Before he’s even coached a game at Florida State, it appears as though Mike Norvell has suffered a loss, of sorts. Norvell, while speaking with The Athletic, claimed he had one-on-one correspondence with every member of his team regarding the murder of George Floyd and modern day race relations in America.
“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.”
However, Florida State’s best player, senior defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, was bothered by this quote; according to Wilson, this is a lie. Wilson, a team captain and a projected first round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, says the team is angry and won’t workout until a correction is made.
FSU DT Marvin Wilson, a potential R1 prospect, says new HC Mike Norvell lied about meeting with players to talk about racism
Says players are boycotting workouts until further notice
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) June 4, 2020
Norvell was hired by Florida State last December. After four seasons at Memphis, Norvell was brought in to replace Willie Taggart, who coached FSU for less than two full seasons.
Wilson’s response on Twitter came late Wednesday night; the sentiment was back, quickly, by several teammates, including star wide receiver Tamorrion Terry.
Florida State was one of the first programs to start back up with voluntary workouts, which launched on June 1.
Update: On Thursday afternoon, Novell took to his Twitter account to apologize and praise Wilson for coming forward on social media.
— Mike Norvell (@Coach_Norvell) June 4, 2020