A lot has already been made about Florida State’s lackluster 17-point win over New Mexico State on Saturday night.
To most Seminoles fans, their week zero showing was just a microcosm of how rotten things have gotten in the past few years under the tutelage of head coach Mike Norvell.
With the win, Norvell improved to a paltry 8-17 since the beginning of 2024, and failing to cover a 31.5-point spread against an undermanned G6 school did little to quell the bloodthirsty masses in Tallahassee.
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But it wasn’t always this way between Norvell and the fans.
There was a time not too long ago when all was right in the land of garnet and gold.
You see, prior to 2024, Norvell and the Seminoles were seen as a program on the rise, due in large part to a 23-4 stretch between 2022 and 2023 that featured an ACC Championship, back-to-back top-10 finishes, and dominant wins over perennial rivals like Miami and Florida.
What went wrong?
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Head Coach Mike Norvell of the Florida State Seminoles looks on before a game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Nov. 29, 2025. (Getty Images)
Much of that ground was covered in a previous article, but Saturday night’s performance prompted a notable number of observers to focus on one name in particular — someone they argue carried Norvell to an inflated record and, in turn, a lucrative contract extension that has since bound him to Florida State for the foreseeable future.
Jordan Travis.
On the surface, it seems like an absurd claim that Travis would be in the discussion for greatest college quarterback of all time, let alone one of the best players overall.
He certainly is far from the most accomplished.
A one-time conference champion, a two-time All-ACC selection, and the 2023 ACC Player of the Year, Travis carved out a solid career with plenty of great stats and moments to make him one of the more revered Seminole quarterbacks post-Jameis Winston.
Quarterback Jordan Travis #13 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the game against the Syracuse Orange at Doak Campbell Stadium on Bobby Bowden Field on October 14, 2023 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 4th ranked Seminoles defeated the Orange 41 to 3. (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
But if you juxtapose how bad this Florida State team has been since his departure, it almost perfectly explains the downfall of this once-proud program.
To be fair, plenty of other players on those 2022 and 2023 FSU teams had a part in Norvell’s rise.
Look across the NFL landscape, and you’re bound to spot guys like Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Keon Coleman, and Jammie Robinson on professional rosters, but Travis was the engine that made it all run so smoothly.
Even that 2023 team that went undefeated in the regular season dropped off a cliff the instant Travis suffered his unfortunate injury that would ultimately end his playing career.
Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis is taken off the field after being injured during the first half of the team’s NCAA college football game against North Alabama, Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Colin Hackley)
Before losing Travis, the Noles were averaging a robust 38.8 points per game on offense.
That number cratered to just 14.3 without him.
Granted, it’s a small sample size, but the way the team played without him even in that short stretch backs up this theory.
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FSU escaped an absolute dogfight against a five-win Florida team, then immediately followed that up with a season-low 16 points against Louisville in the ACC title game.
I won’t even include the 63-3 beatdown against Georgia in the Orange Bowl because I don’t feel like arguing with rabid Noles fans, but the point remains the same.
The very next year, despite signing yet another loaded portal class, the Seminoles bottomed out with a 2-10 record.
Things didn’t get much better in 2025, which brings us to now.
Together, Travis and Norvell posted a 29-10 record, and if you look at Norvell’s overall record at Florida State (39-34), you don’t need to be a math wiz to figure out the former had a lot to do with the latter’s success.
Numbers don’t even tell the whole story, either.
Travis was basically the football equivalent of Houdini, consistently bailing Norvell out of suboptimal play calls with his wizardry both in and out of the pocket.
So, is Jordan Travis the greatest college football player of all time?
Probably not, but you could certainly make the argument that he is perhaps the most underrated or underappreciated player of all time.
Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis (13), a day after having surgery, holds the football trophy with his teammates during the ACC Football Championship Game between the Louisville Cardinals and the Florida State Seminoles on December 2, 2023, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. (John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
For crying out loud, Mike Norvell was getting floated as a successor to Nick Saban at Alabama just two and a half years ago.
Now FSU fans are practically begging another program to come along and take their embattled head coach off their hands.
Call that the Jordan Travis Effect.
Here’s hoping anytime the two are in the same city, Norvell picks up the tab when they have dinner together.
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After all, it’s the least he could do for the guy.
