Mike Norvell has been the head football coach at Florida State for just six months, and it appears he is already dealing with his first locker room divide.
Tashan Reed of The Athletic asked Norvell earlier in the week if he has spoken with Seminoles players about the racial injustice protests that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd. The coach said there has been a lot of “open communication” and that he has had individual exchanges about the issues with each player.
#FSU head coach Mike Norvell (@Coach_Norvell) had individual conversations with every player on his roster this past weekend focused on the events surrounding the death of George Floyd. Here's his full quote to @TheAthletic: pic.twitter.com/eM3yZZH4db
— Tashan Reed (@tashanreed) June 2, 2020
Apparently, that was not entirely true. Junior defensive tackle Marvin Wilson took to Twitter late Wednesday night and said one-on-one conversations between players and Norvell “did not happen.” He said the team received a generic text message about the Floyd incident and the protests and that Seminoles players are “outraged” that Norvell lied. Wilson added that players will not be attending workouts until further notice.
Man this did not happen mane. We got a generated text that was sent to everybody. There was no one on one talk between us and coach. This is a lie and me and my teammates as a whole are outraged and we will not be working out until further notice #hunchoout https://t.co/6Uuy6K7Eu3
— HEAD HUNCHO (@marvinwilson21) June 4, 2020
Other Florida State players appeared to support Wilson’s message.
— Darius Washington (@DariusW76) June 4, 2020
— Jamarcus Chatman (@ChatmanJamarcus) June 4, 2020
It’s unclear why Norvell would make a claim like that if it didn’t actually happen. Some wondered if Reed misquoted Norvell, but the reporter said he recorded the conference call then transcribed it like he does with all of his interviews.
Norvell had already been drawing praise from FSU players after he replaced Willie Taggart, but it sounds like he has some explaining to do.
