first
game. Having a couple games against smaller schools
and with the bye week right in the middle, I don’t think our
guys have let up at all. I think they’ve had a great focus on
improvement, and it puts us in the right position as we go
into ACC play here on a short week heading into this week
that’s ahead.
Really pleased with our coaches, players, everybody
involved in the program for the work they did, and just once
again, happy for our fan base, and all the Marching Chiefs
were outstanding again tonight or today as we got a
chance to play. You just feel their presence, and it was a
great crowd here this afternoon.
Q. Obviously everybody was very concerned when
Tommy limped off the field. Did you know right away it
was going to be okay? When did they let you know? I
guess he could have played if he had to?
MIKE NORVELL: Obviously anytime you have any player
that goes down — he came off under his own power, but
you don’t like to see that with any individual. But they were
able to get him checked out. We’ll see where it progresses
as we go into this week. But I was glad to see him back
and moving around. I think it’s going to be something
that’s very manageable as we’re moving forward.
Q. Going into the season, I know the offensive line
just new, new pieces, and you guys were trying to
work them together. To have 500 rushing yards or
close to it, I imagine still a work in progress, but what
have you seen so far from the group that seems to be
working so well?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, it comes down to their work.
They’ve really made a great investment into each other. I
think we’ve got great leaders in that group. The way that
they’re taking coaching — I say that, Coach Hand does a
remarkable job pouring into those guys. He challenges
them on a daily basis. For all the experiences that they
have previously, whether it’s here, whether it’s newcomers
that have joined the program, young guys that are growing
and developing, it’s a constant push.
These guys, they embrace that on a daily basis, and you
feel that, the way that they’re gelling together, the things
that it’s allowing us to do in the run game, obviously given
time and protection, I’m pleased with that group.
I think it’s a compliment to them and just their overall work
and belief in each other.
Q. We all knew Micahi was fast, but he made two big
catches, but that one midfield, going up over guys, the
hands, Jerry was in here saying he might have a
chance to be one of the best receivers of all time.
What is his ceiling considering he’s only been doing
this a few months?
MIKE NORVELL: I mean, I’m very, very pleased with his
progress. Another young man that — every day, you feel
his desire, his want-to, the practice habits, the push. You
can see the confidence just growing with every play that he
gets.
Yes, to have three, four touchdowns here already in this
season, a lot of explosive plays, but that’s a big play that
you can look at and say, man, that’s — yes, his speed got
him behind, but the play-making ability is what finished the
catch. To see him — we had a couple of those in fall camp
and you’re seeing a young man that’s growing and
developing kind of right here before our eyes.
But it’s 100 percent because of his work, and I think Coach
Harris is doing a great job with him. You can see that
tonight Squirrel was out, and it was an open door of
opportunity for Micahi to show that he was ready for even
more.
I think that the two vertical passes were big for him, but
then also whenever he got the ball in his hand on the
reverse, he did what he’s been doing. So it was good to
see that that was big. But he got to break the rock tonight
and just a wonderful young man, obviously a Tallahassee
native, and one that I think has got an incredible future in
front of him as he continues to progress.
Q. Can you comment on the performance of some of
the year two guys, Landon Thomas, Kam Davis, just
that they’ve been in the system for a year now and how
they’ve been adjusting?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, I think it’s impressive to see those
guys have the production that they’ve had, and both those
guys got a chance to play last year, got some reps under
their belt, and you’re seeing that continued growth. I think
that we’ve got a good number of guys — Sam Singleton is
another person that I know he’s a little bit older, another
year older, but kind of getting more and more action and
opportunities and really has done some great things.
You see the growth on the defensive side of the ball with
some of our defensive backs, linebackers, some of the
guys that have been in the program that are continuing to
push to emerge.
I think the coaches are doing a great job. These guys have
worked really hard in the off-season to grow physically,
mentally, just the amount of passion and desire to go
maximize that potential has really been pleasing to us as a
staff and to me.
Q. In this year’s adopted everyone-eats type of style
rushing offense under Gus, how does splitting work
between a bunch of ball carriers help to improve the
run game overall?
MIKE NORVELL: Say that last part again.
Q. How does splitting the work between multiple ball
carriers help the run game overall?
MIKE NORVELL: I think when you have talented backs,
guys that have different skill sets, being able to showcase
that versatility, different guys get opportunity. As you see
that continued success, we had a lot of guys that had
success, but it still comes down to the details, the overall
execution, and I think Coach Johnson is doing a great job
of being able to manage that group. Obviously Gus is
putting them in a wonderful position to showcase their
talents, but I think that helps the offense as a whole.
Q. In these three games, it’s been different guys kind
of taking starring roles offensively. Is that by design at
all or is that just kind of how — does it just speak to the
depth that you guys have?
MIKE NORVELL: I think it speaks to the play making
ability that our guys have. Even within all of those plays
that you see, there’s still other options depending on what
a team does.
You’ve got to be ready when your moment is there, and
these guys are making plays, they’re playing fast.
I think one of the great compliments is you see guys
playing without the ball in their hands, whether it’s a fast
motion and a guy carrying out a fake just an extra step to
get a little bit more leverage or the guy who’s blocking up
front, different skill positions blocking down the field
allowing what would be a big run to be a touchdown, you
never know. You never know when it’s going to be, but
you’ve got to rise to the occasion.
I think that, as we say, this is an offense and a play that’s
built for playmakers, and we’ve got some great playmakers
within it. These guys are playing an unselfish brand of
football, but they also know when the ball comes their way
what they need to do with it, and they’re getting the job
done.
Q. We touched on last week the number of guys who
have been able to see the field so far this season, but
with that depth, with what you’ve been able to see from
them going into conference play, how confident are
you that, God forbid an injury does happen, that this
team is going to be that next-man-up mentality, what
we’ve an able to see from these guys?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, I think our guys have handled
their business to provide an open door of opportunities to
play multiple players. Guys have done a good job. There’s
been some good, some things that we see where we need
to continue to improve, but it definitely is nice going into
conference play and the stretch that we have in front of us
knowing that guys that might be new to the program or
guys that are trying to really forge their own role, that they
have some quality reps under their belt.
I like where we are. Hopefully this next week we’ll be able
to get a couple guys back in a full capacity to continue to
push forward.
Q. Back to Kam Davis, we saw him exit the game late
in the third. Is he injured? Do you have a comment on
his condition?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, we’ll see. Obviously he did leave
the game with an injury, but we’ll see kind of how that
progresses throughout the course of the weekend and the
early part of next week.
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