The Florida State Seminoles will be keeping their starting lineup as secret as long as possible during the 2026 season, with head coach Mike Norvell deciding not to release a depth chart for their Week 0 game against the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday. It was a surprising decision, but one Norvell confirmed during his Monday press conference will last for the entire season. He indicated that how players practice will determine who gets the starts on Saturday, and which formation they think will give them the best chances that week. "
But for us, practice matters," he explained. " There are competitive situations, how he plays, that's a huge evaluation that's gonna go into what the next week looks like. " We got four main personnel groupings that we can live in offensively. So, we can put 15 positions up there and say, well, this guy's a starter and this and this. And defensively, same thing. " While the fans, and the opponent, won't know where each player is on the depth chart until Saturday, he made it clear that the players will know where they are and that the best players will play. "
Guys know where they are," Norvell said. " Every player wants more. That's what it should be. You should want to be the starter. You should want to be the guy that plays the most plays. " Throughout the course of the week, there's ups, downs, whatever that might be. And somebody puts themselves in position, well, the best player is gonna play. They're gonna start, they're gonna be the ones that find themselves with those opportunities. And then they got to do the right things with them. "
The 2026 season is an important one for Norvell, who is entering the season firmly on the hot seat after the Seminoles went 7-17 over the past two seasons. 500 just twice. FSU is set to play New Mexico State on Saturday in Doak Campbell Stadium. m. ET and will be on The CW. Follow us @FSUWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida State news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: Mike Norvell addresses FSU not releasing a depth chart in 2026
