MEET THE 2020 FSU FOOTBALL STAFF By BOB FERRANTE Mike Norvell will be measured on his win-loss record and who he recruits. But his success will also be a reflection of who he hires to achieve his goals. The Florida State football coach has hired 10 assistant coaches and assembled a front office that is led by Bruce Warwick, the Seminoles’ chief of staff. Eight of the 10 assistants have experience at Power 5 schools, two have head coaching experience (Odell Haggins and Chris Thomsen) and three have been recruiting coordinators at the FBS level (John Papuchis, Marcus Woodson and Thomsen). “There is an unbelievable excitement from our coaching staff of where we are and what we get to represent,” Norvell said. “We’re excited about what the future holds … Because of the young men that we have that are working their tails off each and every day, preparing themselves for what the future holds. “And I’m excited about the gentlemen and the ladies that make up our staff, that are going to make sure that we’re pouring everything we have into those individuals to make sure that we get Florida State football back to where it deserves to be. And that’s among the country’s elite football programs.” We take a look at who Norvell has hired and what they have accomplished prior to arriving in Tallahassee. Kenny Dillingham Early start: Dillingham was injured playing high school football and immediately began coaching his high school’s junior varsity team at the age of 17. Record-breaking years: Memphis broke the program record with 7,324 yards in 2018 and had 3,919 rushing yards that season with Dillingham as offensive coordinator. Chris Thomsen Developing talent: Thomsen had offensive linemen drafted at each of his three prior FBS jobs: Texas Tech, Arizona State and TCU. Two-sport star: Thomsen was an all-conference baseball player at TCU and went on to play two seasons in the Oakland Athletics’ organization. He also played football at TCU and Abilene Christian.
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Alex Atkins Remarkable turnaround: Tulane had averaged 115.8 rushing yards per game the year before Atkins arrived. In his first season, the Green Wave jumped to 228.1 yards per game (top 30 in the FBS). Run-dominant line: At Georgia Southern in 2014, the Eagles led the nation in rushing with 381.1 yards per game. Ron Dugans A champion: Dugans played three sports in high school, winning state titles in basketball and track. He also was part of FSU’s 1999 national championship team. Developing talent: Dugans has coached an NFL receiver at Louisville (DeVante Parker), South Florida (Rodney Adams) and Miami (Stacy Coley). David Johnson Developing talent: Memphis walk-on tight end Anthony Miller evolved into a consensus All-American with 96 catches for 1,462 yards and an FBS-leading 18 touchdowns with Johnson in 2017. Who he coached: Johnson coached running back Leonard Fournette and defensive back Tyrann Mathieu during his time at St. Augustine (La.) High as the school’s head coach. Adam Fuller Stat to know: His defense, which featured five allconference performers, ranked 20th in FBS in 2019 with a team passing efficiency defense rating of 115.36 and ranked 25th in the nation with an average of 7.0 tackles for loss per game. You have to start somewhere: Right out of graduation, Fuller landed a job at Worcester Polytechnic as the linebackers coach. He earned $2,500 that year. Odell Haggins Stat to know: Haggins has consistently developed defensive linemen and 19 have been selected in the NFL draft. Derrick Nnadi, a third-round pick in 2018 by Kansas City, won Super Bowl LIV in early February. Tenured professor: Haggins enters his 27th season as FSU’s assistant coach, the longest-tenured assistant coach at one school in the nation.
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