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By Jordan SiglerShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberIt has been widely suggested that Florida State University did not fire Mike Norvell after a 5-7 season because the program did not have the money to pay the head coach's approximately $58 million buyout, hire an elite head coach, and fund a competitive roster for 2026.
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FSU intends to emphasize maximizing the roster in the offseason. Norvell suggested changes in staff could be coming after Saturday's 40-21 loss to Florida.
Norvell lost to Gators interim head coach Billy Gonzales on Saturday. Florida, who had been in the race to land Lane Kiffin until last week, hired Jon Sumrall on Sunday.
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The sweepstakes for Kiffin was widely reported as a three-way race between LSU, Florida and Ole Miss. However, it appears Florida State had interest in hiring Kiffin.
Per Mark Schlabach of ESPN, FSU athletic director Michael Alford tried quietly "wooing" Kiffin. Alford was the associate athletic director at USC when Kiffin worked as the tight end/wide receiver coach.
Schlabach thinks that money would not have been an issue for the Noles if Kiffin wanted to abandon Ole Miss for the ACC program.
"The Seminoles would have owed Norvell about $54 million if they fired him without cause, plus another $18 million to pay off his assistants," Schlabach wrote. "Hiring Kiffin, the hottest coach on the market, might have allowed Alford to justify spending $72 million to dismiss Norvell and his staff.
"The Seminoles' recruitment of Kiffin continued into the middle of November, according to the sources. But after it became clear Kiffin wasn't coming, FSU announced Nov. 23 that Norvell would return for a seventh season."
LSU had its own hefty buyout to deal with, only finalizing former head coach Brian Kelly's nearly $54 million buyout days before the Tigers announced Kiffin was signing a seven-year deal that will pay him $13 million annually.
Florida State appears to have been willing to make a similar bargain if Kiffin had interest. Instead, FSU is hoping Norvell can turn things around in 2026. The program had the funds to fire Norvell after this season, but only if the right replacement was ready.
If FSU had jumped the gun to fire Norvell earlier in the season, it could have been in the same shape Penn State is in.
For more on the NCAA, head to Newsweek Sports.
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