Florida State coach Mike Norvell announced Saturday he has tested positive for coronavirus and is isolating, leaving deputy head coach Chris Thomsen as interim coach while Norvell is away.
In a statement, Norvell said he tested positive during the team’s most recent round of testing Friday, and is feeling fine. His wife and daughter were also tested on Saturday and received negative results, but are quarantining.
With Norvell in isolation, Thomsen will handle in-person and head coaching duties until Norvell is able to return. Florida State is off this week, and travels to play rival Miami next Saturday. Norvell will not travel to Miami, and Florida State said that game remains on as scheduled.
“My result was surprising to me, but we have prepared for a potential positive result among anyone in our program and we will put that plan in place while I am away,” Norvell said. “I will remain involved remotely as much as possible to help our team continue to prepare. … I’m grateful to the administration, players and staff for their commitment to the protocols we have in place, which have helped us limit contact with others and allowed us to continue moving forward.”
Thomsen, who has has 24 years of collegiate coaching experience, was the head coach at Abilene Christian from 2005-11. He spent the last three years coaching the offensive line at TCU. The CDC recommends anyone with a positive coronavirus test isolate for 10 days.
“This is unfortunate, but luckily Coach is feeling fine,” athletic director David Coburn said. “We are proceeding with our Covid protocols as we would with any other case. Coach is isolated, and university tracing staff is handling the contact tracing as they normally do. We will continue to test staff and student-athletes as we have been. We have communicated with Commissioner John Swofford and Miami Athletics Director Blake James. At this point, based on our testing this week, we have no reason to believe that the Miami game is in jeopardy.”