Following Florida State’s practice on Wednesday morning, head coach Mike Norvell met with the media ahead of Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. matchup against Clemson at Death Valley.
Norvell was asked about his relationship with Dabo Swinney and suggested they have had an amicable relationship for years dating to Norvell’s days as Arizona State’s offensive coordinator from 2012-15.
“Back when I was at Arizona State as offensive coordinator, his whole offensive staff came out and talked ball,” Norvell told reporters Wednesday. “So, there was prior relationship a little bit before that. But it’s one that he’s somebody to be respected in the job that he’s done and what they have been able to accomplish.”
Norvell says there’s no bad blood between himself and Swinney stemming from the verbal spat the two coaches had last year after Florida State decided to cancel its scheduled game against Clemson on Nov. 21 just three hours before kickoff, with the Seminoles saying they did not feel safe playing the game after a Clemson player was sent home the day before after testing positive for COVID-19.
Swinney was not happy about how the situation was handled, or the fact FSU indicated it was Clemson’s fault.
Over the next week, Swinney and Norvell sparred through the local press on each side, as well as the national media. There seemed to be no love lost between the two head coaches at the time.
But Norvell implied Wednesday that’s all behind them and attributed the conflict to a couple of passionate coaches sticking up for their respective programs during a “unique” situation.
“Last year’s situation was so unique in itself, and there’s a lot of emotion,” Norvell said. “When you prepare for a game … Both sides, everybody wanted to play the game, and there’s emotional comments that get made and all of that. But everybody’s passionate about what we do, and it’s one of the reasons — his passion that he has for his program and his players, that shows up evident. It’s why they’ve had the success that they’ve had. I’m passionate for this program and the people that are in it and around it. I’ve got that too. So, that was one of those things that it was a unique situation, but it’s nothing that ever carries over, or additional thoughts.”
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