Florida State athletics director David Coburn, who originally was hired in an interim role before assuming the position on a full-time basis in May 2019, is apparently nearing the end of his tenure with the Seminoles.
FSU reportedly contacting candidates about A.D. job
------------------------
Just wanted to offer some additional thoughts here:
We caught wind this week that FSU was already starting this process, but there has been a lot of conflicting information about Coburn's status for months.
A lot of people assumed he would be stepping down around the same time as John Thrasher, but then they decided he would stay on. In fact, we heard from several people that he was actually going to stay on a couple more years. But we have asked for any new contracts or employment agreements for several months, and haven't gotten anything.
So either he had a change of heart, or the new president had a change of heart for him.
Either way, it sounds like what we were hearing is true -- that they've begun the process of finding a new A.D.
Coburn was not popular in the department because he was seen as a "bean counter" who was only focused on cutting expenses and not leading FSU into the future. Of course, that's exactly what he was hired to do ... they were way over budget when Stan Wilcox left, and Thrasher wanted Coburn to clean that up. So Coburn was always going to be the bad guy, and then when COVID hit, they had to cut expenses even more.
At some point though, they need to start moving forward .... and that's what a new A.D. will be tasked with leading.
We'll have plenty of coverage of this moving forward ... a couple of the obvious candidates will be Jeff Purinton, who is an assistant A.D. at Alabama and is a Florida State guy, and Seminole Boosters CEO Michael Alford. There will be others as well. I think this will move relatively quickly, which is why they're already talking to people while Coburn still has the job.
--------------
FSU reportedly contacting candidates about A.D. job
------------------------
Just wanted to offer some additional thoughts here:
We caught wind this week that FSU was already starting this process, but there has been a lot of conflicting information about Coburn's status for months.
A lot of people assumed he would be stepping down around the same time as John Thrasher, but then they decided he would stay on. In fact, we heard from several people that he was actually going to stay on a couple more years. But we have asked for any new contracts or employment agreements for several months, and haven't gotten anything.
So either he had a change of heart, or the new president had a change of heart for him.
Either way, it sounds like what we were hearing is true -- that they've begun the process of finding a new A.D.
Coburn was not popular in the department because he was seen as a "bean counter" who was only focused on cutting expenses and not leading FSU into the future. Of course, that's exactly what he was hired to do ... they were way over budget when Stan Wilcox left, and Thrasher wanted Coburn to clean that up. So Coburn was always going to be the bad guy, and then when COVID hit, they had to cut expenses even more.
At some point though, they need to start moving forward .... and that's what a new A.D. will be tasked with leading.
We'll have plenty of coverage of this moving forward ... a couple of the obvious candidates will be Jeff Purinton, who is an assistant A.D. at Alabama and is a Florida State guy, and Seminole Boosters CEO Michael Alford. There will be others as well. I think this will move relatively quickly, which is why they're already talking to people while Coburn still has the job.
--------------
Last edited:
