Home turf: Inside the family dynamics that make Mike Norvell a football force on the field (2024)

From 'Wife Walk Wednesday' to 'softball fever,' here's how FSU football coach balances family and the field

Mike Norvell's first two seasons at Florida State have provided the fan base a fairly clear look at who he is as a football coach.

An often passionate, occasionally intense man who cares deeply about his players. A well-renowned offensive tactician who has improved the Seminoles' roster considerablyfrom the messy situation he inherited.

But who is Norvell away from football?

As it turns out, he's a movie-lovingsoftball dad, a devoted husband and someone who blends family and work despite the long, hard hours that are demanded of football coaches at this level.

Before his thirdseason at FSU begins next month, Norvell, his wife Maria and their 8-year-old daughter Mila welcomed the Tallahassee Democrat into their house.

The candid conversation focused onwho he is and how he balances being FSU's head coach and maintaining a healthy family dynamic.

"When I come home, I just try to be home and be intentional. That's a hard balance and even forour marriage,you have to make that choice to do that," Norvell said.

"At points, I've done a better job of that than others, and that's something that we really try to do as a family is just to be intentional in what we're building. In family, marriage,impacting our coaches' families, youhave to be intentional to do that or you miss out onso many great things."

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Coincidences lead to a connection and a fateful Fazoli's dinner

Norvelland Maria met when they were both students at the University of Central Arkansas in the early 2000s.

He was a standout receiver on the Bears' roster when they were a Division II force, winning 33 games over his four seasons.

She wasn't really a football fan.

"That was one of the things that was working against me the most," Mike jokes of his football career when it came to Maria.

The pair began dating early in Mike's time at UCA after a few earlier coincidences brought them together.

One of his good friends, a fellow wide receiver, met Maria first in a physical education class.

"He was like, 'Man, I've found the love of my life.' We were just joking around, talking. He was like, 'She's beautiful, tall, athletic. This is the one,'" Mike said.

"One day, we're walking across campus and walking towards us is this girl, she had two pigtail-looking braids on each side and my buddy Jelani goes, 'There she is,' as Maria walked by us. I looked at him and said, 'Dude, you have no chance. She's like three inches taller than you. That's not going to work.'

"That was the first time I saw her."

But that wasn't how the pair met.

Instead, they formally met when Norvell became close friends with Maria's roommate, who played basketball at UCA. That evolved into a group of friends who all enrolled in the same ballroom dancing class at school.

One night, Maria's roommate was supposed to join her and Norvellfor dinner, but was taking her time getting ready and they got tired of waiting.

"Kelseywas taking forever and Maria and I were like,'Let's just go.' Wewent to Fazoli's, fast food Italian, and we were there for two or three hours just talking," Norvell said.

"From that point, we ended up on a couple of dates and here we are20 years later now. Pretty wild."

When asked what Norvellwas like when they met, Maria remarked that he was quite similar to how he is now.

Energetic, engaging and extremely passionate about football.

"Whenever we got to hang out and talk, he just was genuine and funny and everything that was comfortable to me. We became friendsso easily that it was just seamless..." Maria said.

"I loved watching him play, and he played so hard through so many injuries. It was hard to watch sometimesbecause he would get hurt and it was hard for me to see it, but then he would just go right back out. He played through some major pain."

After a promising freshman season, Norvell broke his collarbone in the final preseason scrimmage before his sophom*ore season.Since the redshirt rule was different then and any player who got on the field after the first four games was ineligible for one, he was informed he would be sidelined for the entire 2002 season.

A broken collarbone leads to a black lab and a walk down the aisle

Although it was fairly early in them dating, Maria knew how tough this would be for him and bought him a black lab puppy, which he named Maddy.

"It was actually one of the best things (for me), because I had gonethrough my entire career since five years old and never had missed a game. I had not missed any time..." Mike said.

"It was hard for me.I was still helping and coaching and doing all things I could do with my teammates. But Maria got me a dog for my birthday and it was the best thing for me because it gave me something else to kind of take my mind off not playing. It was probably the best trained dogthat you can ever imagine becauseI went all in oncoaching a dog."

They were dating at the time of the infamous corn rows picture, but that's not the hairstyle Mariaremembers most from her early time dating Norvell.

"He had really big curly hair, like an afro type of hair, tons of curly hair. I did not want him to cut it. I thought it was awesome..." Maria said.

"(The corn rows) was like a two-week stretch of his life, he keptthem for the pictures. It was funny. And now, it's everywhere, it's so crazy, peoplestill ask me about it. He didn't wear his hair like that on a regular basis. It was nothing. It was no big deal and there was no Facebook,there was nothing that would make youthink, 'Oh, that picture is going to just keep resurfacing.'"

The story behind the photo: Florida State coach Mike Norvell explains viral picture of him with cornrows

She graduated before he did and went on to working towardamaster's degree at Arkansas-Little Rock. However, she remained in Conway, Arkansas,with him and they got engaged on New Year's Eve in 2003.

They were married a year later, in time for the final year of his playing career at UCA.

She still may not have had extensive football knowledge at that point, but she couldn't help but be impressed with how he shined in that setting.

"I didn't know much of what I was watching, but I could just see his confidence andhis dedication to learning things," Maria said. "I just trusted in what he saw on the field and what he knew was right.I still feel that way today. It's just a natural gift.

To show their appreciation for UCA, they gave back in a major way.

TheMichael and Maria Norvell Nutrition Center opened on campus in 2016, providing proper healthy nutrition to theschool's approximately 400 student-athletes.

Along comes Mila and 'softball fever'

While Norvell and Maria were married before his playing career ended, they didn't have Mila for quite a few years.

Instead, he was quickly rising up the coaching ranks from graduate assistant at Central Arkansas and then Tulsa to position coach at Tulsa to co-offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh.

It wasn't until two years into his tenure as Arizona State offensive coordinator that Mila was born in 2014.

As Mila sits between her parents on their living room couch, the love betweenthem is evident. She processes these stories about her parents, some of which she has heardand some she clearly has not from her reactions.

Norvell, who is known as Michael or Daddy at home, has hisarm draped around his daughteras he talks about how he's changed in the eight years since becoming a father.

"Before Mila was born, I don't know how many times Maria ever saw me cry. I just didn't," Norvellsaid.

"Ever since she was born, we'll watch a Disney movie and I'm sitting there and she'll be like, 'Are you crying again?'"

"He cries at like every movie," Mila weighs in, outing her dad.

Which Disney movies in particular affect him?

' 'Coco', 'Encanto,' basically any of them," Norvellsaid.

"If there is a family and there is a father-daughter part of it, it's over."

Mila also enjoys doing gymnastics, playing basketball with her dad and playing Buck off, Horsey, where hepretends to be a horse and buck her off his back. Shedoesn't as much care for the walks the family goes on with their dog, Max.

More recently, he saw a real glimpse of that athletic desire in Milathat he possessed growing up in the wake of her first trip to see an FSU softball game.

That fated first game was FSU's walk-off win over rival Florida this past season. She made a return trip for a few games of FSU's home NCAA Regional and got the chance to meet the team that weekend.

"We came home and started playing catch. The first thing she does is she gets up andshe starts rolling the ball just like (FSU pitcher) Kat (Sanderco*ck) does," Norvellsaid.

"It was like, 'Oh yeah, we've got one.'"

This has since evolved into what he calls "softball fever" in Mila. She got a bat and bases for her birthday, attended FSU softball camp this summer and has aspirations of playing for the Seminoles one day.

She says she wants to either pitch or play third base. While she loves FSU catcher Michaela Edenfield, she's heard that playing catcher makes your knees hurt.

"She's already looking atinjuries and stuff," Norvell said and laughed.

The daughter of a coach, indeed.

When time permits, the Norvells like to get away to the cabin on a lakein Northwest Arkansas they bought while at Memphis. The beach is also a popular destination for them.

They understand they may not have the time some other families have due to his busy schedule. But when the opportunity presents itself, they definitely make the most of it.

'Wife Walk Wednesday' and switch from football to family mode

If one needs proof of how Norvell blends such a hectic work life with family time, look no further than his "Wife Walk Wednesday" tradition.

Each Wednesday during football season, Maria is out at practice, joined by Mila when she isn't in school. After practice, they head to lunch, taking a step away from what can no doubt feel like a constant grind.

Throughout the calendar year, seeing wives and children of FSU football staff members out at practiceis a common occurrence. It's an important balance not just for his own life, but also as an example for the rest of his staff.

"As a coach coming up, there's a lot of sacrifice when it comes to time," Norvell said.

"There are a lot of times that I miss outwith Mila and Maria just because of the job, whether it's on the road, the long hours. Havingthem a part ofwhat we do (is important)... Because especially Mila as she's growing up, I'd neverwant her to resent what I do."

While Maria and Mila are happy to be able to visit campus somewhat frequently, it's always a bit of a culture shock seeing how different he is in that football environment.

"When I go to (football) things and he kicks it in and all of a sudden gets really loud, it's like, 'What? Who is that?' He's not like that at all at home..." Maria said.

"He's just very fun, funny, light-hearted, very sweet. Totally different. He'll still be intense, but not in a coaching kind of way but in a fun way."

Norvell says he's always had a natural switch he's been able to flip between football and family mode.

He enjoys his work, but also aims to maximize his time at home and serve as that example for his staff members.

To help in this effort, the Norvells regularly host gatherings at their home where they invite over FSU football staff members and their families for large get-togethers.

Similarly, members of the team regularly visit the Norvell house.

Mila's favorite players are quarterbacks Jordan Travis and Gino English.

"She loves Gino English, he'sa great example," Norvell said. "He came over with the team andjust spent time actuallyplaying and having fun and showed her some soccer tricks and now he's a favorite player of hers."

"Also, we had a water gun fight," Mila chimes in.

Along with developing his players and helping them achieve their on-field goals,Norvellsees it as one of his job duties to exemplify being a good husband and father for his players to observe.

"Whenever I'm not home, when I'm nothere andwhen I have to be gone, she knows that we'retrying to invest in making those guys' lives better, pouring into them. It makes it an all-inclusive experience," Norvellsaid. "Players, I want them to see me being a husband, I want them to see me being a dad. The same with all of our coaches."

That's why whenever one of his staff members or players bring their young children around the office, he takes the time out to make that moment more special.

Time may be extremely valuable to someone like Norvell, but keeping the bigger picture in perspective is as well.

"Ijust think it's really special and it helps build what we're trying to have and establish within the program."

Because of these personal beliefs, you may be able to guess how Norvell responded when asked Tuesday to pick one word to describe his upcoming 2022 team.

After a brief pause, he said "I think family."

Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter@CurtMWeiler.

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