Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell after losing the game Oct. 11, 2025 to the Pittsburgh Panthers at Doak S. Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images

After stunning the Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 1, things have gotten much, much worse than many could have anticipated for the Florida State Seminoles, and this week may have seen them hit a new low.

The Seminoles, led by head coach Mike Norvell, dropped their fourth straight game to fall to 3-4 on the season, a far cry from the potential turnaround that this team showed after jumping out to a 3-0 start.

This loss came at the hands of Stanford, a Power Four team that has been struggling mightily all season. This loss also moves Florida State to 0-4 in ACC play, which continues an extremely unsettling trend. The Florida State Seminoles have lost nine consecutive conference games, dating back to September of the 2024 season.

The question for Florida State and its fans has to be whether they can continue with Mike Norvell as their head coach. It may not be as simple as firing him and moving on, though.

Should Florida State want to try and move on from Norvell, they are going to be between a rock and a hard place with the financial side of things.

While Mike Norvell is just the No. 45 highest-paid coach in college football with a total yearly pay of $5.65 million, the Seminoles are stuck with a massive contract buyout if they want to move on.

Mike Norvell would be owed $58.67 million from Florida State in a contract buyout, as data from USA TODAY Sports shows. That contract buyout is the sixth-largest buyout in all of college football, trailing only Georgia's Kirby Smart, Ohio State's Ryan Day, Alabama's Kalen DeBoer, Texas' Steve Sarkisian, and Clemson's Dabo Swinney.

Florida State may want to move on from Mike Norvell. Can the Florida State Seminoles afford to move on from Mike Norvell?

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Florida State stuck between a rock and a hard place with Mike Norvell contract buyout

Reporting by Riley Donald, College Sports Wire / College Sports Wire

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