After Alabama speculation, Florida State coach Mike Norvell signs 8-year extension

Florida State football fans can exhale.

Head coach Mike Norvell, who returned the Seminoles back to national prominence, announced Friday that he was remaining at Florida State.

Norvell, entering his fifth season, was viewed as a top candidate to replace legendary Nick Saban at the University of Alabama.

Saban announced his retirement Wednesday.

According to Yahoo Sports, Norvell and FSU have agreed on an eight-year extension which will pay Norvell more than $10 million a year.

In USA TODAY Sports' database update of head coaching salaries from last October, only five coaches made more than $10 million in total pay.

Norvell, 42, had signed an extension last February paying him an average of $7.8 million dollars per season. The deal was extended to him through December 31, 2029.

Norvell was hired as Florida State’s 14th head football coach on Dec. 8, 2019, after a successful stint as head coach at Memphis, going 38-15.

Norvell led the Seminoles to a 13-0 start and the ACC championship in 2023. Florida State was left out of the College Football Playoff and lost to Georgia 63-3 in the Orange Bowl after dozens of players opted out of the game.

Norvell was among the candidates identified by the media to replace Saban.

Saban went 206-29 during his 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide, winning six national championships (three BCS, three CFP) and nine SEC championships.

Mike Norvell, FSU football agree to new contract

Norvell's hiring started a new chapter for Florida State after head coach Jimbo Fisher left to take the head coach job at Texas A&M in 2016.

The Seminoles went 11-14 under Willie Taggart, who succeeded Fisher, and 4-2 under Odell Haggins, who was interim head coach in between coaching vacancies.

FSU went 8-13 in Norvell’s first two seasons, infamously losing to Jacksonville State in Doak Campbell Stadium, 20-17, on Sept. 11, 2021, which was the program’s first-ever loss to an FCS program.

The Seminoles went 3-6 in 2020 and 5-7 in 2021 posting back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in 1975 and 1976.

In December 2021, the Seminoles saw the top-ranked high school player in the country, athlete Travis Hunter, flip on signing day from Florida State to Deion Sanders’ Jackson State, a point in which fans were calling for Norvell to be fired.

However, things began to turn in 2022. Florida State went 10-3, posting its first 10+ win season since 2016 and defeated Oklahoma, 35-32, in the Cheez-It Bowl. It also finished the season ranked No. 11 in the AP Poll.

Mike Norvell's 2023 season at FSU football: ACC championship, CFP snub

This season, Florida State returned to among the elite in college football, posting an undefeated regular season and winning the program’s first ACC title since 2014.

Norvell led the Seminoles to Top 25 wins over LSU, Duke and Louisville. FSU also defeated Clemson for the first time since 2014 and in Death Valley for the first time since 2013.

The Seminoles fell short of College Football Playoff qualification, coming in at No. 5 in the final rankings. They were the first undefeated Power 5 team to not make the playoffs.

Mike Norvell wins Paul 'Bear' Bryant Coach of the Year Award

Norvell’s rebuilding efforts did not go unnoticed as he won the 2023 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, becoming the first FSU coach to win the award.

He also won the 2023 Dodd Trophy, which is given to the head coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.

Norvell went 31–17 overall and 19-13 in ACC play during his tenure as head coach at FSU. During his time at FSU, nine FSU football players were drafted into the NFL and several are expected to be drafted in this year’s event.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Mike Norvell, Florida State agree on deal amid Alabama coach vacancy