Even with the highs of the 13-0 season in 2023 before the College Football Playoff snub and the Orange Bowl blowout, Mike Norvell’s tenure at Florida State has been less than satisfactory for Seminoles fans. One of the clearest reasons why he’s failed to meet the high standards in Tallahassee is a lack of success on the recruiting trail, and no position exemplifies that more than quarterback.
It’s not just failure to land highly ranked prospects; it’s been a consistent failure to identify which highly ranked prospects are deserving of their four- or five-star status. Luke Kromenhoek, the highest-ranked QB recruit of the Norvell era, perfectly exemplifies the struggle. After one season in Tallahassee, in which he completed 52.4% of his passes as a true freshman in 2024, Kromenhoek transferred to Mississippi State, where he was a backup and eventually a third-stringer in 2025.
Luke Kromenhoek loses out to Michael Van Buren at USF
This year, in an effort to revitalize his flailing career, Kromenhoek transferred down a level to South Florida, but again he couldn’t do enough to find his way on the field as first-year head coach Brian Hartline named Michael Van Buren his starter on Monday.
Van Buren edged Luke Kromenhoek in the camp quarterback race. Van Buren will debut for USF against FIU on Sept. 5.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 24, 2026
Kromenhoek was the No. 5 QB in the 2024 class by 247Sports Composite, one spot above Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, one of the Heisman favorites this season. He was obviously overrated (literally) by the recruiting industry, and it’s bad enough that Norvell and his staff couldn’t sniff that out, but beyond that, there’s no telling how much damage was done to his trajectory by spending a year under their tutelage…