Florida State has made a change at the top of its football program. The university fired head coach Mike Norvell on Sunday, one day after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson dropped the Seminoles to 3-5, and named Rick Stockstill interim head coach for the rest of the season.

“We have made the decision to change the leadership of our football program,” Florida State president Richard McCullough said in a statement. “We thank Mike Norvell for his commitment and service to Florida State and wish him and his family the very best. We understand the deep passion of Seminole fans and share their high expectations for this program. We are confident in Rick Stockstill’s ability to provide steady leadership during this transition. We will conduct a thorough national search for the program’s next leader, someone who embraces Florida State’s tradition of championship athletics and our standard of excellence.”

Norvell, 45, finishes his tenure with a 41-39 overall record and a 23-30 mark in ACC play across six-plus seasons. His peak came in 2023, when Florida State went 13-1, won the ACC championship and was left out of the four-team College Football Playoff after quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury. The program never recovered from that snub: the Seminoles went 2-10 in 2024 and 5-7 in 2025, and this season’s loss to Clemson was their 17th defeat in their last 21 conference games and dropped Norvell to 10-22 since the start of 2024.

The decision is an expensive one. Norvell signed an eight-year, $84 million extension after the 2023 season, and his contract calls for him to be paid 85 percent of its remaining value, approximately $50.3 million, which would be the third-largest buyout in college football history. Defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper were also fired on Sunday as part of the shakeup.

Stockstill, 68, is a Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame quarterback who had been serving as the program’s director of scouting. He spent 18 seasons as the head coach at Middle Tennessee, going 113-111 from 2006 through 2023. His first game in charge comes Saturday, when the Seminoles visit Boston College.

The coaching search will run alongside a search for a new athletic director, after Michael Alford was fired in September. One prominent name is already off the board: Duke head coach Manny Diaz said on Monday that he is staying at Duke and will not pursue the Florida State job.

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