Hey folks, just wanted to share some additional things we’ve picked up about the AD search, Michael Alford’s hiring and where things are going forward. I was going to say this is the LAST thread on the search, but that’s not true because we will be covering the press conference Friday at 11:30.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions about the search (including some of the stuff we reported) and explain what happened over the wild last 24 hours.
So as we’ve reported, the search actually dates back several weeks and featured interviews with what I’m told was “many” candidates. I don’t have a firm number.
After all the interviews and background research was completed, Louisville AD Vince Tyra apparently blew President McCullough and others away. From what I heard, Seminole Boosters CEO Michael Alford was the only one who was close. But Tyra was the top pick, and an offer was extended. With the hope that Alford and Tyra could work well together.
Tyra accepted the offer and notified Louisville’s president on Friday that he was leaving and had to have the non-compete clause in his contract taken care of. That process wouldn’t be complete until Wednesday, as you all know. That’s when things went sideways.
At some point Wednesday evening, after Tyra submitted his resignation to Louisville, word leaked that Louisville’s president was leaving for Penn State. That was a shock to everyone up there and apparently created second thoughts for Tyra, since he was leaving in part because of their rocky relationship.
From what we’re hearing, Tyra didn’t exactly turn the FSU job down. He asked for more time to figure out what he wanted to do — either come to FSU, stay at Louisville or take an offer he had in the private sector. That didn’t sit well with FSU’s leadership, who felt they already had made a tough decision in going with Tyra over Alford in the first place. The fact that several influential donors voiced their displeasure about Alford getting passed over probably added to the concern.
At that point, Wednesday night I believe, McCullough made the decision that he would rather go with Alford, who would be excited about the job, than Tyra, who now was waffling. So in the end, I believe it was FSU that moved on … or at the very least it was a mutual decision.
FSU’s leadership then set up a meeting with Alford for late Thursday morning and extended the offer. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a long negotiation. I don’t have the details of the contract, I assume it will be released soon. But I’m told there are strong incentives associated with some major projects, including getting the football facility built. So you can imagine Alford will be very motivated to get those things done.
After a wild 24 hours, I’m hearing FSU’s leadership is very excited about the decision. As much as they liked Tyra, I think they feel better about going with someone they thought was a strong candidate and is very passionate about FSU. They also believe Alford will be able hit the ground running since he has been here for the last year and a half.
As I have mentioned previously, there is a lot of excitement among the new administration about where the athletics program is going. McCullough, new BOT chair Peter Collins and the other trustees apparently are very committed to putting their resources behind helping the programs going to the next level — particularly football since that’s where the revenue will come from.
We'll see how it all works out. But that's how we got here. If there's anything I didn't cover, feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer if I can.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions about the search (including some of the stuff we reported) and explain what happened over the wild last 24 hours.
So as we’ve reported, the search actually dates back several weeks and featured interviews with what I’m told was “many” candidates. I don’t have a firm number.
After all the interviews and background research was completed, Louisville AD Vince Tyra apparently blew President McCullough and others away. From what I heard, Seminole Boosters CEO Michael Alford was the only one who was close. But Tyra was the top pick, and an offer was extended. With the hope that Alford and Tyra could work well together.
Tyra accepted the offer and notified Louisville’s president on Friday that he was leaving and had to have the non-compete clause in his contract taken care of. That process wouldn’t be complete until Wednesday, as you all know. That’s when things went sideways.
At some point Wednesday evening, after Tyra submitted his resignation to Louisville, word leaked that Louisville’s president was leaving for Penn State. That was a shock to everyone up there and apparently created second thoughts for Tyra, since he was leaving in part because of their rocky relationship.
From what we’re hearing, Tyra didn’t exactly turn the FSU job down. He asked for more time to figure out what he wanted to do — either come to FSU, stay at Louisville or take an offer he had in the private sector. That didn’t sit well with FSU’s leadership, who felt they already had made a tough decision in going with Tyra over Alford in the first place. The fact that several influential donors voiced their displeasure about Alford getting passed over probably added to the concern.
At that point, Wednesday night I believe, McCullough made the decision that he would rather go with Alford, who would be excited about the job, than Tyra, who now was waffling. So in the end, I believe it was FSU that moved on … or at the very least it was a mutual decision.
FSU’s leadership then set up a meeting with Alford for late Thursday morning and extended the offer. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a long negotiation. I don’t have the details of the contract, I assume it will be released soon. But I’m told there are strong incentives associated with some major projects, including getting the football facility built. So you can imagine Alford will be very motivated to get those things done.
After a wild 24 hours, I’m hearing FSU’s leadership is very excited about the decision. As much as they liked Tyra, I think they feel better about going with someone they thought was a strong candidate and is very passionate about FSU. They also believe Alford will be able hit the ground running since he has been here for the last year and a half.
As I have mentioned previously, there is a lot of excitement among the new administration about where the athletics program is going. McCullough, new BOT chair Peter Collins and the other trustees apparently are very committed to putting their resources behind helping the programs going to the next level — particularly football since that’s where the revenue will come from.
We'll see how it all works out. But that's how we got here. If there's anything I didn't cover, feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer if I can.
