We have only one day until the return of ESPN’s GameDay and football kickoff extravagances. I can still smell the freshly mown grass watered by the early morning dew, and feel salty sweat stinging eyes, and the total body ache and bruising before barbaric Two-A-Days were banned. As a mid-teenager, football camp pleased my parents in two respects: (1) it exhausted the adolescent energy that could have otherwise landed me in more trouble, rendering me a napping couch potato between late summer practices; and (2) I learned to eat anything (even liver) if it was smothered with enough salt. I also learned how to persevere, train long and hard for no pay, occasionally encourage other teammates, and recover after the agony of defeat.

The long, dark night of the football soul is finally almost over. It dawns. . . in Dublin.

College Football, for those who do not have the time or care to follow, spans fourteen weeks in the regular season. That regular season begins Labor Day weekend, but for any who need a fix, there are a few early games in “Week Zero.” The major game on August 24 occurs, of all places, not in a massive Big Ten or SEC stadium, but at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, for the Aer Lingus Classic.¹

Coach Mike Norvell is leading an upstart Florida State (FSU) program against Georgia Tech in this year’s edition of the Aer Lingus Classic. This storied Tallahassee program, once populated by players like Deion Sanders, Heisman quarterback Chris Weinke, Charlie Ward, Warrick Dunn, and Fred Biletnikoff, fell on rough times following the retirement of Bobby Bowden’s, who had coached there for decades. After a series of hires that did not work out, in December of 2020—weeks before Covid—Florida State lured a new head coach who had led a smaller college program to new heights. FSU hired Norvell, a fast riser with four successful seasons at Memphis, gambling on a very young coach from a smaller conference.

Before He Was Coach Norvell: Disciplers

Norvell’s story is especially worthy of overview as a demonstration of the importance discipling and mentorship have in forming a successful program (or a faithful church!). Several coaches in Norvell’s teenage years mentored him. David Reese (later head football coach at Monte Vista Christian School in California) was an early discipler of Norvell. Like other the fine coaches back in the day, if a player needed a ride home after practice, Coach Reese doubled as an uber for young Norvell. He and his wife would even provide a second home occasionally.²

Norvell played for Coach Reese at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas, as a sophomore. The head coach at Grace Prep was former NFL tight end Mike Barber. From Coach Barber, who also led a prison ministry, Norvell learned spiritual disciplines. Norvell says he was a “sponge” around this strong Christian. Before starting college, Norvell the wunderkind actually became an assistant coach at Grace Prep at the age of seventeen.

He later became the all-time receiving leader at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas, playing from 2001–05.

Growing to Become Head Coach

Norvell began his coaching career at his alma mater in Conway before heading to a larger program, at first as a grad assistant (to Gus Malzahn) at the University of Tulsa, while his wife remained working in Arkansas. His pay (under $500/month) only allowed him to sleep on a couch in the locker room and commute back to Arkansas. Shortly after, his wife joined him in Tulsa. Following that, he became the offensive coordinator at Pitt under Coach Todd Graham for a year, after which he followed Graham to lead the offense at Arizona State. He was elevated to assistant head coach at ASU in 2014, likely an attempt to keep this fast riser on the coaching staff. Norvell was not unwilling to start with the small things.

He was, nevertheless, lured by the University of Memphis, a mid-major program at the end of 2015. His predecessor had led the Memphis Tigers to new levels, and Coach Norvell—then with a Memphis base salary that was $1.8M above his starting University of Tulsa salary—continued that D1 program’s improvement, becoming one of the rising prospects for larger schools. His tenure at Memphis led to a 35-15 record, along with a conference championship in 2019 and a Cotton Bowl birth—the first ever for a Memphis team.

Disciplers disciple. Norvell hired another very young coach, Dan Lanning, who worked his way up to become defensive coordinator at Memphis before he turned thirty. The University of Georgia scooped Lanning up, first as linebacker coach and later as defensive coordinator. During his years at Georgia, they won a national championship and featured one of the finest college defenses in memory. Lanning, like Norvell, was preparing players for the NFL.

Lanning speaks glowingly of how well Coach Norvell treated him and his family, especially while his wife struggled with cancer: family came before coaching, a priority that Norvell and Lanning would cultivate. None of that, however, diminished the pursuit of excellence.³

Lanning, gleaning lessons from Norvell (with whom he coached at ASU) and from his earlier coaches (Reese and Barber) was hired to a major PAC-12 program at Oregon when he was thirty-five. His first season also started rough, but by his third year Oregon (now in the Big-However-Many Conference) is the co-favorite for that conference and ranked #3 in pre-season polls.

In December 2019, Norvell accepted the job at Florida State University (FSU), a tradition-rich program, once led by Bobby Bowden, who was also vocal about his Christian testimony.

His first two years at FSU were rough. College Football fans of elite programs—almost as hard to keep happy as some churches—are often impatient with a new coach, wanting championship success immediately if not sooner. But Coach Norvell inherited a program in disarray, during a pandemic, and with a new transfer Portal and a new payment method for athletes. He stuck to his methods, however, and the fan base gave him time. Note to pastors and churches: try the same!

FSU improved in 2022 with a 10-3 record and won their conference in 2023 with an impressive 12-0 record, making it to the Orange Bowl, although there were howls (“disgusting” was Norvell’s term) that the undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion did not make it to the College Football Playoff that season. Coach Norvell, still only 43, won the Paul Bear Bryant Coaching award in 2023, as well as ACC coach of the year.

What Drives his Desire to Develop Character?

In the off-season, Norvell continued to build and brought in another top recruiting class (#13 in the ESPN rankings), supplementing its previous year’s top ten recruiting class. But Coach Norvell is not only about winning and building players. He also seeks to develop and build his coaches. Bobby Bowden would be smiling.

Coach Norvell teaches his team to focus on the little things: “I never want to have a wasted day,” he says, adding, “Don’t focus just on yourself but who you can impact. Help change lives.” This sounds reminiscent of Philippians 2:1–4, of “be faithful in the little things,” of how God may work with a still small voice, and of how we live one day at a time.⁴

Values, commitment, mentors, and training still ground winning teams.

So enjoy the Dublin classic if you can. It is an Hors d’oeuvre. Enjoy!

Notes

1. Aviva Stadium seats 48,000 and is the home of the Irish Rugby Football Union.
2. Tom Schad, “Team Norvell: From mom to mentors to wife Maria, Tiger coach has had plenty of help along the way,” The Commercial-Appeal, September 1, 2016.
3. Griffin McVeigh, “Dan Lanning speaks to Mike Norvell’s impact on his career,” Oregon Ducks, May 1, 2024.
4. For part of Norvell’s testimony—and if you are looking for strong, male role models—see (and watch with some young athletes) FCA FL Region 14, “FCA Virtual Huddle with Coach Mike Norvell,” YouTube, June 12, 2020. Begin at the 12:00 mark.

©David Hall. All Rights Reserved.

---

RESOURCES

• Subscribe To The Heidelblog!
• The Heidelblog Resource Page
• Heidelmedia Resources
• The Ecumenical Creeds
• The Reformed Confessions
• The Heidelberg Catechism
• Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008)
• Why I Am A Christian
• What Must A Christian Believe?
• Heidelblog Contributors
• Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to

Heidelberg Reformation Association
1637 E. Valley Parkway #391
Escondido CA 92027
USA
The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

---

Post authored by:

• David Hall

  

  Reverend David W. Hall is married to Ann, and they are parents of three grown children and grandparents of eight grandchildren. He has served as the Senior Pastor of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA) since 2003. Previously, he served as Pastor of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (1984–2003) and as Associate Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Rome, Georgia (1980–1984). He was ordained to pastoral ministry in 1980. He was educated at Covenant Theological Seminary and is the editor and author of several volumes.

  More by David Hall ›