Florida State fans have made their displeasure impossible to miss this season, and ahead of the Seminoles’ Halloween matchup with Clemson, they took that frustration to the air.
A plane flew over Doak Campbell Stadium carrying a banner aimed at the football program, but the message came with a glaring mistake. The sign read, “FSU: Fire Novell + Peter Collins!”
The intended target was head coach Mike Norvell. Collins, who serves as the university’s Board of Trustees chair, also cannot be fired.
The plane ride was funded by fans through a GoFundMe campaign that brought in $3,500, enough to get the banner airborne, though not enough to catch the typo before it went up.
The protest comes amid a rough stretch for Florida State, which enters the Clemson game at 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. The Seminoles are 10-21 over the last three seasons and have not won away from Doak since 2023.
Fan frustration has spilled far beyond the stadium. Supporters have flooded social media, emailed and called university leadership, and the pressure prompted a response from FSU president Richard McCullough.
He said in a statement on X that the university knows the results have not been good enough, then expanded on those comments during an Oct. 30 Board of Trustees meeting.
For now, there has been no decision on Norvell’s future as Florida State gets ready to face Clemson. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will air on ACC Network.
Florida State’s schedule shows the season’s uneven path so far, with wins over New Mexico State, Central Arkansas and Virginia, and losses to SMU, Alabama and Miami in double overtime. The Seminoles now move into a stretch that includes Clemson, Boston College, Pittsburgh, NC State and Florida.
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Florida State's Mike Norvell Backlash Just Turned Into A Public Spectacle
The pressure around Mike Norvell has moved well beyond message boards and postgame grumbling. Florida States recent struggles have spilled into the public eye, capped by a viral plane banner that flew over Doak Campbell Stadium with a misspelled message aimed at the coach, a vivid sign of how far the frustration has spread around a program that has not finished with a winning season in three years.
Florida State is sitting at 3-4 this season, and the noise around Norvell only grows louder with each setback. The Seminoles already fired their athletic director in September, and the president has addressed the fan unrest as the school weighs a situation made more complicated by Norvells eight-year extension through 2031 and the hefty buyout attached to any firing. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Fans May Send A Brutal Message Against Clemson
Frustration has been building around Florida State football, and it is starting to spill beyond the record itself. Seminoles fans have grown restless with the programs performance under Mike Norvell, while some are also unhappy with how the university has handled his tenure, creating a tense backdrop as Clemson comes to town.
The matchup carries extra weight because Florida State has not beaten Clemson at home since 2014, and the current losing streak has only sharpened the mood. Now there is speculation that some fans could stay away from the game altogether, a message that would land as much with the administration as with the team, especially with the financial stakes of any future move on Norvell hanging over the program. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Now Faces A Brutal Mike Norvell Decision
Mike Norvells tenure at Florida State has reached a point where the numbers around him matter almost as much as the results on the field. Now in his seventh season, he has a 41-39 record with the Seminoles, and the school backed him with an eight-year extension in 2024 that runs through 2031 and pays roughly $10 million to $11 million annually.
That leaves Florida State staring at a costly decision if it chooses to move on after the Oct. 31 game against Clemson. The buyout would land around $47.1 million, one of the largest in college football history, though that figure could come down if Norvell lands another coaching job. For a program trying to balance urgency with financial reality, the timing makes the next step especially complicated. [Read more 🡒]