Watch: Norvell Addresses FSU Students, Speaks On Leadership And Culture

“Being a leader is a challenging thing because you’re going to have people that are depending on you to set a culture, right? [A culture] that you can actually live out. And so, you’re moving forward and you’re trying to say, what is leadership? What does it look like?” Norvell asked rhetorically. “It’s not just about what happens on the good days and when everything goes and the success that you have.”

Because I think one of the most important parts of being a leader is how you respond when it doesn’t work out. That’s where you see a culture," Norvell continued. "And I’ll tell you, even with our football team, man, we are a daily work in progress. If you watch through this last year, it was only the fourth time ever in Florida State history that the program was 13-0. And you watch through those games, four of those games we were down by 10 points.”

The Florida State head coach praised his team’s ability to fight through adversity.

“We had to respond to situations. We faced injury, we faced ups and downs, we faced challenging atmospheres, environments, bad breaks, we faced it all. But we had a team that throughout those games and throughout the season, responded because of the culture that showed up every single game because of the mindset, because of the belief,” Norvell said.

Finally, the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year spoke on the people that he attempts to bring into the program in order to maintain the culture he seeks to promote.

“And for me, I try to surround myself with like-minded individuals. I try to surround myself with people that I believe in what they can do and what they can accomplish.”

Florida State football opens its season in a Week 0 clash across the pond against Georgia Tech in Ireland.