Florida State fires Mike Norvell after Clemson loss, owes 50.3 million dollar buyout Florida State fired coach Mike Norvell on Sunday, roughly 12 hours after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson, and will owe him 50.3 million dollars in buyout money. Assistant coach Rick Stockstill was named interim head coach while a search for Norvell's successor plays out. Florida State fired coach Mike Norvell on Sunday, roughly 12 hours after a 36-24 home loss to Clemson, and will owe him 50.3 million dollars in buyout money. Norvell was informed of his exit in the afternoon and then told the team, according to ESPN. The buyout is among the largest in college football history. The loss dropped Florida State to 3-5 on the season and moved the Seminoles closer to missing a bowl game for a third consecutive year. Florida State is 1-5 against Power Four programs this fall, including Saturday night's loss to Clemson in which the Seminoles were a 5-point favorite.Florida State Fires Coach Mike NorvellThousands of empty seats were visible at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. The time for change had officially arrived, with apathy boiling over within the Seminoles fanbase. President Richard McCullough met with athletic department administrators and donors over the past twelve hours to make a final decision on Norvell's future. On Sunday afternoon, the final decision was made to fire the head coach.This came just days after McCullough penned an open letter to supporters pleading with them to show up for the student-athletes over the remainder of the season. Last Tuesday, McCullough issued a statement acknowledging fans' frustration. We are not asking you to ignore the results, McCullough wrote. We are committed to changing them.And we are not asking you to believe that everything is fine. We know it isn't. Assistant coach Rick Stockstill was named interim head coach while a search for Norvell's successor plays out. Stockstill is a former Middle Tennessee head coach and currently an offensive analyst for the Seminoles.He will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season. We have made the decision to change the leadership of our football program, McCullough said. We thank Mike Norvell for his commitment and service to Florida State and wish him and his family the very best. We understand the deep passion of Seminole fans and share their high expectations for this program.Rick Stockstill Named Interim Head CoachMcCullough added: We are confident in Rick Stockstill's ability to provide steady leadership during this transition. We will conduct a thorough national search for the program's next leader, someone who embraces Florida State's tradition of championship athletics and our standard of excellence. Norvell went 41-39 in his six-plus seasons in Tallahassee, including stunning losses to then-lower-division Jacksonville State in 2021 and Memphis in 2024. He was 24-30 in Atlantic Coast Conference games since 2020.Norvell and the Seminoles are 10-22 since the start of the 2024 season, and Norvell's hand-picked quarterbacks DJ Uiagalelei, Tommy Castellanos and Ashton Daniels all struggled with accuracy. The Seminoles have not defeated one of their main three rivals Miami, Florida or Clemson since the 2023 season. His buyout is roughly 47 million dollars, which is 85% of his remaining salary through the end of his contract that runs through the 2031 season.His contract does include offset language that would mitigate some of the buyout if he lands another job. Norvell was scheduled to make 10.3 million dollars in 2026. Buying out his assistants would push the buyout far past 50 million dollars. The combined buyouts for Maryland's Mike Locksley, N.C.Norvell Tenure Ends After High And Low PointsState's Dave Doeren and Baylor's Dave Aranda are less than Norvell's total. The high point of Norvell's tenure came three years ago when Florida State went 13-0 during the regular season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. But because of Jordan Travis' season-ending injury, the Seminoles were controversially left out of the College Football Playoff field. That run landed Norvell a new contract.The Seminoles did win 19 consecutive games between the middle of the 2022 season and the ACC title game in December 2023. Norvell, 45, had previously served as the head coach of Memphis for four years before arriving at FSU in 2020. After he was on the hot seat, there were rumors and reports of Jimbo Fisher wanting a second stint with the Seminoles in the event they fired Norvell.Florida State has mostly struggled since 2015, going 44-49 under Jimbo Fisher, Willie Taggart and Norvell. Even with a competitive player-acquisition budget compared to ACC schools, Florida State won just five Power Four games in the last two and a half seasons. The Seminoles suffered back-to-back losing seasons, going 2-10 in 2024 and 5-7 last season, which led to fans calling for his ouster.FSU Hires New Athletic Director Alongside Coach ExitAdding to the ongoing problems at FSU, the school announced in September that athletic director Michael Alford was being fired, creating a conundrum for school officials who were hoping Norvell would win enough games this season to gain enough support from fans to return in 2027. Florida State is hiring a new AD while also making the move on Norvell.Social media had a field day this weekend over a plane flying a banner that called for the school to fire Norvell, even if it incorrectly spelled the head coach's name. Florida State's opening is now the fourth among Power Four schools. Florida State (3-5, 1-4 ACC) plays at Boston College (4-4, 2-3) on Saturday. AP Sports Writer Mark Long contributed.