After Week 9, Florida decided to fire head coach Mike Norvell. He had a 41-39 record over seven seasons at Florida State. Here are 5 potential head coach candidates for the Florida State Seminoles.
Diaz is the current head coach at Duke, where he has had success. He won the ACC last season and has turned the program around with a 24-11 record over three seasons with the school. Diaz was also a head coach at Miami, where he had a 21-15 record in three seasons. He has been an assistant at a lot of places, but got his start as a grad assistant at Florida State.
While he didn’t do great in his first time as a head coach at Miami, Diaz seemed to have learned from the experience and now is getting more out of his talent at Duke. His ability to recruit in the state of Florida is also a plus from his time at Miami. While Miami may look for a bigger fish or a younger name, Diaz could help turn around Florida State quicker than he did at Duke if given the right budget.
Dickert has just one loss at Wake Forest this season. The Demon Deacons sit with a 7-1 record and could push for a CFP spot. He has a 16-5 record in two seasons at the school. Before that, he was the head coach of Washington State for four seasons with a 23-20 record. His final season with the Cougars was his best, as they went 8-4.
While Dickert has coached mostly out west, he has done well in his first two seasons on the East Coast. Like Diaz, he hasn’t been given the same budget as other schools in the ACC, but he is producing great results. If he is given some NIL funds to work with, Dickert could turn things around at Florida State very quickly.
Eck has coached all over the country and had success. He was an assistant at Wisconsin, Colorado, Idaho, Winona State, Ball State, Hampton, Western Illinois, Minnesota State, Montana State and South Dakota State. Idaho was his first head coaching job. With the Vandals, he had a 26-13 record and made three straight FCS playoffs, including two quarterfinal appearances. He has been at New Mexico since the start of the 2025 season and has a 14-5 overall record.
Like some others on this list, Eck will have plenty of options of where he can coach next season.He has built the best defense in the country based on points per game and turned programs around quickly. With the resources he would have at Florida State, he could build the program back up. Eck could be interested in other jobs, so Baylor may want to move early if they want Eck.
Dillingham has been the head coach at his alma mater, Arizona State for the last four seasons. He took over a bad situation and turned it around quickly, making the CFP in year two. Overall, he has a 26-21 record as a head coach. He spent time as an assistan at a few places, but most notable was the offensive coordinator at Florida State.
While Dillingham has tried to activate alumni to give more money to the team, he sits at just 4-4. If Florida State wants to make a financial commitment to him and for the roster, Dillingham could be lured away from where he went to school. Dillingham could bring some talent from Arizona State and help stock the roster.
Huff is from the East Coast and has coached well there during his career. He was an assistant at Tennessee State, Maryland, Hampton, Vanderbilt, Western Michigan, Penn State, Mississippi State, Alabama and in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills. His first head coaching job was with Marshall in 2021. He had a 32-20 there, helping turn around the program. Huff then went to Southern Miss and turned things around quickly with a 7-5 record in his lone season there. In his first season at Memphis, he has a 7-2 record so far.
Florida State could use a fast turnaround and Huff has done that at multiple places. With more resources, he could take the program back to one of the elite in the country. Huff will be in the running for other jobs, but if Florida State makes a financial commitment to more NIL, Huff could be tempted to take the Florida State job.
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