Head Coach of Florida State University’s Football Team, Seminoles

Mike Norvell | Biography

Played Wide Receiver at the University of Central Arkansas from 2001 to 2005

• By Anil Pradhan
• Update : March 22, 2022

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Mike Norvell is an American football head coach and former player. He currently serves as the head coach of Florida State University’s football team, Seminoles.

Short Bio

In Irving, USA, Michael Kelly Norvell was born on 11 November 1981. 

Norvell is an American college football coach and former professional player. He played for 10 years in the NBA. He represented the Arkansas Bears from 2001 to 2005 as a wide receiver and was the university's all-time receptions leader. Since 2006, he has been coaching and co-ordinating various college football teams.

Norvell began his coaching career in 2006 with the University of Central Arkansas’s football team, Arkansas Bears. He then served as an assistant coach and coordinator in various other colleges like Tulsa, Pittsburgh, and Arizona State before landing his first head coach job at the University of Memphis.

Beginning from 4 December 2015, Norvell joined the Memphis Tigers as the youngest coach in the nation to lead a college team at that time. Under him, the Tigers wrapped the 2016 season with an 8-5.

The record improved to 10-3 in the 2017 season and 8-6 in 2018. Norvell's best record with the Memphis Tiger came in the 2019 season as 11-1. With this, he helped the team to clinch their third consecutive appearance in the American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game.

He then left the Memphis Tigers after winning the 2019 Conference Football Championship to join the Florida State University. He began as the head coach of Seminoles on 8 December 2019 and has appeared in two seasons to date.

In his first season for Seminoles, he became the first-ever ACC head coach to win against the top-five team in the opening year.

He is a Graduate of the University of Central Arkansas

He played football throughout his college years at the University of Central Arkansas. From 2001 to 2005, he set an all-time high record as a wide receiver with a total of 213 receptions and 15 receiving touchdowns. In addition, the UCA Bears became the winner of the Gulf South Conference Championship in 2005. From UCA, he also earned his bachelor’s degree in science education.

Norvell Is Married To His Wife For 17 Years

Norvell married his wife Maria Chiolino on 18 December 2004. The couple is still together and has a baby girl named Mila. In 2021, they completed their 17 years together.

Maria’s birth year is not available on any authentic media sources. However, as per Norvell’s heartfelt birthday post on his official Twitter handle in 2019, she observes her birthday each year on 18 October. He praised his wife for her commendable role in his life as a good friend, wife, and incredible mother to his children. 

Further, he called himself a lucky man to have her in his life via the same tweet. His post read, “Happy Birthday to this beautiful young lady! Grateful to have her by my side and getting to watch her be an incredible mother, wife and friend to so many. Here’s to this being the best year ahead. #Luckyman #Grateful #HBD #TrueBeauty.”

Norvell also wished his wife her most recent birthday in October 2021. On her birthday weekend on 16 October 2021, he posted a family picture on his Instagram handle @coachnorvell. They celebrated the weekend at YOT Bar and Kitchen in South Florida. He also posted a picture of the restaurant’s custom-made birthday card for Maria Chiolino on his Twitter. Besides, he also regularly posts pictures of his wife and daughter on his social media handles.

FSU Players Threw Boycott Threat At Coach Norvell in June 2020

The wrongful death of a 46-years-old black citizen, George Floyd, on 25 May 2020 caused widespread outrage on the streets of the USA. Many personalities worldwide showed their concerns regarding the matter, and FSU coach Mike Norvell was one of them.

He referred to the situation as a heartbreaking time for every citizen in the country. Moreover, the first-year Seminoles coach, Tashan Reed, tweeted Norvell's full message about having individual and group conversations regarding the matter. His message read, 

We've had a lot of open communication with our team, our players, and our coaches. I went back and forth individually with every player this weekend. I'll continue to share with our guys the platform that they have and the opportunity that is there for them to make a difference, to be an influence, and to be able to impact our country in a positive way by the overall mindset and approach of how we treat people to how we respond in situations. I told these guys just how grateful I am to be a part of this journey with them because they are the future.

However, FSU's team captain and defensive lineman, Marvin Wilson, took to his Twitter handles and claimed his coach's statement to be false. He said that coach Norvell did not have individual conversations with team members. 

His tweet read, "Man this did not happen. We got a generated text that was sent to everybody. There was no one on one talk between us and coach. This is a lie and me and my teammates as a whole are outraged and we will not be working out until further notice."

Several other FSU players stood with Marvin Wilson and also shared his tweet. However, the issue was later resolved after a meeting with the trustees' board, coaches, and the players. 

In June 2020, Marvin Wilson again took to his Instagram and appreciated his team members and coach Norvell for their support afterward.

Fans Lashed Out At Norvell On Social Media After His Comment During The Post Match Press Conference

In September 2021, the FSU Football team suffered a brutal last-minute match loss against Jacksonville State. FSU was leading 3 points with only 6 seconds left in the game. However, Jacksonville had the ball and did something close to impossible. They ran four verticals down to win the match in just the last six seconds.

Following the loss, Norvell made a controversial statement in the post-game press conference. He said, "Ran a two deep man under, tried to get pressure on the quarterback. They still had one time out, so we didn't go to immediate prevent."

Norvell's statement after the brutal loss followed brutal reactions from the fans on Twitter. One person tweeted, "What an absolute m*r*n," While another wrote, "Lmaooo how much are they paying this reject."

A third person said, "So you put your defense in a spot that opens yourself up to the only way you can get beat because you're afraid of Jacksonville St kicking a 40-50 yard FG to force OT? You're afraid to go to OT against Jacksonville st? Man!"

Norvell is The 23rd Highest Salary Receiving College Football Coach in America

As of 2021, Norvell receives an annual salary of $3.75 million from Florida State University. However, his initial contract with the team was much higher than that. 

He signed a six-year contract with the team as the head coach in 2019 for a total of $26.5 million, which averaged at $4.4 million per year. According to USA Today's database regarding the salary of College Football coaches, he stood as the 23rd highest salary receiver in the country.

Furthermore, Norvell would make an extra $250,000 as a retention bonus each year. If his college team wins the National Championship, he gets a bonus amounting to a maximum of $800,000 and another $250,000 if they win the ACC Championship Game.

However, because of the global pandemic, he suffered a 25 percent salary reduction—around $968 thousand. It was the second-highest reduction among all the coaches in the country.

Following a six-year deal starting the 2019 season, Norvell was initially set to coach the Florida State University Football team through the 2025 season. However, in December 2021, he received a contract extension of one year from the board. It makes him the team's head coach until the end of the 2026 season.

In a press conference following the contract extension, Norvell thanked the University's Trustees board for supporting and keeping faith in him. His words were, "I am incredibly thankful to the board of trustees, President McCullough, David Coburn, and Michael Alford for their support of our climb." He then added, "This is an exciting time to be part of the Florida State program, and there are great days ahead."

Are Jay Norvell and Mike Norvell Related?

Although Mike Norvell and Jay Norvell have the same last name and are from the same profession, they are not related. 

Like Mike, Jay Norvell is a former football player and college football head coach. He is currently associated with Colorado State University's football team. Before that, he also coached The Arizona States, UCLA, Oakland Raiders, the University of Nevada, and many other college football teams.