Rick Stockstill will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season. Yahoo Sports describes him as a former quarterback, an FSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and the program's director of scouting for offense. The school will run a national search for a permanent coach, the program's 12th full-time head coach since 1947, according to 247Sports.

Norvell, hired from Memphis in December 2019, was in his seventh season and finished with a 41-39 record at Florida State. His teams went 10-3 in 2022, then went unbeaten in the 2023 regular season and won the ACC championship, which earned him multiple Coach of the Year awards, per Yahoo Sports. The Tallahassee Democrat notes that FSU missed the College Football Playoff despite that undefeated regular season. The program then went 2-10 in 2024 and 5-7 in 2025. Since the start of 2024, Norvell was 10-22 overall and 4-17 in the ACC. His career record as a head coach is 79-54 over 11 seasons.

The slide had other markers. Yahoo Sports reports a 13-game road losing streak, with the last road win coming November 25, 2023, and a 2027 recruiting class ranked 38th, down from 12th in 2024. White's defense allowed 24.7 points per game over 20 games and gave up more than 35 points in four of the five losses this season. ESPN attributes the decline to poor coaching hires, on-field missteps and roster-building failures, particularly a transfer-reliant model that could not sustain success.

The decision came with complications, according to 247Sports. Many of those making it liked Norvell, the buyout is large, and FSU had the option of spending more on the roster. Before the firing, FSU administration and industry sources had speculated that Norvell could return in 2027. Discussions among the administration and boosters ran overnight into Sunday morning. The school has no active athletic director; Michael Alford was fired in September.

The buyout is reported at $47.1 million by the Tallahassee Democrat, citing USA TODAY Sports, and at roughly $50 million, or 85% of the remaining compensation, by 247Sports and Yahoo Sports. FSU can pay it monthly through 2032. Under his contract, Norvell must seek a market-rate salary immediately, and any new pay reduces what FSU owes. The accounts differ on the contract itself: 247Sports says five full seasons remained, while Yahoo Sports describes an eight-year, $84 million deal signed in 2024.

ESPN lists Wake Forest's Jake Dickert, Duke's Manny Diaz, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, SMU's Rhett Lashlee, former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz and New Mexico's Jason Eck as possible candidates. Yahoo Sports adds Louisville's Jeff Brohm, Minnesota's PJ Fleck and Memphis's Charles Huff, among others. ESPN says the next coach will compete for recruits with in-state rivals Mario Cristobal at Miami and Jon Sumrall at Florida, and will need to keep players such as receiver Micahi Danzy, who has 1,342 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns, and running back Ousmane Kromah, who has 609 rushing yards.

Stockstill's first game is Saturday at Boston College. FSU plays at Pitt on November 13.