Alabama Football will face a desperate team in Tallahassee. A team defined by a 2024 collapse that produced a 2-10 season. In the offseason, Florida State coach Mike Norvell took drastic action. One step was to reduce his salary by $4.5M. Another was a massive roster rebuild. As Matt Baker wrote for The Athletic, FSU played 60 guys in last September's loss to Memphis; 36 of them are not on the 2025 team. Only five starters from that game are still in Tallahassee.
Norvell added 23 transfers that made up the No. 6 Portal class, as ranked by 247Sports. Former BC quarterback, former Tennessee and USC receivers, Squirrel White and Duce Robinson, and others quickly gained starter status for FSU.
In a truly desperate move, Norvell fired three assistants before the end of the 2024 season. New Coordinators were added: Tony White and Gus Malzahn. Norvell shed play-calling duties and focused his attention on motivating his team. Doing so required a claim that he understood what path the Noles must follow: "Nobody ever wants to face disappointment, no one ever wants to get knocked down. But I’m built for this journey. This program is built for this journey.”
FSU fans are rightly desperate for Norvell to be correct. Is desperation among Florida State's players the best mindset to build success? Former Alabama football player Earl Little Jr. described the mentality as, "Desperate to win, desperate to eat, just desperate to succeed."
How Alabama Football plays more important to a Tide win than how FSU plays
Criticizing FSU's focus on desperation can lead to murky conclusions. Does it mean that FSU players will make foolish in-game decisions? Could it mean the Noles will fearlessly battle any challenge, not dissimilar from the 'reckless abandon' Paul Bryant used to demand of his players? Will FSU's new coordinators make too many risky calls? Alabama fans believe Gus Malzahn has a propensity to do so.
According to FanDuel, the Alabama Crimson Tide is a solid 13.5-point favorite. That's a bunch of points for a road favorite against a Power Four opponent. FSU has something to prove, but maybe no more than does Alabama. A resolute Alabama football team should have a mental advantage over a desperate team. Unless Mike Norvell has made an astute motivational call, shaping FSU into a vastly better team than last season, the Crimson Tide should win and perhaps win big.