Story by
In a painful moment for FSU, Alford promises bright future at Seminole Boosters town hall
- Story by
- In a painful moment for FSU, Alford promises bright future at Seminole Boosters town hall
Florida State Athletic Director Michael Alford and Seminole Boosters CEO Stephen Ponder held a virtual town hall Wednesday evening to update boosters on the status of FSU athletics at a grim time for its franchise football program.
In a nearly hour-long discussion, Alford touched on FSU football's painful 2024 season, the search for new coaches on Mike Norvell's staff, Doak Campbell renovations and the changing landscape of college athletics.
Advertisement
Alford said FSU is committed to competing at an "elite level" across all of its sports at the university and asked boosters to continue to support the program. He said 35% of FSU's athletic revenue comes from boosters, only second behind the school's media contracts in generated revenue.
Here are three takeaways from the Seminole Boosters town hall.
Alford promises football fix, wants FSU to compete at the 'top'
Both Alford and Ponder discussed the Seminoles 1-9 football season at length during the town hall.
Alford said that he has weekly discussions with Norvell and that plans are in the works to make sure FSU doesn't have a season like this again . The discussions are candid as both Alford and Norvell dissect what went wrong with the Seminoles ' preparation and investment into this year's team.
Advertisement
"We all want Florida State to be the very best and to compete for national championships," Alford said. "Mike and I have very comfortable, candid relationships. There's a mutual respect for one another. He knows me, he understands my role. Of course, I understand his role. We have a shared vision and we're going to work together to get this corrected."
Alford said he has full confidence in Norvell and his ability to get the most out of his players.
"This hurts him a lot. It wears on him. But the energy that's what I've been so impressed about. His energy has not wavered and you go to practice, and the energy of the young men associated with the program and their effort has not changed during practice," Alford said. "They want to continue to get better, and really are looking forward to continuing this season on a strong note. Let's end it on a strong note. Fix it in the off-season and get ready for a very successful 2025."
When asked about the timeline of changes, Alford said the decision to fire Adam Fuller, Alex Atkins and Ron Dugans, was made by Norvell with the best interest of student-athletes in mind.
Advertisement
Alford called the interest in open coaching roles "overwhelming" and said that FSU fans will know the names of people who have registered interest in joining Norvell's staff. It's a similar message to what Norvell said in his weekly press conference on Monday.
"The search process has already started," Alford said. "The names, I can't get to them of course, but let me say, the interest of people reaching out to us has been overwhelming, and you would recognize a lot of the names."
"Everyone says you're going to be right back, and that's our anticipation. But the amount of interest to be a part of this program, and a part of this university and community has been overwhelming, and especially by the type of people and the resumes that they bring with them to be a part of this program."
"It speaks to the tradition of Florida State. It speaks to what our donor base has been able to build here throughout the years, and it makes us really excited for the future."
Advertisement
FSU vs. ACC lawsuit an issue of revenue according to Alford
Florida State University Athletic Director Michael Alford stands on the sidelines as the war chant is played by the Marching Chiefs before kickoff of the game between the Seminoles and the Clemson Tigers at Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022.
The current litigation between the ACC and FSU was briefly touched on by Alford, who said the primary reason for the lawsuit is what he described as a "revenue problem."
The litigation has evolved into a multi-state legal battle over media rights contracts and the potential half-a-billion-dollar fee FSU would owe the conference if it pursued an exit from the ACC.
Alford said after analyzing other conference's media agreements that schools were getting $30 million to $40 million dollars more than FSU's current agreement and were able to hit the market and renegotiate terms before the Seminoles could.
Advertisement
"We've got a revenue problem," Alford said. "It's not a peer institution problem, it's a revenue problem, and bringing that to the conference, and talking to the conference about we need to find solutions in order to compete."
"Florida State's a national brand. Florida State wants to compete at the highest level. There's not many institutions you can count on one hand that you have a program, an athletic program, that competes at this elite level across the board, and that's something we're very proud of."
He said that he wants to continue to invest heavily in programs like women's soccer and softball so they can compete for national championships regularly.
Alford believes that there needs to be different revenue streams for the school to continue its investments in all programs.
Advertisement
"In order to do that, we needed to look at our revenue model within the conference," Alford said. "That was the basic discussion that we have had with them, which started two and a half, three years ago, and gotten us to this point where we want to look at finding different revenue models in order for us to compete across the board at an elite level like we do, and attract the very best student-athletes in the country."
Both Ponder and Alford pointed to information provided by FSU's consultants that compared the Seminoles' brand value to ACC schools and both BIG10 and SEC schools.
FSU Athletic Director Michale Alford presents information about the Seminoles brand image at a Seminoles Boosters town hall on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024
According to the school's numbers, FSU has the largest brand value in the ACC and would rank third in the BIG10 behind Michigan and Ohio State, and fourth in the SEC. The school ranked its brand higher than all other Florida institutions.
Advertisement
"In head-to-head competitions with common opponents, we actually have a better brand value than our counterparts in the middle of the state," Alford said. "It's something that we take a lot of pride in that we own the state of Florida when it comes to our brand, and the attention our brand receives when we play nationally and we play opponents from outside our region, there's a lot of interest."
Plans for Doak Campbell Stadium use, future investment into FSU athletics
Whether watching from home or visiting Doak Campbell Stadium in person, the construction to the west side of the Seminoles stadium is clear for everyone to see. The renovations cut the seating capacity for the stadium by about 24,000 seats and will cost $265 million.
The upgrades have led some season ticket holders to see an increase in ticket prices starting in the 2025 season.
Advertisement
Pricing includes a one-time capital gift contribution that will qualify as tax deductible and can be paid over three years. The contribution will be used to fund the stadium renovations.
Both Ponder and Alford said they are continuing to meet with boosters to discuss season ticket renewals.
Alford said that the investments will allow FSU to maximize its revenue generation from the stadium. He said the Seminoles are $13 million behind the average SEC school and $9 million behind BIG10 schools in generating revenue from its stadium and amenities.
He said the key to maximizing revenue from Doak is providing amenities that other universities do and finding alternate sources of income like hosting concerts or things like motocross.
Advertisement
"Those institutions, have gone in and updated their stadiums over the last 15 years, 20 years, and have been able to capitalize on the different experiences and provided different fan experiences that have really enabled them to get theirs, get their donors, get their season ticket owners, continually growing that ticket base," Alford said. "That's something that we believe and know that Doak Campbell is going to allow us to do."
Another key discussion during the town hall surrounded the House vs. NCAA settlement – a class action lawsuit that impacts how college athletes are paid and accommodated.
The settlement allows schools in the Power Five to pay athletes directly from university athletics budgets. Money will be available to be distributed from broadcast revenue, NIL deals, ticket sales, and other fundraising efforts that impact athletics budgets.
Alford said that FSU is excited about the future and is preparing to deal with the "cap" that will be put on payments. He is meeting with leadership from the Dallas Cowboys to discuss how to operate under a cap and better understand some of the language that goes into agreements between players and organizations.
Advertisement
"It's really going to clean up where we've been in this wild west atmosphere we've had the last few years," Alford said. "I think for the betterment of the student-athlete as well."
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State Athletic Director Michael Alford touts exciting future
