Getty Image / James Gilbert
Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell has taken the high road instead of stooping to the level of his detractors.
Speaking at ACC Media Day, Mike Norvell addressed a comment from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey where Sankey claimed the Georgia Bulldogs had the most legitimate claim to being snubbed from the College Football Playoffs and not the Seminoles. During a radio appearance last week, Sankey said “you didn’t see us jumping up and down and complaining and hanging national championship banners.”
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey was clearly speaking directly about the Florida State Seminoles who went undefeated in the regular season, won the ACC championship, but were snubbed from the College Football Playoffs due to the season ending injury sustained by quarterback Jordan Travis. FSU head coach Mike Norvell addressed Greg Sankey’s comments, ESPN’s David Hale reports:
“I don’t disagree that Georgia was one of the top four teams if you’re judging off talent and ability, but they also earned their loss,” Norvell said. “That was part of the result of what happened on the field. When you look at our team and what it was, we controlled the things we could control, we unfortunately had an injury, but we had a team that responded to it. Everybody can have an opinion of what happened. I don’t disagree they were one of the four best teams, but what happened on the field kept them out of the playoff.”
For the record, the Seminoles have not hung any national championship banners. It’s unclear if Sankey is thinking about UCF or if he is under the impression that the Seminoles have claimed a national championship (they didn’t) but that part of Sankey’s comment was patently false. As an FSU alum and lifelong Seminoles fan I was as angry as anyone about the snub but I’d be equally as embarrassed if my alma mater undeservedly hung a national championship banner.
Norvell’s comments come just days after Greg Sankey suggested there isn’t a place in the SEC for Clemson and FSU should those schools find a way through lawsuits to exit the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Also made clear at ACC Media Days was how being snubbed from the College Football Playoffs is still very much weighing on the Florida State Seminoles. Junior DL Patrick Payton (6’5″, 254lb) told the media “we’ll be 50 or 60 and still thinking about it.”
However, just because the Seminoles were snubbed by the College Football Playoffs after going undefeated last season it doesn’t mean that will cloud their vision going forward. With the playoffs expansion going into place the ACC is now guaranteed a playoff berth and history won’t ever repeat itself. And Seminoles OL Darius Washington told the media “All that [playoff] stuff is over with now and we have a whole new team to worry about. What happened last year hurt us, but if we keep whining about it now, it ain’t going to [help us].”
The Noles lost a LOT of talent to the NFL after last year’s undefeated season but look to come back strong and ESPN has them ranked #11 in their post-spring preseason rankings. But they are favored to win the ACC in the upcoming season:
It remains to be seen if the CFP snub will provide a spark the Noles need to repeat last season’s success but Coach Mike Norvell has certainly affirmed himself as one of the top coaches in the nation both on and off the field with results and diplomatic comments like the ones above.