The Florida State football team will not take part in workouts, angered by comments made by coach Mike Norvell, senior Marvin Wilson tweeted late Wednesday night.
In the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week, which has sparked race-related protests nationwide, Norvell told The Athletic that he spoke individually with every player on the Seminoles roster. But Wilson said it never happened.
“We got a generated text that was sent to everybody. There was no one on one talk between us and coach. This is a lie and me and my teammates as a whole are outraged and we will not be working out until further notice,” he posted on Twitter late Wednesday night.
Thursday morning, athletic director David Coburn told the school’s Board of Trustees that the team “held a meeting this morning that was candid and went well,” tweeted Curt Weiler, the Seminoles beat reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Neither Norvell nor Coburn had yet to comment.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Kevon Glenn supported Norvell in a tweet later Thursday, writing, “We love our coach and we are together as a team. FSU football team and coaching staff is fine and working. See y’all in the fall.”
In a statement earlier this week to The Athletic, Norvell said he discussed racial injustice and inequality with his players, one on one.
“We’ve had a lot of open communication with our team, our players and our coaches. I went back and forth individually with every player this weekend. And that was something that was important to me because this is a heartbreaking time in our country,” Norvell said.
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to help make a difference,” his lengthy statement concluded. “That’s something that we definitely have talked about in a big-picture team approach, but also, more specifically, the individual and group conversations. We’re trying to meet our guys at their need and be able to share some of the emotions that we’re all going through.”
Florida State started voluntary workouts on Monday, as permitted by the NCAA.
Wilson, a 6-foot-5 defensive tackle from Houston, was a team captain in 2019. He played nine games before suffering a season-ending hand injury and was named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.
Florida State hired Norvell as its football coach on Dec. 8, 2019. The 38-year-old spent the previous four seasons as the head coach at Memphis, compiling a 38-15 record.
