Florida State’s reported decision to bring Tom Herman onto its staff for the 2026 season feels less like a routine addition and more like a signal. Pete Nakos and Matt LaSerre of On3 reported Monday that the Seminoles are hiring the former Texas head coach, and the timing makes the move hard to ignore.
Herman was most recently the head coach at Florida Atlantic in 2024, where he went 2-8 before being fired in the middle of the season. Before that, he spent four years at Texas and posted a 32-18 record, and he also went 22-4 in two seasons at Houston. He had previously worked as an offensive analyst for the Chicago Bears under Matt Nagy, and that is likely the kind of role he will occupy at Florida State, though no specifics had been reported as of Monday afternoon.
Still, the bigger question around the hire is not what title Herman will hold. It’s why Florida State would make this move now. The answer points straight toward Mike Norvell.
Norvell has gone 7-17 over his last two seasons in Tallahassee. Even after leading Florida State to an undefeated regular season in 2023, the College Football Playoff snub and Orange Bowl debacle did not buy him endless patience. The school’s new football facility and the renovations at Doak Campbell Stadium also played into the equation, since athletic director Michael Alford and the administration were not willing to pay Norvell’s $60+million buyout.
That number is expected to fall closer to $50 million after this season. It is still a major check to write, but the donor base largely kept its powder dry during the 2027 recruiting cycle, where Florida State has just 13 commits, so the money should be there if the school decides to move on.
And the schedule does Norvell no favors. The Seminoles face one of the toughest slates in the ACC, including a three-game stretch against Louisville, Miami, and Clemson in October after two losable games against SMU and Alabama in September.
If Florida State is serious about a midseason change, it cannot afford to let the season spin completely out of control first. That is where Herman makes sense.
He may not be the answer on the field, but he has the kind of head-coaching experience that matters when someone has to handle the week-to-week mechanics of the job. He could at least manage the Sunday-Friday part without major issues.
The timing of the hire is what makes it stand out. Fall camp has not started yet, but this kind of move still feels like stepping onto a moving train.
There is not much obvious upside for Florida State unless Herman is being lined up as the interim head coach. And that is the conclusion that keeps hanging over this report.
Herman should not be in the running for the full-time job, and he has no obvious ties to the program that would suggest he would stay beyond that assignment. In that sense, he fits the clean-break model of an interim coach. There would be no booster attachment, no player loyalty, and no messy transition like Auburn faced with DJ Durkin and Penn State encountered with Terry Smith last season.
Norvell is not guaranteed to be fired. But this reported hire is another sign that the possibility is growing louder in Tallahassee.
In Other News...
Florida State Faces A 2026 Decision That Could Define Norvells Future
Florida States 2026 season already looks like the kind that can expose every weakness in a hurry. After a 5-7 finish in 2025, Mike Norvell is heading into a year loaded with pressure, and the schedule does him few favors. The Seminoles are set to see Alabama early in the year in Tuscaloosa, a sharp reminder that one good win in Tallahassee last season will not buy much margin for error now.
The bigger issue may be whether the roster can steady itself enough to keep the year from slipping away in the middle stretch. Ashton Daniels is in line to open at quarterback, with Malachi Marshall waiting in the wings after arriving with a strong junior-college rsum, and the rest of the slate leaves little room for a slow start. Even a respectable finish could still leave Florida State staring at an uneasy conversation about where the program is headed next. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Roster Update Signals A Stronger Leaner Team Before Fall Camp
Florida States latest roster refresh offered a small but telling snapshot of where the program is headed as fall camp approaches later this month. The Seminoles updated weight changes for 53 players since spring, and the numbers suggest a team that has spent the offseason reshaping itself, with eight players adding more than 10 pounds and four trimming more than 10.
Those shifts matter because this time of year is often where depth charts start to take shape, especially when the staff is looking for a roster that is both stronger and leaner. The changes were tracked by position group and class, giving a clearer look at how the Seminoles have evolved since spring and setting up a camp period that should bring even more clarity once the pads come on. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Just Made An Early Move For A Major QB Target
Florida States second and final Elite Camp before the recruiting dead period brought a familiar kind of summer buzz to Tallahassee, but one of the more notable visitors was four-star quarterback Chandler Dyson. The 2028 prospect recently made it to campus, got a chance to throw in front of head coach Mike Norvell and quarterbacks coach Austin Tucker, and did so shortly after Florida State jumped into his recruitment.
Dyson already has a growing list of suitors, with offers from several major programs and recent visits elsewhere, so the Seminoles are still early in the process. Even so, getting him on campus this quickly after entering the mix gave Florida State a useful first impression, and it now has a chance to keep building that relationship as the recruitment develops. [Read more 🡒]