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By: Gene Williams and Ira Schoffel
War Room
Change at the top coming for Seminole Boosters (updated)
Andy Miller has been the head of Seminole Boosters going all the way back to 1974 when it was created. From all indications, his 46-year run will come to an end later this year.
Plans are for the current President and CEO of the Boosters to step down close to the end of the year but remain on in consultant role. I will caution everyone that leadership positions at Florida State (president John Thrasher and athletics director David Coburn) are expected to be extended past anticipated dates – Thrasher likely will get a one-year extension at the next Board of Trustees meeting. As such, it’s certainly possible that an audible could be called and Miller could stay on a little longer. But for now, the plan is to move forward with a change in leadership.
There is a committee in place that is currently vetting and interviewing candidates to replace Miller. Here’s a look at the top candidates that have emerged based on what we’ve heard:
Greg Hulen – Was heavily involved in fundraising for the University of Tennessee’s athletics department before becoming Executive Vice President of Seminole Boosters in 2017. Basically, he serves as the No. 2 right now under Miller.
Told today Colson has been eliminated as a candidate -- Colson Hosford – A Tallahassee native who was a walk-on receiver with the football team in 2002-03. He handles all real estate assets for Seminole Boosters and heads up major gift fundraising with a focus on real estate. Has been with the Seminole Boosters since 2015.
Skip Foster - Former Publisher of The Tallahassee Democrat (12/2014 – 12/2019). During this time, he was board chairman of the United Way of the Big Bend and led the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce board. Before that he was the publisher of the Northwest Florida Daily News.
We’ve heard there are at least two other candidates in the mix that are not directly affiliated with Florida State. One is currently at UCLA and the other is at Central Michigan.
Our understanding is that this list will be cut to three within the next week before the final interviews are conducted.
Seminole Boosters selling property, Athletics Department tightening belt
Seminole Boosters sold the Burt Reynolds apartment complex (formerly Burt Reynolds Hall) earlier this year for $3.7 million, and it looks like the Seminoles’ fund-raising group could be liquidating other properties as well.
Champions Hall, a higher-end property that has been a main housing option for FSU football players since 2014, is going up for sale as well, from what we hear. It is not known what the asking price would be, but it likely would be considerably higher based on its age and size.
Money from these real estate transactions will go to offsetting recent and ongoing financial losses in the FSU athletics department. With more revenue expected to be lost due to the coronavirus in the coming fiscal year, it would not be a surprise to see Seminole Boosters look at liquidating more assets to get through the crisis.
While selling property isn’t going to be a sustainable long-term approach, it’s a less-painful option than widespread layoffs and furloughs. We have heard that FSU has resisted those latter moves – at least for now – but pay reductions are expected to take place in various areas of the department. Assuming FSU follows the lead of other universities, we anticipate the highest-paid coaches to shoulder the most significant impact, but there will be belt-tightening at all levels.
Considering football schedule options
It’s still too early to know how college football schedules will be affected by the pandemic, but if fan access is significantly limited as expected, the Seminoles’ scheduled season opener against West Virginia would likely be the first game to be scrapped.
Based on the contracted terms of that neutral-site game in Atlanta, virtually all of the revenue for the schools’ payouts would be generated by ticket sales. Florida State, for example, is slated to receive $4.25 million and 100 complimentary hotel rooms for playing in the game, provided that the school sells $4.575 million in tickets. The ticket prices range from $275 for lower-level VIP seats to $60 for some student sections.
What happens if only a fraction of the fans are allowed to attend? Or none at all? Would Florida State and West Virginia both travel to Atlanta to lose money on a non-conference game in these conditions?
There is language in virtually all game contracts that states games can be canceled with no penalty for extreme circumstances, such as wars, hurricanes, floods or government actions. So those clauses would be cited if FSU was forced to cancel any of its other non-conference games as well – a road trip to Boise State or home games against Samford and Florida.
Warchant reached out to the Atlanta game organizers to see how they are preparing, and we received this statement from Peach Bowl CEO and Presiden Gary Stokan:
“Right now everything is still in place for the games to be played as scheduled, and that is everyone’s intent at this time. We are aware that various contingency plans for the college football season are being discussed, but no decisions have been made. We expect to learn much more about the virus and how to fight it in the coming months and will continue to monitor the situation closely. If in that time the conferences and universities discuss alternative plans for the start of the college football season, then we will work closely with our partner teams and conferences and address them at the appropriate time.”
Positive momentum, but note of caution
There has been a great deal of positive momentum in recent days surrounding the expected return of college football this season – highlighted by a return to voluntary player workouts in the coming days -- but it’s important to note that we’re not out of the woods yet.
In speaking with one high-ranking FSU official this week, there’s still concern that a setback related to the coronavirus could put the entire season on hold. Clearing these early hurdles has been positive, but the feeling is there are many more that will need to be cleared down the road before football returns on Saturdays.
On that note, you might have noticed that Florida State officials have been on the more cautious side of the spectrum than many universities around the country. While some university presidents have made public statements about how determined they are to have students on campus, participating in face-to-face learning, FSU’s John Thrasher has been reluctant to make any such brash comments. To the contrary, the university’s provost sent an email to faculty earlier this month encouraging them to prepare for a mostly online learning environment.
The same could be said for FSU athletics director David Coburn. His nature is to stay low-profile and work behind the scenes, and he has definitely maintained that posture during the pandemic.
From what we can gather, Florida State’s understated approach should not be seen as a lack of determination, but an understanding that a lot of these decisions will be made at a higher political level. Look for Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System, to make the final decisions about how much face-to-face learning takes place and when college football returns for all of the public universities in Florida.
By: Gene Williams and Ira Schoffel
War Room
Change at the top coming for Seminole Boosters (updated)
Andy Miller has been the head of Seminole Boosters going all the way back to 1974 when it was created. From all indications, his 46-year run will come to an end later this year.
Plans are for the current President and CEO of the Boosters to step down close to the end of the year but remain on in consultant role. I will caution everyone that leadership positions at Florida State (president John Thrasher and athletics director David Coburn) are expected to be extended past anticipated dates – Thrasher likely will get a one-year extension at the next Board of Trustees meeting. As such, it’s certainly possible that an audible could be called and Miller could stay on a little longer. But for now, the plan is to move forward with a change in leadership.
There is a committee in place that is currently vetting and interviewing candidates to replace Miller. Here’s a look at the top candidates that have emerged based on what we’ve heard:
Greg Hulen – Was heavily involved in fundraising for the University of Tennessee’s athletics department before becoming Executive Vice President of Seminole Boosters in 2017. Basically, he serves as the No. 2 right now under Miller.
Told today Colson has been eliminated as a candidate -- Colson Hosford – A Tallahassee native who was a walk-on receiver with the football team in 2002-03. He handles all real estate assets for Seminole Boosters and heads up major gift fundraising with a focus on real estate. Has been with the Seminole Boosters since 2015.
Skip Foster - Former Publisher of The Tallahassee Democrat (12/2014 – 12/2019). During this time, he was board chairman of the United Way of the Big Bend and led the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce board. Before that he was the publisher of the Northwest Florida Daily News.
We’ve heard there are at least two other candidates in the mix that are not directly affiliated with Florida State. One is currently at UCLA and the other is at Central Michigan.
Our understanding is that this list will be cut to three within the next week before the final interviews are conducted.
Seminole Boosters selling property, Athletics Department tightening belt
Seminole Boosters sold the Burt Reynolds apartment complex (formerly Burt Reynolds Hall) earlier this year for $3.7 million, and it looks like the Seminoles’ fund-raising group could be liquidating other properties as well.
Champions Hall, a higher-end property that has been a main housing option for FSU football players since 2014, is going up for sale as well, from what we hear. It is not known what the asking price would be, but it likely would be considerably higher based on its age and size.
Money from these real estate transactions will go to offsetting recent and ongoing financial losses in the FSU athletics department. With more revenue expected to be lost due to the coronavirus in the coming fiscal year, it would not be a surprise to see Seminole Boosters look at liquidating more assets to get through the crisis.
While selling property isn’t going to be a sustainable long-term approach, it’s a less-painful option than widespread layoffs and furloughs. We have heard that FSU has resisted those latter moves – at least for now – but pay reductions are expected to take place in various areas of the department. Assuming FSU follows the lead of other universities, we anticipate the highest-paid coaches to shoulder the most significant impact, but there will be belt-tightening at all levels.
Considering football schedule options
It’s still too early to know how college football schedules will be affected by the pandemic, but if fan access is significantly limited as expected, the Seminoles’ scheduled season opener against West Virginia would likely be the first game to be scrapped.
Based on the contracted terms of that neutral-site game in Atlanta, virtually all of the revenue for the schools’ payouts would be generated by ticket sales. Florida State, for example, is slated to receive $4.25 million and 100 complimentary hotel rooms for playing in the game, provided that the school sells $4.575 million in tickets. The ticket prices range from $275 for lower-level VIP seats to $60 for some student sections.
What happens if only a fraction of the fans are allowed to attend? Or none at all? Would Florida State and West Virginia both travel to Atlanta to lose money on a non-conference game in these conditions?
There is language in virtually all game contracts that states games can be canceled with no penalty for extreme circumstances, such as wars, hurricanes, floods or government actions. So those clauses would be cited if FSU was forced to cancel any of its other non-conference games as well – a road trip to Boise State or home games against Samford and Florida.
Warchant reached out to the Atlanta game organizers to see how they are preparing, and we received this statement from Peach Bowl CEO and Presiden Gary Stokan:
“Right now everything is still in place for the games to be played as scheduled, and that is everyone’s intent at this time. We are aware that various contingency plans for the college football season are being discussed, but no decisions have been made. We expect to learn much more about the virus and how to fight it in the coming months and will continue to monitor the situation closely. If in that time the conferences and universities discuss alternative plans for the start of the college football season, then we will work closely with our partner teams and conferences and address them at the appropriate time.”
Positive momentum, but note of caution
There has been a great deal of positive momentum in recent days surrounding the expected return of college football this season – highlighted by a return to voluntary player workouts in the coming days -- but it’s important to note that we’re not out of the woods yet.
In speaking with one high-ranking FSU official this week, there’s still concern that a setback related to the coronavirus could put the entire season on hold. Clearing these early hurdles has been positive, but the feeling is there are many more that will need to be cleared down the road before football returns on Saturdays.
On that note, you might have noticed that Florida State officials have been on the more cautious side of the spectrum than many universities around the country. While some university presidents have made public statements about how determined they are to have students on campus, participating in face-to-face learning, FSU’s John Thrasher has been reluctant to make any such brash comments. To the contrary, the university’s provost sent an email to faculty earlier this month encouraging them to prepare for a mostly online learning environment.
The same could be said for FSU athletics director David Coburn. His nature is to stay low-profile and work behind the scenes, and he has definitely maintained that posture during the pandemic.
From what we can gather, Florida State’s understated approach should not be seen as a lack of determination, but an understanding that a lot of these decisions will be made at a higher political level. Look for Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Board of Governors, which oversees the State University System, to make the final decisions about how much face-to-face learning takes place and when college football returns for all of the public universities in Florida.
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