Florida State must hire a coach and an AD, with little money, after firing Norvell

Florida State has fired Mike Norvell, and the school now has to fill its two most important athletic jobs at the same time while carrying a lot of debt. The Seminoles let Norvell go on Sunday, about 12 hours after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson dropped them to 3-5. The Associated Press put his buyout at roughly $50 million, one of the largest in college football history. Norvell finished 41-39 in Tallahassee, three seasons removed from a 13-0 team that was left out of the College Football Playoff.

The school is also without a permanent athletic director, having fired Michael Alford in September. Roundtable Sports says that sets up an awkward order of events. President Richard McCullough wanted a slow, careful search for the AD, but the football calendar may not allow one. The early signing period runs Dec. 2-4, and Florida State's 14-player 2027 class is led by four-star safety TaShawn Poole. If the coach is hired first, the next AD inherits a decision they had no part in, and may lack the money to undo it if it fails. McCullough told Roundtable the money had been studied for some time and that the decision came down to a single question: "How can we afford not to do this?"

The numbers behind that question are large. Roundtable, citing ESPN's Pete Thamel, reports the athletic department was already more than $430 million in debt before the firing. It estimates the full cost could approach $100 million once Norvell's buyout, payouts to his staff, a new staff's salaries and any buyout owed to the next coach's current school are counted. Tomahawk Nation reported that Rick Stockstill, a former Florida State quarterback who has spent two seasons as director of offensive scouting, will serve as interim coach while a national search goes on. Fox News described donor pressure building as the Seminoles fell to one ACC win.

What it means for Boston College

Stockstill's first game is Saturday at Boston College on ACC Network. The Seminoles have lost three straight and four of their last five. Over the losing streak they gave up 44 points at Louisville, 43 at No. 3 Miami and 36 to Clemson. The offense has kept up, scoring 24 or more in every loss this season. The defense is the bigger issue: Florida State has allowed 36 points or more in four of its five losses, and its only ACC win was a 38-7 rout of Virginia.

The market still has Florida State as a clear favorite despite the turmoil. The Seminoles are favored at -251 on Novig and -250 at BetMGM, the best price across the 12 venues on this site's board. Boston College is +233 on Novig and as long as +240 at theScore Bet. The spread is mostly Florida State -6.5. Novig prices that side at -117, while Hard Rock Bet has it at -110. BetMGM is the one venue offering Boston College at +7, priced at -110, compared with +6.5 at even money on Novig. The total is 51.5 nearly everywhere: Novig has both sides at -108, Pinnacle has the over at -106 and FanDuel has the under at -105. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.6% to 7.0% depending on the market, so the gaps between venues are small. A team with an interim coach and three straight losses is still giving close to a touchdown.