Mike Norvell, in his fourth season as Florida State football‘s head coach, has dealt with challenges when developing quarterbacks.
He’s focusing on transfer quarterback DJ Uiagalelei this season.
Heading into Saturday’s home game against No. 25 Memphis, Uiagalelei has completed 40 of 69 passes (58%) for 465 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He has averaged 6.7 yards per completion with a long of 30 yards in FSU’s 0-2 start.
Will Norvell be forced to make a change at quarterback?
Or can Uiagalelei regain the form that made him a coveted signee last January to replace record-setting Jordan Travis, now with the New York Jets?
With Norvell’s background as a former quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, in addition to identifying and adding immediate contributors at FSU from the transfer portal, he is likely to stick with the Oregon State transfer.
” I’ve really liked his mindset and his approach,” Norvell said earlier this week.
“He’s got a lot of experience and understands how to play the game. He understands how to respond to good and obviously to responding to some of the challenges that showed up.
“I think he’s brought the right attitude and approach to what we need and to what we need to continue to do as this offense is growing together.”
How many Florida State quarterbacks played for Mike Norvell? What is Jordan Travis’ career record?
Seven quarterbacks have had at least one start during Norvell’s tenure at FSU.
Minus Travis, however, Norvell is 3-9.
Brock Glenn started against Louisville in the ACC Championship last year, completing just 8-of-21 passes for 55 yards with no touchdowns. But he managed the game in place of an injured Travis, lost for the season with a lower leg injury, and the Seminoles beat the Cardinals 16-6 to finish the regular season 13-0.
In Norvell’s first season in 2020, Tate Rodemaker started in the Seminoles’ home victory over Jacksonville State, but was replaced early in the game by Jordan. He ended his Seminole career with a exclamation mark in last year’s victory over Florida in place of Jordan.
Other quarterbacks who played under Norvell included James Blackman (0-2), McKenzie Milton (0-4) and Chuba Purdy (0-1).
Blackman spent the 2017-20 seasons at FSU before transferring to Arkansas State. He played just one season under Norvell. However, he made his 24th and 25th career starts with the Seminoles in season-opening defeats to Georgia Tech and Miami before being replaced by Rodemaker.
Rodemaker, a junior at Southern Mississippi, played at FSU for four years (2020-23), throwing for 901 yards and seven touchdowns. He was the third Seminole in program history to make his first or second career start at Florida – and first to win – when he led FSU to a 24-15 victory over the Gators last year.
Purdy also started his college career at FSU (2020-21) before he transferred to Nebraska. In 2020, he was just the fifth true freshman in FSU history to start at quarterback, passing for 181 yards and two scores in that start and loss at N.C. State.
Milton, who returned to the field from a serious knee injury suffered in 2018, transferred to FSU from Central Florida for the 2021 season. He started four games and played in six during his one year at FSU, throwing for 775 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions.
It’s rather obvious that Travis, who contemplated to moving to receiver following early struggles with the Seminoles after he transferred from Louisville, is the best quarterback Norvell has produced at FSU.
In his four-year career, the electric Travis was 28-9 as a starter, including going undefeated last year. He threw for 8,644 career passing yards and 65 touchdowns, tied for second most in FSU history.
Travis also holds career records for touchdown responsibility, total offense, quarterback rushing yards, and quarterback rushing touchdowns. He is the only player in program history with over 50 passing touchdowns and at least 12 rushing touchdowns.
What can DJ Uiagalelei do to improve his game
While known for his size and arm strength, Uiagalelei has struggled with consistency. His mechanics and accuracy were also troublesome against Georgia Tech and Boston College. In facet, home fans were do disappointed in Uiagalelei’s performance against Boston College they started to chant Glenn’s name when FSU had possession.
To be fair, however, FSU’s veteran offensive line hasn’t played to its potential and lacked physicality in run-blocking and pass protection. Uiagalelei must also find a reliable receiver. Ja’Khi Douglas (8 receptions, 121 yards) and Malik Benson (7-72) lead the team in receptions and have been targeted 24 times.
Despite his flaws, it still might be too early to give up on Uiagalelei, even if he’s one-and-done after this season. Uiagalelei still needs time to adjust to Norvell’s offense and its timing routes and pocket precision.
At least for now, Norvell should stick with Uiagalelei as his starter.
Will we see Brock Glenn play this season?
There are no signs that Norvell plans to make a quarterback change.
Glenn, who played five games last year as a true freshman, showed potential. Known more for his mobility than arm strength, he threw for 229 yards and had one rushing touchdown.
Glenn is still developing as a passer and has not proven he is a better option than Uiagalelei. Putting him in a tough spot while the offense struggles to run the football, with no reliable targets in the passing game, could hurt his development.
However, it wouldn’t hurt for Norvell to implement a two-quarterback system like he did at the beginning of his coaching career. It helped discover Travis as he eventually became FSU’s fulltime starter.
Because of his mobility, it might be wise to utilize Glenn in certain game packages.
FSU football schedule 2024: TV channels, dates and start times
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Saturday, Aug. 24: vs. Georgia Tech* (Aer Lingus College Football Classic) Lost 24-21
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Monday, Sept. 2: vs. Boston College* | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo) Lost 28-13
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Saturday, Sept. 7: Bye
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Saturday, Sept. 21: vs. Cal*
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Saturday, Sept. 28: at SMU*
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Saturday, Oct. 5: vs. No. 14 Clemson*
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Saturday, Oct. 12: Bye
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Saturday, Oct. 26: at No. 19 Miami*
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Saturday, Nov. 2: vs. North Carolina*
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Saturday, Nov. 9: at No. 7 Notre Dame | 7:30 p.m. | NBC (Fubo, Peacock)
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Saturday, Nov. 23: vs. Charleston Southern
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Saturday, Nov. 30: vs. Florida
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Saturday, Dec. 6: ACC championship game (Charlotte, N.C)
All times Eastern
BOLD = ACC
* = Neutral Site
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Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Breakdown of all quarterbacks that Mike Norvell coached in his four seasons
