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State of The Noles Interview · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: All right, it's the third hour of the Morning Show
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: with Preston's Gut. Come morning, friends, thanks for joining us. Thursday,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: August seventh, it is show fifty four to twenty sixties,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: ose Im Preston and this is the Director of Athletics
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Florida State University once again with our State of the
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Knowles visit Michael Alford.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Hello, how are you, sir? I'm doing excellent. How are
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: you doing? You look great? Yeah, thanks, appreciate it. Much's
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: been good to you. You got a nice ten. Yeah,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: well that's golf. That's getting out on the golf course
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: a little bit. But thank you. You've been busy, You've
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: been traveling around a little bit to solve the world
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: have being a collegiate athletics and I'm sure we represent
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: the Knowles well before we drill down into Florida State
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: for a second, just kind of broadly speaking, do you
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: think we're going to finally get something solved with nil
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: and some of the controversies that surround legiate sports right now? Well,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I'm a firm believer in the settlement something some of
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: these guardrails is something that we presented in twenty nineteen
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: to the NCAA, and what we're implementing now of the
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: exact same guardrails we wanted put in place back then.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: One thing we're missing is registration of agents, and we'll
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: touch base on that a little bit later. Define guardrails
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: for listeners. Well, you wanted parameters, you wanted set of
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: rules that everybody was to play for. You wanted a
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: cap and we talked about that, and you wanted a
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: third what I would refer to as a TPA, a
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: third party administrator. And we have that Deloitte that is
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: now looking with their algorithm looking at these arrangements that
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: student athletes have with corporations and evaluating them to make
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: sure that they fit the fair market value as we
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: call it, range of compensation, So making sure that you
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: don't have donor a who also owns a Toyota dealership
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: paying a quarterback a rate that is not correct in
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: the marketplace just to give them money. And I'm a
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: believe in Deloitte's algorithm because I'm accustomed to it. I
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: worked with it for twelve years in the NFL. If
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I was going to do a Tony Romottle starter deal
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: with that company, starter and he promoted them. We had
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: to run it through the algorithm, and Deloitt was one
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: of the companies we would utilize to make sure that
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: we weren't in the NFL cheating the cap, discounting our
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: arrangement and our assets that we were providing starter to
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: cheat the cap to pay Tony more as it stands
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: right now, broadly speaking, because we could take an entire
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: show three hours to drill into the specific details of
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: this one topic alone. Broadly speaking, how much money does
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: each d one school have to work with? Twenty point five?
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Everyone's working with twenty point five. You can do two
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: point five in scholarships, which that is something that I
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: really wanted to do because that allowed me to give
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: more student athletes the opportunity to leave college debt free. Okay,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and so we're maximizing the two point five. You have
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: a choice, but we are maximizing us above and beyond
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: what we were currently doing. And what it's great about
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: our situation it allows me to give more student athletes
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: the opportunity because the cost of attendance of Florida State
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: is at the price where it is if you take
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: the University of North Carolina, for example. Unlet's just take
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: our two soccer programs, I can give three scholars full
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: scholarships to their one moving forward because of the great
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: cost of attendance and what the BOG and the state
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: has done tuition and by bog you're referring to the
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: border governors keep that down here in the state of Florida.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: So it gives us an advantage be able to offer
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: more scholarships full rides and maximize that two and a
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: half than other institutions, even within our own conference.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Before we get into Florida state specifics on facilities and
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the upcoming seasons, which is really exciting to talk about. Michael,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: do you see a scenario coming as an inevitability where
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: student athletes are going to be required to sign some
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: form of a contract to stay at a given school
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: and not jump ship.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that we're doing that right now. We have a contract.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: As much I have great experience in the NFL. As
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: you know, I have Bruce Warwick on our staff, who
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: was Sean mcvay's chief of operations for fifteen years on
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: our staff and he's our chief of staff for football.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: So the NFL experience, we were able to work with
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: our council on campus and develop a contract. That's very
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: professional and that's something that we're doing rolling out right now.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Student athletes going through their agents. Some have great agents.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: But it limits the jumping around that we're seeing by
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: out that all of the coaches are looking at and
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: saying this is this is going to hurt athletics and
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: collegiate sports.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: There's a buye of Hile State wants to come get
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: our quarterback, there's a buyout at our quarterbacks claus. Okay
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: that Ohio State not only would have to pay us
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: that buyout, but then that buyout also counts against their
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: cap gotcha of what they can do, so it's almost
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: double whammy for them.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Never get tired of hearing it, especially this time of
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: year as we start a new school year, academic school
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: year at Florida State University and universities across the country.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Michael Alford, director of Athletics with me from Florida State Facilities. Obviously,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: let's start with the big one, and that's Doe Campbell Stadium.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: I asked you before we even started, what are you
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: most happy about the things that people will see, the
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: things that most people won't.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: See, What people won't see? Okay, what's what people are
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: going to see is going to be breathtaking when they
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: first walk in. Just the comfort, the size, you can
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: walk around the concourse, be able to see the difference
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: between the old stadium and what is there now. But
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: what really excites me is just the opportunity to provide
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: the fan experience, and that's things behind the scenes. The
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: kitchens we were able to put in the concessions, the
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: number of bathrooms and everything here. That lady's effort. If
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: you have a problem going to the bathroom, now we've
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: got issues because there is so many and we wanted
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: to make sure of that sure, but just you know,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: we talked a little bit about it. But in the
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: old stadium, seventy five year old dog is beautiful. But
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: we had ninety seven suites in the stadium. We had
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: no kitchens in the facility. That's hard to get your
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: brain around, so to service our fans. And we had
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: no burners because it wasn't a fire It wasn't up
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: to fire code, so we couldn't fry anything in the stadium.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: So just the ability now to go through and provide
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: an upscale service, regular concessions to founder suites is going
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to be a different experience. What are you most proud
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: of that the fans will see when they come to
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: Dote Campbell for the opening kickoff against Alabama on the thirtieth.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Just the size of the concourses, the freedom to walk
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: around to see things. I highly want people to get
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: there early and be able to walk around the stadium
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: and see the changes. Even on the east side. You know,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: last year we put in those caps, so everybody had
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: to find eighteen inch seat because it was a sixteen
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: inch before. And I don't know about you, but no
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: one could fit in a sixteen inch seat eighteen inch
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: to find caps we had put it, installed the handrails
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: for safety. This year we've gone and put a coding
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: on the concourses, kind of like you do your garage.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: You're going to notice that we redid the ramps. So
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: there's been a lot of life safety changes made on
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: the east side as well as the west. And that's
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: just something that we're really proud of of getting the
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: stadium to modernize because it's it's beautiful, it's historic, but
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: we need to keep the update every year.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Now, well, I was going to ask you if making
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: those types of changes is one part of it, then
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: you get to the real challenge of maintaining those investments correct.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: And that's something that we were lacking in previous years
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: because there was times before games, before seasons we had
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: structure engineers go through there, and that we were spending
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: a lot of money on defer maintenance to keep it standing.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: And now this gives us the ability to keep it
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: more regulated and making those changes, especially on the east
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: side and the south, and we did a lot of
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: work on the South as well, but it just allows
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: us to go in and be more proactive in making
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: sure we're on top of all those We.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Got about a minute left in this segment, Michael, what's
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: left to do at Doe Campbell and what is next
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: on the list of things that are going to get done?
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Oh boy, you open up a whole kenn of wit
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: I did ask last here at Dope is you know
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: that wore in the finishing touches, right? And regardless of
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: what anybody says. Somebody sent me something on X the
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: other day that says we're playing in Jacksonville and no,
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: we're playing right here. The stadium's ready that I've actually
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: already turned it over to us. We're going through and
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: putting the finixing touches on it. Right now, burning the ovens.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: We have an event on the sixteenth, kind of a showcase.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: I'm really excited about to get our fans in it
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: for the first time. So just getting that off finished,
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: and then we have a list of projects coming in
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: the future. At one point right now, we're looking we're
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: going to touch every program probably over the next five
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: years on some major renovations to our projects. Twenty one
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: past the hour.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: It is Thursday here on the Morning Show and ad
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Michael Offered from Florida State University with me in studio,
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: and we're talking about the facilities, and I kind of
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: nudged you and made you speak a little too quickly
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: on things that take a little more time. So let's
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: continue talking about where we are a facilities. You said
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Doak is pretty much done. There's very a little bit
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: left to do. Football facility. Where's that at?
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: One thing about dog before we transition to football facility.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: I don't know if people realize we're putting all new
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: video boards. Oh, really nice bright video boards. So it's
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: going to be like a brand new place top to bottom. Now,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: when you say putting up, when exchange it. They're going
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: in right now. They're going in as we speak in Okay,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: North End zones going in right now. Nice big crane there.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: I love cranes and hard ads. Yeah, it gets me excited,
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: it makes me nervous. I love cranes and hard ads.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: What's the status of the football facility right now? Is
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: going perfectly as planned. We're planning to move the team
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: in the second by week and the building will be
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: ready before then, but we don't want to disrupt the
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: operations of football. Moving into that facility would be a
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: chore sure during the middle of the season and disrupt practice,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: disrupt routine, but also gives us the opportunity to to
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: walk some fans through, walk donors through the facility without
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: football being in there, so they can see it, touch it,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: see what it's like before the chaos gets in there
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: and runs a day to day.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: You mentioned that your goal is to touch every program
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: with some form of facility improvement or adjustment or.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: What have you. What's tops on that list of other programs.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: When we're doing a shade structure for soccer, we're putting
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: chair backs in at soccer this upcoming year. There'll be
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: in about mid season, just to deliveries new shades, certain
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: portions or the whole thing, certain proportions of Okay, we'll
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: get through. You know, we've done a lot of softball already.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: You're looking at making changes. I'm putting out an RFP
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: for doing things at Houser. What can we do to
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: upgrade Houser and get it more competitive with our peers
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: across the country. What do you think that is? Because
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: you're a baseball guy, you love the game. Got to
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: change the seats down the line they get right now
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: you sit there in your angle towards center field, you
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: got to angle those and put a chair back on them.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Looking at home plate, Just little fixes I want to
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: put investigating putting something in right field fence.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Wise, I was just going to are we looking at
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: bleachers around the circumference of the outfielders.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: We want to enclose that stadium and then the left
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: above the bullpen, do some very fan friendly different areas
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: that really brings a different atmosphere, and then redo the
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: seating them in the whole bowl. So there's a lot
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: we want to do there, some office stuff, and so
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: that project's going to be going out here pretty soon.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: You're looking at Totally. We play in Totally, which is
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: pretty old for volleyball, looking at changing what can we
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: do there, and we have some concepts and looking at
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: working with campus on that new lacrosse is getting built
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: right now, So there'sn't a lot going on.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: I want to touch on Tully. Tully is, as you said,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: it's old. That said boy when when there's a crowd
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: in there, it's rocking.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: It is a great atmosphere for collegiate sports. It just is.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: So are you looking at replacing Tully or renovating Tully?
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: A little bit of both? Okay, well, coming in and
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: looking at what can be done. But if you were
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: to ask me right now, I'm going to say we'll
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: be looking to a place and find something, but we
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: would make sure that we bring that atmosphere. It's any
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: same location or different location, but we would bring that
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: same environment and create that with what we build that
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: you have that fifteen hundred seat environment that can really
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: compact things. Yeah, like when you're getting there in a
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: good volleyball match, it's rocking. Yeah, it is. It is rocking.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: It's a fun place to be. So we would make
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: sure we kept that environment.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: You know, Michael, You've got to be proud because if
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: you just step back and let's set aside the last
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: football season as an anomaly, because I think even people
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: that don't necessarily care for Florida State seminoles would admit
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: that that's that's not going to happen. The bottom line is, overall,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: the sports programming at Florida State is remarkably successful. Every
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: single program.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Well, we have the greatest set of coaches in the country,
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: and I firmly believe that. I go around the country
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: and look and study other programs, put analytics to them,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: but you see how much they pour into their programs
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: and how much success they have, whether it's the Brian
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Pinsk's in soccer, the Brook White coff some women's basketball,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: lot Almet and what she does in softball. Chris Pull,
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: I mean you look Brooke Niles and Beach Father. I
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: mean you just go Amy Bond. Yeah, you keep throwing
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: out names, just keep throwing the very best in their profession.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: I think it allows me to go a track at
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Luke Laws back, go a track of Brian Love that
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: higher get here. Yeah, because our coaches have a culture
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: amongst each other that is second to none.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Would I be stretching things to say that that culture
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: was really maybe the most complete legacy.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: Of Bobby Bowden's You would not, because you know, he
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: touches everything his core value. Still.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: I just remember his interaction with the coaches of all
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: the other programs and how much they looked to how
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: he did what he did and the way he went
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: about executing his job.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you see that the camaraderie, the way they
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: communicate with each other. There are none of our coaches
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: are in silos. Yeah, it's a great culture we have.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: They work together, they support each other. When I go
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: hire Luke Luds, when I go hire Bron Penske, you know,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: one of my main goals is to make sure they
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: come in and fit the culture we have. I can't
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: be hiring someone who's going to come in and disrupt that,
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: or come in and disrupt and want to be on
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: a sideloe and not work with the other ones. And
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: so that is a big tool that I have to evaluate. Yeah,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: I'm bringing someone in that they're going to fit what
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: we currently have doing because we do it so well.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Having a laugh here with Michael Alford, Director of Athletics FSU,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: the seminoles and your adulca tones are just are not
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: projecting loud enough, sir, So we're gonna.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I'll speak up. There we go, There we go.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: So thanks for the phone call, but I know you
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: could hear him.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Football season. How's the team look? Very well? I went
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: to practice the other day, you know, so many different changes,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: and you and I have talked about this before, just
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: going into the past about you know, it was a
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: great lesson of how you always, no matter what success
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: you're having and how you feel, you need to self
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: evaluate and make sure you're preparing yourself for the next year.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: And I think we were able to make those changes
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: this upcoming year and do some better self evaluation on
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: what needs to keep the program moving forward. I love
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: what Gus been able to go get Gus and one
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: of the most prolific offensive coordinators in the history of
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: the sport.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: And to those of you that don't know Gus Malzone,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: former head coach at Auburn and UCF.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Being able to come him, get him here and just
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: concentrate on the offense and to see that he is
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: really pouring into that and just work with him day
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: by day and talk a little football with him has
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: just been just been great. You've seen Mike kind of
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: kind of grow in my opinion. He's he's working with
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: the special teams, he's out working with the defense. He's
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: he's around being the CEO.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: And speaking of Tony White coming to Florida State did
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: the biggest favorite of the Big Ten the conference has
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: ever seen because they are glad to get that guy
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: out of the Big Ten and be able to go
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: get Tony Yeah and talk to him about coming to
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Tallahassee and Florida State and what it means.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: And you know, I love the three three five. It
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: creates problems. You don't see it that often. But what
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: I love about it is the type of athlete we
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: have at Florida State. You're going to have that six
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: two six three two thirty five. We got a lot
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: of them, and in that scheme, it really allows us
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: to get the best athletes we have on the field
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: and to see the pressure that it's going to put
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: on the quarterback. I'm a big believer in making the
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: quarterback uncomfortable. Always making that guy uncomfortable, whether it's a
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: read or with his feet, You've got to make him
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: uncomfortable to have success. We weren't able to do that
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: last year, and now with this they're going to be
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: coming and you don't know where they're coming from. And
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: it's a pressure defenses, which I think gets back to
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: what Mickey had at Florida State. In the history of
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Florida State football, we always had pressure defense. We set
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: a tone on defense, and we're getting back to that
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: style and I think that's something our fan base is
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: really going to love when they see it.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Aginst thirtieth as the athletic director, how do you measure
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: a successful season?
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: For this upcoming season? Always growth? You know, I get
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: that question to find crime you look, you're going to
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: look at it as wins and losses, going to look
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: at culture. You're going to look at how the young
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: kids are doing? Uh, the Charles Lester's, the Kaibads. Are
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: those kids growing? Are we prepared true freshman? True for
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: retro freshmen? Are we prepared for the next phase of
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Florida State football? Kind of projecting your lineup a year ahead,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: and where are we are we getting our guys ready
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: that are playing. Maybe you're not a household name right now,
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: are we getting them prepared to they developing the right way?
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: And that's something we didn't think we were developing. We
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: weren't developing our offensive line like I thought we should,
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: weren't developing some of our defensive backs like I thought
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: we should. And getting those guys ready for the next
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: step a year ahead is something I'm always looking at.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Is it fair in this modern era to measure culture
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: by how many kids transfer in or out?
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: It's tough. I think we're now with the house settlement,
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: that's going to change. You're going to have less kids
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: go going into the portal. But I think you'll be
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: able to get back to what we used to have.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: But it's tough to measure that culture because of it
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: was a money situation. Yeah, it wasn't a culture, So
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: we had a lot of kids leave. Didn't want to leave,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: they left finances. But it's also what I measure the
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: type of kids we bring in also, does that fit
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: our culture? Are they yes or no? Cert guys like
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Mike requires? Are they taking their hat off when they
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: enter the building? Sure that that is a staple of
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: our program, a staple of coach nor Vellekins of the
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: kids he's bringing in. Are those type of young men
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: that fit Florida.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: State final segment with the director of Athletics at Florida
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: State Michael Alford. All right, so we've got soccer starting up,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: We've got volleyball starting up. I would imagine there's the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: fall golf season starting up. What are you most excited
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: about outside of football? You know, this is getting the
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: kids back on campus. Now, you kind of kick off
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: my year every year when I know how to come
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: on this show, it's still time.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: It's time to go. But getting our student athletes back
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: on campus and just getting around them, and do you
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: ever meet with all of them at once? We have, Yes,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: we bring them back. So the Sunday night before opening day,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: open the day of classes, we have what we call
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: the Fear of the Spear games. So we bring them back,
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: get all five hundred plus athletes in the same building,
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: get out of here in the real PF. We have dinner,
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: I talk, I welcome them back, and then we have contests. Okay,
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: football won at last year, women's volleyball one at the
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: year before. Go online and watch it and we're going
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: to cover it live on the Unconquered app this year.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: But be able to watch what they do, and you
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: talk about competing and marshmallow throwing and everything else. Then
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: we give them ice cream and we go. But it's
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: two times a year that in the Golden at the
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: end of the year. Then we get them all together
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: and get them around each other other than the training table.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: You know, we're expanding our training table. You and I
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: were talking and we're moving it into Doak Stadium go
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: Campbell's Stadium right now, and it's going to be in
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: the West Side Club Monday through Friday when there's not
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: football games going on, and that's going to allow more
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: student athletes to eat together. The fig was so small, Yeah,
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: you've had lunch with me there before. It's as small.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: We can only get about seventy five people in there
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: at one time. We got five hundred athletes. Now we're
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: going to be able to feed them all together and
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: get that camaraderie, not that it wasn't there, but just
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: expand well, it enhances, it enhances it correct.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: So you've got a change in the basketball program. Luke Loux,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: we talked about him being hired. Shortly after he was hired,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: What are your early reflections on how things are going there?
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Going great? You see the type of young man he
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: brings to the table. He's going to follow that Leonard Tree,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: you know, the same core values. And that's something that's
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: really attracted me to Luke. But his personality, how much
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: he loves Florida State. But his analytical part of the game.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's amazing when he breaks it down for
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: me on Okay, if you're taking an eight footer from
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: this corner, thirty seven percent chance NBA metter. But so
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: you could take a nine foot or your thirty five percent,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: So we need to get the ball right here. You know,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: it's just amazing to see him break it down in
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: his whole staff and what they're doing. And the young
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: men have really bought in. You go to practice up tempo.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: They know that they're just really bought in to making
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: the program better. And that's something that's really exciting right now.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: With and then we got Lonnie. They're over in London
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: right now playing some games. Yeah, and taking a foreign tour.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: How is she She's doing great. I check on her
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: all the time and make sure we're providing everything we need.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: For prognosis she's dealing with she's been dealing with the
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: breast cancer is good.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: Good. Everything we hear. Same with Brooke Doctors. Same with
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Brooke Wonderful coming on the back end of it, and
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: she's doing just great, wonderful.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: Let's kind of end with what's coming I think in
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: everybody's radar first, and that's a national game with Alabama
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: on the thirtieth. It's a big weekend of college football.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: There's some big games. This game, though, is a very
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: interest sting, kind of has a curiosity factor to it.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: A lot of people wanting to know is Florida State back?
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: You know, question mark, exclamation pot, question mark? So what
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: are your what are your expectations for that first game? Well,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: you know, anytime you play in Alabama, it's a coin
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: flip game. You got the great athletes of Florida State,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: you got the great coaches. You're going to have dope.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Campbell's going to be electric with with the new west Side. Well,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: do you wish it were a nighttime game? I wish
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: you always uh Dog and Knight dokat Knight is the
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: most special place ever, But I don't I'm not worried
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: about that. Yeah, it's going to be electric. Absolutely fans
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: of the greatest in America and that's something we can't
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: wait to showcase. Everything that we've put in this offseason
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: into that game. You know, at the end of the day,
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: it's Florida State and the brand will always live on,
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: and the brand is the brand, The standard is the standard.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Any surprises for the pregame or halftime may be a
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: few things. Personally, I'm not gonna ask for it. I'm
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: just curious building up the suspense.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Thanks for coming in. Always a pleasure. Appreciate it, truly
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: appreciate it. Kicks off my year every year and go
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: knows absolutely. Michael Alford, director of Athletics, Florida State. My guest,
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: it's the morning show.