The Florida State Seminoles fired athletic director Michael Alford on Monday, and President Richard McCullough spoke with the media on Monday to address the change.
McCullough was asked about what they are looking for in their next athletic director, and he explained how the job is no longer just about understanding sports, but also dealing with fundraising, NIL, and the rest of college athletics.
Back in the day, athletic directors were people who played sports, right? If you didn’t play sports, how do you understand what's going on with sports?
And the world's changed dramatically, right? And these are big businesses now and where tens upon tens of millions of dollars are being invested every year. And so I think we – and you know this, like
after the House case. Once the House case happened and we had rev share and changes in NIL, we in theory had a cap on spending for rev share.
All of that has been a lot. And trying to manage in this day and age of people can go into the portal as many times as they want, agents. All the things that are going on and all those changes all coming at once means that college football has changed dramatically.
And I think that, you know, we probably need to move a bit faster than we have. And that's what we'll be looking for to help us to lead in that way.
He also evaluated the job that Mike Norvell has done, why they made the change now, and more. Here is everything he has to say on Monday about firing Alford.
Opening Statement
Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for being here. Appreciate your love of Florida State University football.
As you know, today, the University dismissed athletic director Michael Alford without cause. And I just wanted to let you know that we're really about looking forward to the future and doing everything in our power to give the student-athletes and the coaches every opportunity to do the best that they can and win. And so we are dedicated to that and looking forward to the future.
On why they did it today, timeline for replacing him
Yeah, I mean, I think that the world of college sports, especially football, is changing incredibly rapidly. And we feel really strongly that we need to put our athletics department in the best possible situation so that we can support the coaches so that they can win.
And so this is a first step in working toward doing everything that we can to build revenue and take a look at the kind of administration that we need moving forward.
On why they made the change
We're going through a time where the investments that we're making in college football is rapidly increasing.
People often say that we have a spending problem, but the spending problem is essentially a reality. The reality is that that's what it takes to be competitive at the highest level. And at Forest State University, I mean, we're spending probably in the top 20, 25 in the country.
So we're making the investments to get there. But the gap between what the SEC and Big Ten get and what we get in the ACC is significant. And for us to be competitive means that we need to be doing some of the things that a lot of other universities have started to do on the revenue side.
And so I think that's going to be what we're going to do looking forward. I think we'll want to make those kinds of sort of strategic plans and have that put in motion before we would hire a new athletic director. There may be some changes in the organizational structure and things like that, but it's not going to be some huge, dramatic thing, but it's work that we have to do.
On what they are looking for in their next athletic director
Yeah, I mean, your question is exactly right. I mean, back in the day, athletic directors were people who played sports, right? If you didn’t play sports, how do you understand what's going on with sports?
And the world's changed dramatically, right? And these are big businesses now and where tens upon tens of millions of dollars are being invested every year. And so I think we – and you know this, like after the House case. Once the House case happened and we had rev share and changes in NIL, we in theory had a cap on spending for rev share.
All of that has been a lot. And trying to manage in this day and age of people can go into the portal as many times as they want, agents. All the things that are going on and all those changes all coming at once means that college football has changed dramatically.
And I think that, you know, we probably need to move a bit faster than we have. And that's what we'll be looking for to help us to lead in that way.
How important it is that the next person understands the finances
Incredibly important. Incredibly important. That's part of the pathway, is creating a revenue structure that can be supportive to help us to be as competitive as we can be.
His evaluation of Mike Norvell
Look, I love Mike Norvell. He's a great human being.I love what he does with our student-athletes. Our grades have never been better under his leadership. I love how he takes our student-athletes and helps them to be the best version of themselves.
I love how he makes them competitive, and we love all that. And I have to tell you, nobody wants to win more than Mike Norvell. Except for maybe the players, me, Chairman Collins.
I mean, we want to win. Of course we want to win. And, you know, college coaches are in the winning business, so that's what we're working on.
I mean, we're not really here to talk about Coach Norvell. This is really about AD Alford.
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This article originally appeared on FSU Wire: What FSU President Richard McCullough said about firing Michael Alford
