TALLAHASSEE (www.sportsdayjax.com) – Florida State head coach Mike Norvell is one of 21 coaches across the country named to the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Preseason Watch List.
Norvell enters his fourth season leading the Seminoles, who are a consensus top-10 team heading into the 2023 season following last year’s 10-3 campaign that included wins over SEC Western Division champion LSU, in-state rivals Miami and Florida, and a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma. FSU was ranked 10th in the final Coaches Poll and 11th in the final AP poll.
Statistically, the 2022 team was among the nation’s best in multiple categories in all three phases. FSU was the only team to lead its conference in both total offense and total defense and was one of two teams nationally to average at least 270 passing yards and 210 rushing yards per game. The Seminoles, along with Alabama and Georgia, were one of only three teams to rank in the top-15 in yards per play on offense and defense. Those three teams were also the only ones ranked in the top-20 in total defense, scoring defense, total offense and scoring offense.
Florida State led the country with an average of 7.46 plays of at least 20 yards per game and ranked second nationally with an explosive play differential of +7.41. The defense was fourth in the country in passing defense, and FSU was one of six teams nationally to rank in the top-25 in kickoff return and punt return average. Florida State led the ACC in passing defense, third-down offense, yards gained per pass, yards gained per play, yards gained per rush, total offense per game, yards per completion, yards allowed per pass, rushing offense per game, yards allowed per play, total defense per game and scoring offense per game.
The 2022 team also garnered many accolades for its production on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Dillan Gibbons became the program’s first Wuerffel Trophy winner and earned the Jim Tatum Award as the ACC’s top senior scholar-athlete while also being one of three first-team All-ACC performers. Florida State had 15 total all-conference selections, plus the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year, and a program-record 10 Academic All-ACC selections. Florida State’s most-recent multi-year APR score of 972 was its highest since the metric was introduced, and its single-year APR score of 981 was the second-best in school history.
Managed by Peach Bowl, Inc. and presented by PNC Bank, The Dodd Trophy, college football’s most coveted national coaching award, celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.
The watch list was created through a selection process by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc., taking into consideration each program’s graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate (GSR), commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2023 season and Academic Progress Rate (APR). Coaches named to this year’s preseason watch list were required to have an APR higher than 980.
Florida State opens its 2023 season in primetime on Sunday, Sept. 3, vs. LSU. The season opener kicks off inside Camping World Stadium in Orlando at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ABC.