We want to start with our absolute best foot forward:” Norvell, Duce Robinson speak ahead of FSU football’s season opener

TALLAHASSEE, FL - AUGUST 13: Head Coach Mike Norvell of the Florida State Seminoles during Fall Football Practice at the Albert J. Dunlap Athletic Training Facility on the campus of Florida State University on August 13, 2026 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Florida State is in the back half of its first game week of the season, and head coach Mike Norvell made clear Wednesday that the message has not changed since Monday: go be the team’s best self.

“We want to start with our absolute best foot forward,” Norvell said during local media availability. “As we go through the year, we’re going to see growth, improvement, in all areas, but making sure that you take all the lessons that have been learned throughout the throughout the offseason, the things that have that you’ve experienced throughout your career, and now [putting them in action] whether you’re a true freshman that’s coming in with an opportunity to play or you’re a guy that’s a fifth-year senior.

“Come Saturday night, we want to go see three and a half hours of fast, physical and relentless Florida State football.”

He was joined in media availability by wide receiver Duce Robinson, now in his second season in Tallahassee, who said the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s group of Seminoles is simple: discipline in the small things.

“Last year we had an uberly talented team. And last year, we put ourselves in position to win a lot of games. But I feel like we shot ourselves in the foot a lot,” Robinson said. “It came down to a lot of those little things that we didn’t handle the right way. And it feels like this year we’ve really been very, very disciplined. We’ve been honed in on doing the little things right, doing the fundamentals right, doing the basic things right on and off of the field.”

Beyond football itself, Saturday carries a personal storyline for the receiver. New Mexico State’s roster includes senior receiver Myles Libman, a childhood best friend and former high school teammate who Robinson has known since the two played against each other in flag football in middle school.

“It’s a really full circle moment,” Robinson said. “In our first season, I was at USC, he was at Stanford, and we played each other. And then going into our senior year we’re both at different schools, but we’re playing each other in the first game of the season. That’s what we used to dream about — being able to play at two big-time programs and being able to dap each other up on the sideline before and after the game. The five-year-old me would be in awe. And so I truly can’t wait.”

Kickoff against New Mexico State is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Both interviews are available below.

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