FSU Set to Rock College Football 1 Year After Jimbo Fisher’s $77.6m Buyout With Mike Norvell’s Record Numbers

Time for Florida to upgrade to a new name- Sunshine State to Buyout State. The upgrade is the need of the hour since both FSU and Florida Gators are in great soup. Well, going by the speculations, they are seeking Mike Norvell and Billy Napier’s replacements. It has been only one year that the world of college football has been stunned by the massive Jimbo Fisher buyout.

Now it’s Florida’s turn to gain the limelight but this time not for good reasons. Instead, the FSU HC Mike Norvell’s buyout will be a financial burden for the team. On the other hand, Gators HC Napier’s path ahead gets more challenging with top recruits on the verge of jumping out of the Florida wagon.    

Mike Norvell under fire after 0-3 season kickoff

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The Texas A&M tried to lure away Fisher back in 2017 when he was in Florida State. The Aggies offered the HC as much as $75 million. But it did cost them hard as in year 6, they decided to part ways with the HC for which they had to shell out $77.6 million. While Florida was happy to find out how their ex-HC gave Texas A&M a hard time, now it’s time for them to endure the pain. As per the sources FSU owes Norvell $65million in case they decide to carry forward with a new HC.

Is Mike Norvell the best thing to happen to FSU football since Jimbo Fisher?

However, they have no other options whatsoever. On Saturday, September 14, the Seminoles became the first preseason top-10 team to start the season 0–3. And for this, no one other than Norvell is held responsible. The FSU HC lost 10 players to the NFL. But he did try to mend the loss and came up with an $18 million worth NIL collective. Sadly, that too failed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

With this, the Seminoles are in a dilemma. Keeping Norvell will keep them tangled in their woes while losing out on him would leave them run out of fortune. Well, no worries, they’re not alone—their in-state rivals, the Gators, are feeling the pinch with buyouts too.

Billy Napier’s third year at Florida could be his last

The Gators HC Napier is all set to move into his third year as a coach. But things are very likely to come to an end soon for Napier as the HC. As per the sources, Florida has already gathered the money to fund his buyout. Back in 2021, the program ran after the hottest name in college coaching as the HC was coming off fresh from 40-12 in four seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette. However, never in their wildest dreams did the Gators think that they would wait for the time to drop Napier from their shoulders.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Going by the reported figure, Florida would owe him $26 million in case they fired him. However, they are ready to go to such limits, particularly after their alarming 20-33 loss against Texas A&M. Besides, Napier has somehow lost the trust of the top recruits like DL Jalen Wiggins, and WR Naeshaun Montgomery among others.

On3 analyst Steve Wilfong came up with the reason as well, “It’s not good right now for them because there’s just a lot of doubt of the direction of this program now moving forward.” The Sunshine State is so desperate for a top contender, that they are all ready to empty their banks to seek replacements for Mike Norvell and Billy Napier. 

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}