The grumbling at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday afternoon started as a murmur. But as the afternoon wore on and the home faithful continued to become disenchanted with the activity down on Bobby Bowden Field, the murmurs became words spoken out loud in public.

Fire Mike Norvell.

It seems incomprehensible that Florida State fans would even consider such a thought less than 12 months after Norvell led the Seminoles to an undefeated regular season and an Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

It seems incomprehensible that FSU would crash together enough brain cells to contemplate canning the guy they just bequeathed a huge contract extension to keep him in Tallahassee.

And yet, there it was.

Fire Mike Norvell.

Panic mode has set in like a fungus at Florida State, and for good reason. The Seminoles are, at best, listless. An offense that just last year was dominating the ACC behind quarterback Jordan Travis is now toothless behind quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. A defense that was sturdy even after Travis went down with a season-ending injury now can’t catch a cold against ACC powers like … checks notes … Georgia Tech and Boston College.

But Saturday, well, that triggered all the alarm bells – both figuratively and, in Norvell’s case to prematurely end his post-game press conference, literally. Memphis cashed a check for $1.3 million before surgically slicing and dicing the Seminoles in a 20-12 loss that had the Doak Campbell Stadium boo-birds out in force with one decisive message.

Fire Mike Norvell.

Alas, all you wannabe school presidents and athletic directors, there is a bit of a snag with that desire. Namely, you’ll owe Norvell an entire fleet of Brinks armored trucks if you pull the trigger on him anytime soon.

To show Norvell the door right now, Florida State would owe him a cool $65 million. That isn’t chump change, even for a Power 4 power like FSU… and especially for one that has been crying poor for 2 years and thus is actively trying to bail from the ACC due to a media rights deal that pays member schools like FSU a fraction of what SEC and Big Ten schools rake in.

Florida State popped for that big buyout as part of the 8-year extension Norvell quite intelligently signed earlier this year in the wake of Alabama coach Nick Saban retiring. FSU brass saw Norvell as a potential heir to Saban’s Tuscaloosa throne, and wanted to keep their man – and paid for it with a handsome $84 million-plus deal.

As Teddy KGB said in Rounders: “Bad judgment.”

The Norvell buyout represents 85% of his remaining contract, which expires Dec. 31, 2031. And is otherworldly rich considering that the case could be made that Norvell is basically a pedestrian coach who caught lightning in a bottle with Travis and Co. last season.

Unless the Seminoles magically find all the answers they have been lacking through the first month of the 2024 season, they are en route to a third losing season under Norvell in his 5 years in Tallahassee. FSU went 3-6 in 2020 and 5-7 in 2021, then rebounded to basically save Norvell with a 10-3 mark in 2022 and that 13-1 run last season.

FSU is 0-3 for the 2nd time under Norvell. Worse, there are remarkably few wins on the horizon, meaning it is entirely possible that Norvell’s Noles are 0-6 after Clemson comes to town on Oct. 5. FSU hosts 3-0 Cal next weekend (the same Cal that came across the country and upset Auburn 2 weeks ago) and then travels to SMU on Sept. 28. Suddenly, the ACC darlings in 2023 are the ACC doormats in 2024 and have completely forgotten how to win.

But business is business in college athletics, and that means FSU will either need to discover a booster who recently won the Powerball or suck it up with Norvell for at least another season. Not only is FSU stuck with a substantial note for renovating Doak Campbell Stadium, but they just ate $1.3 million with a loss to Memphis and are surely spending future inheritances’ worth of cash on attorneys fees trying to bail out of the ACC.

We say all that to say this to our friends who were boo-birding during the Memphis debacle: Suck it up, you’re stuck with Mike Norvell for the foreseeable future. No amount of bad football can overcome the economics of the situation.