In a season opener that presents many unknowns for the Seminoles, head coach Mike Norvell confirmed that the team will be dealing with an unusual situation when the team takes on Georgia Tech in Ireland. Earlier this year, the NCAA imposed sanctions on the program for recruiting violations that occurred in the spring of 2022.
The penalties included a three-game suspension and a two-year show-cause penalty for offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. That absence begins Saturday for Atkins, who remains fully involved in pre-contest game preparations. He will travel with the team but will not be able to participate once the game begins.
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Lead offensive analyst Gabe Fertitta will assume offensive coaching duties on game day. Fertitta is entering his third year in Tallahassee and is a member of the team that Norvell has “a lot of confidence” in.
“Alex (Atkins) will not be there on game day, so we will have a normal week of practice, obviously everything that comes with that, but he will not be with us on game day. We have a plan that we have been practically implementing during our practice opportunities here in fall camp,” Norvell said Sunday. “Alex has done a wonderful job and continues to do a great job of getting our players prepared in all aspects. Coach Fertitta will take on that role on game day, we have a lot of confidence in him and what he has brought to our program over the last few years. The transition will be as smooth as possible on game day, and like I said, we have kind of been preparing for that over the last couple of practice games, but that’s the state of things.”
Fertitta has worked hand-in-hand with Atkins on the offensive line for the past few years. Before Florida State, he was a quality control assistant for Louisville and had successful stints as a high school head coach in Louisiana and Mississippi. Fertitta first met Atkins on the coaching staff at Itawamba Community College in 2010.
The Seminoles have been preparing for the coaching change since the spring. They have been preparing for this trip to Ireland and the challenges that come with it for some time. From nutrition to sleep habits to equipment, Florida State has a plan ready to be implemented.
“It was probably the most extensive preparation for a trip or a game I’ve ever done – the process took a year and a half,” Norvell said. “I’ll tell you, our operations staff has been remarkable, whether it’s Jason (Baisden) and our equipment staff, just top-notch in their preparation. Scott Trulock, Josh Chapman, our athletic training staff, just the preparation, the planning, the research. Obviously, it’s been a team effort from Bruce Warwick and the whole operations group, Jeff Kupper and the player personnel, whether it’s the little things like getting everybody’s passports, making sure they’re all ready to go, planning nutrition, our sleep patterns, what we’re going to do when we get there, how we’ve kind of divided up our schedule. There’s a very concrete plan in place and I think our guys have a lot of confidence. Just on the operations aspect, we have guys with over 20 games of international playing experience at the NFL level, what that looks like, what it needs to be like. We’re very confident in the plan and now we’ve got to go out there and execute it.”
The process will culminate this Saturday when Florida State faces Georgia Tech at 12:00 p.m. EST.
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International travel is already a hectic situation, and that doesn’t even take into account the nearly 200 players and coaches Florida State will send to Ireland later this week.
