Clemson coach Dabo Swinney sharply criticized the airplane banner flown over Doak Campbell Stadium calling for Florida State to fire coach Mike Norvell, speaking out unprompted after the Tigers' 36-24 victory over the Seminoles on Saturday night in Tallahassee.
The banner, which read "Fire Novell" and misspelled the coach's name, circled above the stadium before kickoff. It flew days after Florida State president Richard McCullough acknowledged fan frustration in a letter to supporters while urging them to back the student-athletes and pack the stadium.
"That was embarrassing what I saw above the stadium. Florida State's better than that," Swinney said in his postgame news conference. "That's not good for these kids. That bothered me, and they didn't even spell his name right. Didn't even have the freaking R in the name. It's just disrespectful."
Swinney, who noted that former Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden "was one of my heroes in life," said whoever paid for the flight should be "ashamed of yourself." He added that a similar banner could one day appear over his own stadium at Clemson, though he said he doubted it.
Norvell, in his seventh season at Florida State, has faced mounting pressure during another rough start. The loss dropped the Seminoles to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in ACC play, tied with Georgia Tech for last place. Since winning the ACC title in 2023, Norvell has gone 10-22. Florida State entered the game as a six-point favorite but has not beaten Clemson at home since 2014.
"Ain't nobody trying to lose. This job is hard," Swinney said. "Mike Norvell is a good man. He's a husband. He's a father, and I don't know why we think because people make money that you have the right to just destroy people as humans."
"I don't know where we became this as a society, where it's OK to tear people down," he continued. "It's like a blood sport now. You lose a game, fire everybody."
Norvell was not asked about the banner in his own news conference. Instead, he fielded questions about fans who had largely left by the fourth quarter, when Florida State trailed 29-10 before rallying to make it a one-score game with five minutes remaining. "You've got to win, that's what it comes down to," Norvell said. "This team rallied and responded, and still believed in what they could do. I understand the frustration. We have high expectations for what we want it to be."
Asked how he would keep the team together after another difficult defeat, Norvell said, "Even with all the other bullcrap that we've had to deal with, these guys fight for each other. I don't question the leadership within our team." He said he believes the program "will rise up" if everyone involved stays focused on improvement.
