Mike Norvell on pulling the UF flag from the field: That won’t happen here

Rivalry football games always have that extra bit of excitement.

You saw this in college football on Saturday when some teams that won away games decided to fly their team’s flag at midfield of the opposing team’s stadium, leading to brawls immediately after the game ended.

That’s exactly what happened immediately after Florida’s 31-11 victory over Florida State at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday. Two UF players ran to midfield and smashed Florida flags into the Seminole’s head around the 50-yard line.

FSU coach Mike Norvell wasn’t having that. After reserve offensive lineman Julian Armella ripped the first UF flag from the grass, causing a scrum between FSU and UF players, Norvell himself ripped the second flag from the field and tossed it aside.

“That won’t happen. “That’s not going to happen here,” Norvell said after the game when asked about the incident. “I will do everything in my power to make sure something like this doesn’t happen to us again.”

Norvell was also caught on the broadcast talking to UF head coach Billy Napier about the incident and seemingly chastising him for letting his players do it.

“I told him what I thought,” Norvell said of what he said to Napier. “They won the game. You have the right to celebrate, just like we have in years past. There is a way we do it. That’s fine if you want to come and do that, that’s absolutely your decision that you can make within the team. “I just told him what I thought.

To his credit, Napier apologized for his team’s behavior and said there would be consequences for the Florida players involved in the incident.

“Obviously what happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program. It’s embarrassing and detracts from a really well-played football game,” Napier said in his post-match press conference. “I would like to apologize on behalf of the entire organization for how we represented the university there. We shouldn’t have done that. We won’t do that again in the future. And that will have consequences for everyone involved.”

FSU cornerback Azareye’h Thomas made it a point not to get involved in the midfield crowd. However, he admitted that he appreciated his coach as a representative of the program for not allowing that to happen.

“It’s kind of disrespectful. You have already won the game. I understand it’s a rivalry. So I didn’t even really entertain it because that’s what they expect from you. They want to make it on ESPN,” Thomas told Nachspiel. “They want a big brawl in the middle of the field. The fact that (Norvell) did that, I think, shows pride. I wish it was just him who did it, but everyone else came and made it a big event.” Brawl. It is what it is.

Black Friday: Offers for first-time subscribers at Alumni Hall, GotSpears and Osceola