Breaking News Update: Michael Alford hired as new CEO of Seminole Boosters

Dot Com · Jul 14, 2020

Wednesday 10:15 a.m. update - Michael Alford has been hired as the new CEO of the Seminole Boosters. Full Story: Alford tabbed to replace Andy Miller as head of Seminole Boosters

Bio from Central Michigan's sports website:

Michael Alford is in his fourth year as Central Michigan’s Zyzeleweski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics, and his impact on Chippewa Athletics has been remarkable.

The 2019-20 season continued the most successful fundraising period in Central Michigan Athletics history, with construction well underway on the Chippewa Champions Center, a transformational project overlooking Kelly/Shorts Stadium that will fill critical needs for the university community, support student-athlete success, and serve as an inspirational environment for students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff.

In addition, Alford introduced in 2020 the 1896 Society, a recognition for Chippewa Athletics’ top supporters and named in honor of the year that the university began intercollegiate athletics.

In the athletic arena, the Chippewas put together another outstanding season under Alford’s leadership in 2019-20:

The CMU football team posted the second-most dramatic one-season turnaround among Football Bowl Subdivision teams, finishing with an 8-6 record, winning the Mid-American Conference West Division title for the first time since 2009, and making appearances in both the MAC Championship Game and the New Mexico Bowl.
The Chippewa women’s basketball team continued its dominance, winning its fourth-consecutive MAC regular-season title, its fifth-straight MAC West crown, and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third-consecutive year.
The CMU volleyball team completed one of the best seasons in program history, finishing 21-9, winning the MAC West title, and earning a postseason-tournament bid for the second time. The Chippewas won 11 MAC matches, its highest conference win total since 2008.
The CMU wrestling program enjoyed a resurgence, finishing second at the MAC Championships while three Chippewas earned individual league titles and were named All-America.

Alford leads a department that in 2019-20 saw several of its members earn individual accolades after leading their respective programs to remarkable success.

CMU’s Tom Borrelli (wrestling), Mike Gawlik (volleyball), Jim McElwain (football) and Heather Oesterle (women’s basketball) were named the MAC Coach of the Year in their respective sports.
CMU’s Micaela “Twin” Kelly earned the MAC Player of the Year Award for women’s basketball, becoming the third-consecutive Chippewa to accomplish that feat; Matt Stencil was named the MAC Wrestler of the Year; and Denelle Pedrick earned both the MAC Gymnast of the Year and the MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year awards.
Five Chippewas earned All-America honors: wrestlers Matt Stencil, Drew Hildebrandt and Dresden Simon, and track & field athletes Nadia Williams and Logan Targgart.
Alford arrived at Central Michigan in July 2017 as a senior executive with a proven track record of fundraising and marketing at the University of Oklahoma, with the Dallas Cowboys, at the University of Alabama, with ESPN, at the University of Southern California, with the Cincinnati Bengals, and at the University of Cincinnati.

The list of accomplishments that Alford has achieved during his three years include:

The construction of the Chippewa Champions Center, the transformation facility located at Kelly/Shorts Stadium that will house CMU’s sports medicine operations including a rehabilitation and hydrotherapy area, the university’s football operations including locker room, strength & conditioning facilities, team meeting rooms, coach’s offices, and more.
The construction of the videoboard structure at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. At 3,200 square feet, the videoboard is by far the largest in the MAC and includes a state-of-the-art audio system.
The renegotiation of CMU Athletics’ sponsorship deal with Adidas, increasing revenue by more than 600 percent.
The design and construction of new locker rooms and a team room for the soccer and gymnastics programs.
An all-time department fundraising record in 2018-19 that eclipsed the mark set in 2017-18. The amount raised in ’17-18 surpassed by 50 percent the previous department record set in 2010.
An all-time high of Chippewa Athletic Fund memberships.
The hiring of new head coaches for football, women’s basketball, gymnastics, golf, field hockey, track and field, soccer, softball and baseball.
The implementation of periodic “Fire Up Chats” in order to directly address CMU fans and supporters. The chats, published on cmuchippewas.com, highlight student-athlete success, laud on-field performances and championships, outline Alford’s vision for departmental facility upgrades, and stress the importance of being part of the Chippewa Athletic Fund as well as other forms of support.
The establishment of the Chippewa Leadership Academy, which provides Chippewa student-athletes a guided path from their time as a freshman to graduation, and to hear from on-campus, regional and national figures on the meaning of leadership.
The creation of a captain’s table that brings together a select group of senior student-athletes who explore leadership themes and serve as a sounding board to improve CMU Athletics.
The development of an athletics diversity graduate assistantship program to increase diversity in job candidates in athletics administration.
CMU student-athletes continued their across-the-board academic excellence under Alford’s guidance in 2019-20. The year saw CMU student-athletes extend their streak to 43 consecutive semesters with a collective grade-point average above 3.0, and CMU’s student-athlete cumulative GPA stood at 3.24 at the completion of the 2019-20 academic year. In addition, nine Chippewa programs posted a perfect single-year APR of 1,000.

Alford played baseball at Mississippi State University and at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in communication arts in 1993. He completed his master’s degree in athletics administration at the University of Arkansas in 1995.

Alford’s wife, Laura, played volleyball at Hawaii and coached at Cincinnati and UCI. They have three daughters, Audrey, Ashley and Anna Leigh.

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Just an FYI. We hear Andy Miller's replacement could be announced as soon as Wednesday.

It's likely going to be one of the following two candidates:

Greg Hulen - The current Executive VP of the Seminole Boosters

Michael Alford - Currently the AD at Central Michigan

Andy is expected to stay on for a while to help with the transition.

rpcfsu · Jul 14, 2020