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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Florida State made the decision to finally move on from Mike Norvell on Sunday, Nov. 1, one day after the Seminoles' brutal 36-24 loss to Clemson in Tallahassee. The loss dropped FSU to 3-5 on the year and ended Norvell's tenure as head coach with an overall record of 41-39, including 23-30 in ACC games. His buyout is around $50.3 million, one of the largest in the history of college football.
On Monday, the school announced that they had hired alum Jeff Purinton as the new athletic director. Purinton worked in Florida State's athletic department for eight years, rose to director of football communications, spent 15 years at Alabama, including as executive deputy director of athletics under Nick Saban, and later led Arkansas State and worked at Learfield. He'll now lead FSU's search for a new head coach.
Hours after the hire was announced, On3's Pete Nakos reported that Purtinton has previous relationships with at least two of the coaches reportedly under consideration, with Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann among the names mentioned. Nakos' hot board of candidates also lists Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz, Wake Forest's Jake Dickert, SMU's Rhett Lashlee, Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, and Houston's Willie Fritz.
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Schumann is the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator and an Alabama alum who began his career as a student assistant under Saban from 2008 to 2011, during which Purinton was also in Tuscaloosa. He joined Kirby Smart's staff at Georgia in 2016 as inside linebackers coach, became co-defensive coordinator in 2019, and has been the sole coordinator since 2024. He's been part of multiple national championship teams, including Georgia's back-to-back title runs in 2021 and 2022.
The case for Schumann is strong. He's worked for two of the best programs in the sport, has a reputation as a smart defensive mind, and an obvious connection to the new AD. The Bulldogs are also in the middle of another strong season, largely thanks to their defense, which leads the SEC in points allowed (14.0 per game), ranks second in total yards allowed (270.3 per game), and third in sacks (31).
The biggest risk with Schumann is that he's never been a head coach, and Pete Thamel previously reported that FSU is expected to hire a sitting head coach. Other names that therefore could emerge as likelier options include Dickert, who currently has Wake Forest at 7-1, Drinkwitz, who's already built a strong reputation for winning with limited resources, and Dillingham, who has ties to FSU from his time as offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021.
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