3:30 p.m. update -- Just interviewed President Thrasher in his office. Full story coming but wanted to share a few nuggets.
He said he will have an interim A.D. named very soon but isn't ready to announce yet. He also had a lot of positive things to say about Stan Wilcox and his tenure, but acknowledged that the timing isn't ideal.
He said NCAA President Mark Emmert actually emailed him today to apologize for making the hire right before football season and the start of an academic year.
Thrasher already has talked to Coach Taggart, Coach Hamilton and several other coaches, and feels good about where things stand right now.
He said he will almost certainly will be using a search firm to help with the process. Like I said, will have full story coming shortly.
1 p.m. update -- From talking to folks, it sounds like the NCAA really gave Stan a very impressive offer -- much more than I would think FSU would be willing to counter with. So it's not like he's leaving for the first job that came available.
It will be interesting to see what FSU does in the immediate interim. If Thrasher decides to go with someone on staff, he could go with one of the assistant A.D.s, such as Vanessa Fuchs, who handled the job on an interim basis once before.
If they want someone with a PR background (and who could do handle press conferences, etc.), they could maybe go with Karl Hicks, who is over external communications. If they want someone with a financial background (since they're in the middle of some big projects, like the football facility), they could maybe go with Matt Behnke, who has been the CFO in athletics for several years before recently resigning to take a position in the private sector.
We still think Ed Burr will be very much in play, but someone in-house could make sense for the immediacy factor. From what we've heard, this caught most people in the department by surprise. Not a great thing to have that much uncertainty right before football season.
---------
Just wanted to update you on a few things Gene and I are hearing on this developing situation with Stan Wilcox leaving.
While this was big news to rank-and-file people in the athletics department, we had been hearing chatter in recent weeks that Wilcox could be leaving well before his contract ran out in 2020. So we don't think this comes as a huge surprise to FSU President John Thrasher and his inner circle.
We wouldn't be surprised if Ed Burr, who is the chairman of the Board of Trustees, helps out on an interim basis if they don't make a hire quickly. Burr, a Jacksonville developer, is extremely close to Thrasher and has taken a more active role with the department lately -- i.e. with the football facility and other initiatives. We've even heard from a couple of sources that he could be a potential A.D. at FSU in the future.
One candidate that could -- and should -- emerge is Greg Phillips. Phillps is an FSU grad, was the CFO in athletics here for several years, was the No. 2 at Oklahoma for awhile, then has been leading the way at IMG Academy (as co-managing director) in recent years. Phillips actually resigned from IMG to go into private consulting a couple weeks ago. Not sure if he would be interested, but he's a really sharp guy.
We'll share more information as we hear it.
He said he will have an interim A.D. named very soon but isn't ready to announce yet. He also had a lot of positive things to say about Stan Wilcox and his tenure, but acknowledged that the timing isn't ideal.
He said NCAA President Mark Emmert actually emailed him today to apologize for making the hire right before football season and the start of an academic year.
Thrasher already has talked to Coach Taggart, Coach Hamilton and several other coaches, and feels good about where things stand right now.
He said he will almost certainly will be using a search firm to help with the process. Like I said, will have full story coming shortly.
1 p.m. update -- From talking to folks, it sounds like the NCAA really gave Stan a very impressive offer -- much more than I would think FSU would be willing to counter with. So it's not like he's leaving for the first job that came available.
It will be interesting to see what FSU does in the immediate interim. If Thrasher decides to go with someone on staff, he could go with one of the assistant A.D.s, such as Vanessa Fuchs, who handled the job on an interim basis once before.
If they want someone with a PR background (and who could do handle press conferences, etc.), they could maybe go with Karl Hicks, who is over external communications. If they want someone with a financial background (since they're in the middle of some big projects, like the football facility), they could maybe go with Matt Behnke, who has been the CFO in athletics for several years before recently resigning to take a position in the private sector.
We still think Ed Burr will be very much in play, but someone in-house could make sense for the immediacy factor. From what we've heard, this caught most people in the department by surprise. Not a great thing to have that much uncertainty right before football season.
---------
Just wanted to update you on a few things Gene and I are hearing on this developing situation with Stan Wilcox leaving.
While this was big news to rank-and-file people in the athletics department, we had been hearing chatter in recent weeks that Wilcox could be leaving well before his contract ran out in 2020. So we don't think this comes as a huge surprise to FSU President John Thrasher and his inner circle.
We wouldn't be surprised if Ed Burr, who is the chairman of the Board of Trustees, helps out on an interim basis if they don't make a hire quickly. Burr, a Jacksonville developer, is extremely close to Thrasher and has taken a more active role with the department lately -- i.e. with the football facility and other initiatives. We've even heard from a couple of sources that he could be a potential A.D. at FSU in the future.
One candidate that could -- and should -- emerge is Greg Phillips. Phillps is an FSU grad, was the CFO in athletics here for several years, was the No. 2 at Oklahoma for awhile, then has been leading the way at IMG Academy (as co-managing director) in recent years. Phillips actually resigned from IMG to go into private consulting a couple weeks ago. Not sure if he would be interested, but he's a really sharp guy.
We'll share more information as we hear it.
Last edited:
