Florida State's Mike Norvell travels in helicopter for stops at Pine Forest and Navarre

Two days before the current NCAA 'Contact Period' comes to a close, Florida State University's Mike Norvell paid a brief visit to the Pensacola area.

The Seminoles head football coach flew in by helicopter early Friday morning to make stops at Pine Forest High School and Navarre High School.

Each school features athletes that currently hold offers from FSU. That list includes Raiders junior linebacker Zavier Hamilton and junior wide receiver Terence Marshall along with Eagles junior offensive lineman Jonathan Daniels.

"I'm just really excited for our kids, for our program and for our school," Navarre head coach Jay Walls said. "We got some kids that are being recruiting on a national level and I think it just reinforces what we're trying to do with our program and our guys, and to have Coach Norvell come by validates that. If you work hard in the offseason, are a team guy, you go out there and perform, do well in the classroom and do the things that matter, it's going to pay off. People are going to notice."

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Riding in a Robinson R44 Raven II helicopter, Novell touched down at 7:25 a.m. Friday on the football field at Bellview Park. There, he was greeted by Pine Forest running backs coach Blake Atteberry.

The two departed for a short drive to the high school where Norvell took a tour of the facility and spoke with the rest of the Eagles coaching staff. The visit lasted more than 40 minutes.

"We enjoyed having him fly in like that. It's a cool experience for our school and our program," Atteberry said.

"It's a very big deal. It says a lot about our program and the kids that we have."

Norvell departed from Bellview to take a 12-minute flight to Navarre.

The head coach was picked by Walls at Fort Walton Beach airport and arrived on campus at 9 a.m. He met with faculty and administration in addition to touring the facility and chatting with coaches during a 30-minute visit.

"I thought it was really a good gesture on his part to say hello, be interested in Navarre High School, in our program and our players," Walls said. "He was real approachable and just did a super job in talking and meeting everybody."

Norvell finished his recruiting trail with stops in Alabama at Andalusia High School and Elba High School.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828 or pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Football: FSU's Mike Novell uses helicopter for Pine Forest, Navarre visits