Clemson isn’t the only team having issues keeping players on the field. Their next opponent, Florida State, is also having their own problems.
Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell has now announced that several players will not be available for the rest of their 2020 football season.
Quarterback James Blackman plans to graduate and then transfer. Wide receiver Tamorrion Terry has left the program, with no details given as to why. Defensive tackle Marvin Wilson and offensive lineman Devontay Love-Taylor will both miss the rest of the season with injuries.
There have been a number of issues that Norvell has been dealing with since he took over at Florida State and Wilson, along with Terry, were two of the players involved in incidents where the players called Norvell out.
Wilson accused Norvell of exaggerating the program’s outreach to their African-American players during the George Floyd protests in May and early June. He along with other players threatened to boycott voluntary workouts. Norvell later issued a statement and the team seemed to move forward stronger than before. Back in August Terry’s mother tweeted the following:
It appeared that this incident stemmed from a player testing positive for COVID-19. According to reports, players believed that the player felt sick prior to testing, but was still able to take part in position meetings, which led to others having to quarantine. Another issue was parents didn’t believe that weekly testing was taking place and believed that players who had tested positive were being told to be quiet about the results.
At this point, there is no way to really know if Wilson or Terry’s decisions have anything to do with the previous incidents but it’s obvious to see that there have been problems involving trust between the Florida State players and Norvell over the last several months. Norvell just spoke yesterday on the challenges of building and establishing trust with players.
“There’s never a point where I’m going to sit there and say, ‘this just isn’t going to work,’” Norvell. “There are players that I’ve been around that have made that choice for themselves. But if I get a chance to go out there and be a part of what we are doing, I’m going to give everything I have to the coaches, the players that we work with.
“Sometimes there are decisions made that force my hand in where we’re going with an individual or what the opportunity is. If these guys will come out and give me everything they have, they’re going to get the exact something back from me.”
Then add in the fact that the Seminoles are sitting at 2-5 overall (1-5 ACC), this is not something that Norvell could have envisioned in his first season at the helm. The losses come a terrible time as well, as his team is getting ready for a Clemson team that will have an extra week of preparation and will be coming into their matchup still simmering over a loss to Notre Dame.
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