Florida State is 1-5! Yes, you read that correctly. The team that went undefeated last season is struggling to even get a “W” in its win column. It's a familiar story every week for Seminoles fans – high hopes for a comeback coupled with a resurgence of sorts. What do we get? Another disappointing performance. The Golden Bears have something to be angry about because they hold the unpleasant record of being the only team to lose to the Noles this season. Given all this, is there time for a change? Should Mike Norvell be afraid of losing his position? Well, Norvell may not be going anywhere, but there needs to be an overhaul, and an insider knows where to start – with the coaching staff.

Brian Smith, the presenter of the Fixed on Seminoles podcast, talked about several key positions that stink for the Seminoles. Luckily for Mike Norvell, Smith isn't starting the transition to the head coaching position. Instead, he starts with Alex Atkins, Florida State's O-line coach and offensive coordinator. The reason? Well, it has to do with recruiting and not doing his job.

Smith talks about Atkins and explains his problem with the OC. “He’s a terrible recruiter in the time I’ve seen him. Why is Armella playing, why is this guy playing? I don't know. And now he has a development problem because again he had a few people who are seniors, fifth and sixth graders, and that has regressed. How is that supposed to work? He has to go.

Smith has a point, and given Atkins' profile as an O-line coach and OC, the proof is in the execution of the offense. Aside from some impressive plays from Brock Glenn against Clemson, the offense hasn't really had a good game this season. Forget the losses; Let's take into account the Noles' only win. In their win over Cal, Florida State managed just over 300 yards of offense (just 177 passing yards). How did the O-line perform? Well, DJ Uiagalelei was sacked three times and was put under pressure throughout the game. In comparison, the losing team had over 400 yards of offense and a much better running game. It all comes down to Atkins failing to develop players.

Smith next in line? The linebackers coach: Randy Shannon. To highlight his issues with Shannon, Brian Smith didn't have to go back that much. He just watched the Clemson game. The linebacker issues have persisted all season, and one play highlighted that more than anything else.

“The linebackers were out of position, the wrong run gap kept going – what was that, a 59-yard line play for Clemson on the last play. The linebacker fills the hole, the same hole as the D-lineman, and the running back goes right behind him and runs 59 yards. Such plays happen again and again. That can't happen. He has to go,” Smith said about the Fixed on Seminoles Podcast.

The third position that needs to be upgraded as far as the coaching staff is concerned is tight ends coach. Chris Thomsen is not doing a good job, which is best demonstrated by the decline in the overall quality of players at the position. How do you manage to create a tight end room where the veteran players are terrible and the two best TEs on the team are both rookies? Ultimately it comes down to two things: recruiting and development, and Thomsen failed at both. Mike Norvell has a decision to make.

The foundation of any successful college program is recruiting. According to Smith, it's 80% recruiting and 20% development. It doesn't matter if you're a great trainer; You won't achieve anything if you recruit poorly. Just look at the successful programs in college – Michigan, Alabama, Penn State, Georgia, Ohio State – it all starts with recruiting, and then some very good coaches (which don't exist at Florida State) make those good recruits to NFL prospects. How is recruiting going for the Seminoles? Let's take a look.

A recruiting disaster for Mike Norvell's Seminoles

October has yet to bring any good news for the Florida State program. Their QB1 DJ Uiagalelei will likely be out for the rest of the season, linebacker DJ Lundy will also miss the rest of the games due to injury, and then we've had some recruiting disasters as well.

The most recent addition among the inductees who decommitted from the Seminoles after seeing them play this season was four-star WR Malik Clark. Ranks 16th among WRs ESPN For the class of 2025, Clark committed to Florida State in July. The reason for Clark's resignation? Well, there has been no official statement, but we do know that Clark was on campus when the Seminoles lost to Memphis last month.

This wasn't the only recruiting setback for Mike Norvell. The Seminoles were ranked No. 10 by AP for the 2025 recruiting class. Since then, Norvell has seen several key players resign. It started with 4-star defensive tackle Myron Charles transferring to the Longhorns. Four-star defensive end Javion Hilson also withdrew his commitment to the program.

The No. 10 ranking soon fell to No. 29, and it will fall even further as Norvell attempts a rebuild without tools to actually rebuild the program.