Monday, November 4, 2024
Tallahassee, Florida, USA
Mike Norvell
Press Conference
MIKE NORVELL: Good morning. Appreciate everybody
being here today. Coming off Saturday, much like I said in
postgame, disappointing outcome, disappointing
performance. Really all three phases had elements of
opportunities, but obviously not the results necessary to be
able to achieve success.
Carolina did a good job in their game plan and their
execution and won the game in really all three phases, for
what we needed, what we set out to accomplish, and just
did not play or coach well enough in that game to be
victorious.
Obviously with that, you continue to evaluate, learn, work
to grow. We still have three games left in the season, and
you have an opportunity to go and get better, and that is
my sole purpose, my sole focus is for everything that we
have, for these players that I get to coach, to go pour
everything I have into them, to make sure that we are
taking positive strides and steps to improvement.
Each individual has ownership of action. Each individual
has to make the choice of the investment of what’s being
poured in, and then obviously the application of whether it’s
the things we’re asking guys to do in practice or whether
it’s the application of schemes, of the application of things
that are necessary for us to go play complementary football
to achieve victory.
We’ve not done that throughout the course of this season,
and we’ve had plenty of circumstances that have showed
up. That was our eighth different starting offensive line,
lineup that we’ve had in nine games. We’ve had two more
starters that were out, which obviously had an effect, but
ultimately it’s opportunities for other guys, young guys to
get their chance to show and to be able to go out there and
compete, put their best on display, and we just have not
been consistent enough across the board on really either
side of the ball for what is expected and what we need to
be.
All of our focus and work goes into today, and obviously we
came back, we practiced yesterday, we went to work
jumping into this week. We have to go on the road against
another really good opponent, and we’re going to go put
everything we have into putting ourselves in the best
position to achieve success this week, and that is our focus
as a team and the focus of every individual a part of the
program.
Q. Seemed like in some of these games, particularly
the Miami game, it felt like the defense kind of gave
you guys a chance to try to figure things out on
offense. This week it seemed like both sides of the
ball faltered. Do you think the offensive struggles
have taken their toll on how the defense is playing?
MIKE NORVELL: I mean, no. Each side of the ball is
independent of itself. We have not played good
complementary football throughout the course of the year,
and you go back and you look at it, our success after
offensive scoring drives has been really, really poor. We
haven’t gotten three-and-outs. We’ve given up scoring
drives as a result after an offensive score which obviously
you need to be able to in those moments try to build upon
the momentum. After a team scores, we have not
responded well offensively like we need to.
When you look at it, we just haven’t been able to build
upon the momentum on either side when we’ve had
opportunities to make plays. There was three different
times where I thought we had a chance to intercept a pass
on Saturday, and there was multiple times on 3rd downs
we had a chance to be able to get off the field, and we did
not make the play or execute there in the moment in critical
situations for what was necessary.
I don’t think that one side of the ball has something to do
with the other because ultimately it’s just you’ve got to go
out there and you’ve got to play the game. Everybody’s
performance is theirs, and you’ve got to own it. There were
some good moments for individuals. There were some
positive things that you can draw from it throughout the
contest, but then there were some things that are
unacceptable and that we have to be better at.
You have to take ownership of what the action was,
whether it was a play call, whether it was something that
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you did as a player on the field that was not to the best of
your ability. Sometimes it’s a technique, a fundamental, an
opportunity to make a play to finish in the moment, and
that’s what we all have to own, and we have to go and
grow and be better. That’s the focus.
Q. With the amount of young players that you’ve
played this season, how important is it going to be for
the future of the program to continue to get solid
constructive reps with them but then to be able to
retain them and keep building with them for the future?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, for us it’s every play, every day,
every practice is critical for each player on our team, but
especially those young guys that are getting opportunities
in game. You’ve got to be able to build upon it.
I think these guys have done a nice job in their approach in
how they’ve come to practice, how they’ve come to work in
terms of trying to understand the areas that maybe they
need a bigger emphasis in their growth, and some of it’s
just going to be physical, mental, just continuing to adjust
to the speed of what you see on a Saturday.
But I am excited about that young group. You look at really
the last two classes, those guys that are either freshmen,
redshirt freshmen or the true sophomores, we’ve got a lot
of really good football players in that group, and those are
going to be guys that I absolutely believe – as I spoke on
Saturday – they’re going to be a part of our response as a
program for what we’re going to do and what we’re going to
be able to accomplish.
Everybody is at a different place in their journey, and some
of those guys are playing a lot. Some of those guys have
yet to play. But really excited about those two groups of
what we’re able to put together in those classes. It’s critical
for their continued development that they just every day
stay focused on what they can control and maximize any
opportunities that they do get.
Q. From a purely physical standpoint, was Saturday
up to the standard you want, and with Notre Dame,
how much of a challenge is that? Obviously they play
pretty hard-nosed football.
MIKE NORVELL: There were times in the game where I
did not like the physicality that we put on display. I think
there were some good moments. There were times that
we were playing very physical but had maybe a lapse in
judgment of whether it was a gap to fit or maybe trying to
do too much that opened up a seam or an opportunity for
our opponent.
But there were definitely plays that going back and seeing
them on Saturday that I was displeased with, and then
obviously going back and watching it on film, that’s where
we are in control of that. For each player — I told the team
yesterday, there is an expectation of what it needs to look
like and making sure that you put everything that you have
into each play, even if it is after a negative. There’s going
to be times you might get beat on a play. You might have
something that you didn’t desire, you didn’t want to happen
to you. But Lord willing, you get one more play, what’s it
going to look like and how are you going to respond in that
situation.
I know we talked a little bit after the game about just the
confidence of some of our players and really in some
aspects just our team. It’s been a challenging year in a lot
of ways when it comes to that. These guys, they deal with
a lot of different things externally, internally within their own
mind of what they want it to look like, and at times when it
doesn’t, that’s where you’ve got to stay true to who you are.
You’ve got to stay true to what you believe and just put
everything that you have into controlling the next thing that
you can, and that’s the next rep, the next play, the next
practice, the next day that you have of putting everything in
and just going to get better.
I do think there’s been times where that’s been shaken a
little bit, and just to say pull-back hesitation, that’s showing
— I think that hesitation has shown up in not wanting to
have the negative or not wanting to have that experience.
That’s where you have to kind of move past that.
Nobody is in a place where we want to be right now, but
you get an opportunity to go play this game, get an
opportunity to go and compete, get an opportunity to get
better, and that’s what I’m obviously demanding and
expecting to see in all things that we’re doing.
Q. You only had eight completions against UNC, only
11 against Miami the week before. Are there ways you
guys can scheme up easier completions to get the
pass game going, and then along with that, are you
still confident in running the two-quarterback system
throughout the rest of the season?
MIKE NORVELL: You know, obviously our completions,
being able to have some balance in what we’re doing and
being able to get the passing game going, there’s a lot of
different elements that have showed up that’s kind of
limited that here the last couple weeks. There’s been times
where it’s been lack of separation in routes or just some of
the finer details of what we’re trying to do when it comes to
spacing and getting the ball out.
There’s been protection issues. There’s been times that
we’ve not been on time where we need to be, where
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maybe our eyes haven’t been exactly where they need to
be when it comes to the efficiency of the passing game.
We all get to take a part of that, and obviously as coaches,
it’s our job to put guys in a position to be able to go and to
be able to get in rhythm and to be able to go out there and
to be able to execute.
With the quarterbacks, I think both those guys have shown
moments and flashes of potential. Like I said last week,
Luke was limited and really a little unknown certainty of just
availability for the game, and so that was a part of his
week. But I think Brock did some good things in the game,
vertically pushing the ball down the field. There was
obviously some plays that he’d like to have back in the
game and some missed opportunities, and obviously Luke
had his — there were some challenging moments for him
and a couple of really good moments.
For those guys, there’s a lot of different factors when it
comes to our offense, where they can be better, where
they can obviously continue to grow, and then the people
surrounding them have to continue to support that and help
that position when we get an opportunity. To be able to
have balance in the run game, be getting that established
will obviously open up more opportunities there in the
passing game, but yeah, it’s for sure something that we
need to be more efficient in in our passing game.
Q. You mentioned that you’ve been evaluating things
and trying to figure out not just focus on now but also
look ahead to the future. What would you say to the
fans who maybe have already bought tickets for the
last few games at home but it’s still an expense and it’s
still an effort to come up here and to buy tickets in
packages for next year because they don’t know what
your plans are? How do you expect them to believe
that you’re going to make changes or do whatever
you’re going to do when they can’t see it yet?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, everything we’re doing right now
is to give our players this year for the games that they’re
coming to here at our next two home games is to do
everything we can to go put ourselves in a position to win,
to be successful, to pour into these players, to give them
an opportunity to go put on display the best of who they are
and what they’re about.
I do believe in that group, and it’s been a really tough
season. I mean, like I said, for our fan base, I understand
the frustration. There’s no fan that’s more frustrated than I
am. There’s nobody that’s pouring more into what these
players and this program than what our staff is, and I’ll
watch the work, and has it been good enough, no, it hasn’t.
We haven’t had the results that any of us desire or what
needs to be expected here.
But we are going to pour all that we have into making sure
for these games, to finish the season, it’s the best that
we’ve got and we put ourselves in a position to go achieve
success in these next three games. It all starts going on
the road this week.
On the flipside of it, I am aware of where we are, the things
that have happened, some of the things that I’m evaluating
throughout the course of the season, evaluating over the
course of the last few years of, one, why did this happen,
why have we come up short, and then what are the issues
and what can be done, changed, addressed, all of it, that’s
going to allow us to take a monumental step here this next
year and for the future of the program.
I do believe, and the guys that are in that locker room do
believe in the potential of what we have. We’ve got to do a
better job of making sure that the application of the things
that we work, the things that we train, the things that we
do, that the evaluation of the positions we’re putting guys in
and sometimes the guys that we have, where can we
improve that.
All those factors are going to, I guess, continue to be
evaluated, and then I can tell you that there’s going to be —
there’s going to be a change in what we’ve seen from this
year to this next year coming up.
But right now my entire focus is going to be on what’s
ahead for these next three games, to go be the best we
can be.
Q. A few injury questions. How is Justin Cryer? I
know that looked pretty serious on Saturday. Then
Maurice, I don’t know what his status is coming into
the week, if you think you might have him available
again this week.
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, Justin, preliminary was probably a
little bit better than what I feared, just being out there on
the field with him. But it’s going to be — he’ll be out this
week, and we’ll see what the extent of that is for the
long-term. But definitely a scary situation, going out there
and being with him.
But there was — preliminary diagnosis and things that
we’ve seen is a little bit better than what it could have
been. Obviously it’s still something that we’ll work through
with him as it moves forward, and then with the guys that
missed the game this last week, we’ll continue to evaluate
them as we jump into this week and hopefully have an
opportunity to get those guys in — Maurice and Rob were
unavailable for the game, and we’ll see what that looks like
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here this week.
Q. You talked about the quarterbacks. How hard is it
to even evaluate how well they’re playing in the game if
things aren’t going well around them?
MIKE NORVELL: Yeah, it’s really — to me, I’m watching
them. I know what they’re being asked to do. You see the
intent. You see the things that they can control and how
they are executing that. They don’t control receiver
separation. They don’t control protection all the time.
There are some things in the sacks that we gave up the
other day, there were two that are on run-pass reads that
one could have made a better decision, and another one
we didn’t get any separation and didn’t win a one-on-one
and the quarterback held the ball and got sacked.
There were also a couple times where you have coverage
opportunities and things that we can move better or just be
on time and on rhythm, and then there’s times we just got
beat up front.
You look for the quarterbacks, saying, all right, are you
controlling the things that you can control, and there’s been
a lot of plays really from both those guys where they have
made something happen when maybe there wasn’t much
there, and they’ve been able to create either an explosive
play or they’ve been able to generate a positive, and then
there’s still, like I said, times where they get to grow and
they get to be better and they get to see the importance of
maybe the efficiency of a drop or where they’re starting
their eyes or going through a progression and just all those
things for a young quarterback, those can be monumental
steps for them as they build in that confidence.
But it’s really just — you’ve got to control the things that you
can control. I get a pretty good evaluation of them.
Obviously we haven’t done well offensively, so sometimes
you’ve got to look past the immediate result to what are
they being asked to do to evaluate that position. I definitely
have been proud of the work those guys have put in, and I
think they’re both very talented young men.
Q. You mentioned your optimism overall and how you
know what this team is capable of and you see some
good things at practice. Week to week, how surprised
are you at where you guys are, or if you would have
known in July that you were going to have this
offensive line that was constantly going to have
change and receivers that couldn’t get separation,
would that have made sense if you’re going to be
dealing with that stuff to be where you’re at or would
you have had faith in the talent and the coaches you
have to overcome those challenges?
MIKE NORVELL: One, I am shocked in where we are. It
was not expected.
You look at some of the results that we’ve faced, you look
at some of the circumstances that have shown up. You go
into a season and you have a picture in your mind of what
things are going to look like. I’m not blind to it. I’m
optimistic but I also know challenges. Anybody that asked
before the season my concerns, it’s what was it going to
look like in the moment when things went well or when
things didn’t go well.
We have a very talented group that left this past year. A lot
of those guys are showing that they were really good
players in the moment and guys that have been very
productive for us in the past that are now in new roles and
new opportunities and new supporting cast of guys that are
there next to them.
I don’t think we’ve handled the negative or the defeat well
in being able to bounce back from that, and I thought
there’s been a lot of times where we’ve had guys that have
been pressing. We’ve had a good number of injuries and
we have two of our top three running backs coming into the
season were done for the year after a couple games.
We had a couple playmakers that we expected that would
have good seasons here last January that are not
available. I mean, obviously the challenges that we’ve had
on the offensive line and some of the injuries we’ve had,
it’s hard to maintain continuity there, and some parts of it
we just haven’t been good enough.
It really has been shocking some of the things that have
kind of evolved throughout this season as we’ve
experienced defeat, as we’ve lacked the progression of
what anybody wants to see.
But it’s one of those things that I don’t always have the
answer on why some of these situations or circumstances
occurred, but you continue to go to work. You continue to
try to put guys in the best position. It does look different
than what I anticipated. If you know all the challenges that
are going to show up at the back end of it, would you do a
couple things different? Would you look at a couple
different schemes or things that you can plug in? Yeah, of
course. But that’s part of going through the process of a
season, and obviously it’s not gone very well for us and just
the different elements that have showed up.
Q. Looking at two guys, L.T. and Ja’Khi, who have
been here — only a handful of guys have been here the
whole time. Obviously I’m sure this isn’t how they
imagined their last season going, yet they’re still out
there making plays. What’s that say about them and
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how much can they be an example you point to for the
younger guys of what you’re looking for?
MIKE NORVELL: Well, those guys care. I’ll tell you, for as
bad as our record is and as bad as the results have been, I
feel our team and the care that they have for each other. I
see it in their work and I see the investment of the coaches
pouring into our players and trying to connect with them
where they are and just to help them go and work to be
better.
Like I said, for players, coaches, none of it, it hasn’t
translated the way we want it to to that level, but it’s a
willingness to continue to invest. For those guys — and I
love them. They came in in that first class, and they’ve
been a huge part in helping the positive — winning 19
games in a row, winning an ACC Championship and all of
that. Even through the negative of what is now their senior
year of a result, they are pouring their hearts into this
program. They’re pouring their hearts into each other.
It’s a great example for those young players, and it’s
something that — being a part of a team, it is special.
Sometimes when you face the disappointing results, you
get to show just the amount of care that you have by what
you’re willing to continue to invest on a daily basis, and
those guys have been remarkably consistent.
You’ve had guys that have joined the program even here a
year ago. You look at guys like Malik, Sione. Those guys
are putting it on the line. They’ve only been here for a
year, and in each game and each practice, it’s definitely
something that I’m proud of those guys. Even though
they’re only going to have a year with us, they’re still
making that investment on a daily basis and they’re pouring
into the younger players that have their careers still in front
of them.
But every day counts, and every day and every moment
matters, and those relationships are important because
they’re going to last them the rest of their lives.
Q. You mentioned earlier making changes in the
off-season. Does a new recruiting calendar with the
early signing period getting moved up affect when you
make those changes, or how does the beginning of the
off-season change for you now?
MIKE NORVELL: I mean, obviously we’re going to have
signing day the week after the season ends. For us, every
game, every day, we’re recruiting. We’re having those
conversations with guys that are committed to us. We’re
having conversations with guys that we’re going after.
Man, we’re putting everything that we have into the growth
for this program. Obviously it’s all going into the players
that we have to finish this season and then it’s a focus on
where we’re going and who we’re doing it with moving
forward.
We’ve got a really good group of guys that are going to be
a part of that here in this next class, and obviously as we
continue to identify those newcomers and those guys that
are going to be joining the program, it’s all about having the
real conversations of some of the things that they can
expect and what we’re going to expect out of them.
It’s all part of the process of how we’re working through the
end of the season and preparing for what’s ahead once it’s
over.
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