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FSU Looking For A Change

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By SCOTT CARTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - By the time Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden, the face of FSU's athletic program, strolls to the podium Wednesday to talk about the Seminoles' performance on National Signing Day, Bowden's future boss is expected to have been hired.

Much like when Bowden arrived to take over a downtrodden football program in 1976, FSU's new athletic director has a difficult task ahead amid an academic misconduct scandal that has tainted the school's image.

The cheating scandal, involving more than 20 football players and numerous other student-athletes, has taken its toll during the past few months. Morale is low, questions abound, and a looming NCAA investigation hangs overhead like a storm cloud.

As AD candidates Wayne Hogan, Martin Mayhew, Don Smiley and Randy Spetman addressed FSU's current dilemma during their interviews with the school's advisory search committee last week, it became clear how ready the FSU community is for a change in direction and a shot of hope.

"I would like to have an athletic program that isn't in the news all the time for negative reasons," committee member Russ Morcom, chairman of Seminole Boosters, told Mayhew during his interview. "I'd like to see better results across the board."

Another committee member, former FSU women's athletic director Barbara Palmer, spoke to each candidate about how important it is for the new AD to be accessible and more visible at events, particularly the non-revenue sports.

"Every sport wants the athletic director there," Palmer said.

Each candidate was peppered with questions about gender-equity concerns, budget issues, fundraising ideas, graduation rates, alumni relations and various other topics that apply to a job held the past 13 years by Dave Hart. Spetman, recommended to FSU president T.K. Wetherell by NCAA hiring consultant Chuck Neinas, is considered the leading candidate because of his experience.

Currently the AD at Utah State, Spetman met with Wetherell two weeks ago at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tenn., to discuss the position. Despite FSU's recent troubles, Spetman is confident better days are ahead for an athletic department that operates with a budget of more than $45 million.

"You look at programs you look up to and want to emulate, and this is one of the premier ones," said Spetman, a 28-year military veteran and former AD at the Air Force Academy. "I feel there are universities that are hiding things like the cheating scandal. When an administration and a president take it on with the integrity that he has, that speaks volumes."

Of the four candidates, Spetman and former University of Montana AD Wayne Hogan are the only ones with AD experience. Hogan, an associate AD at Georgia Tech, is a favorite among many longtime FSU employees because he is a Tallahassee native, an FSU graduate and worked at the school - serving as FSU's interim AD for a year in the mid 1990s. Mayhew, a former football and track star at FSU, and Smiley, former president of the Florida Marlins, offer a different perspective.

Smiley stressed his open-door policy and high-energy marketing skills as a way to overcome any fallout remaining from the cheating scandal.

"It will pass," Smiley said. "Nothing else is going to do that except a daily dose of what is good about this place. And there is so much good to talk about."

Wetherell met with each candidate following their interviews with the 24-member search committee. He stressed that whatever concerns any of the candidates may have with the upcoming NCAA investigation, they should not lose any sleep over it.

"By the time they get here, for all practical purposes, the report will have been done and mailed off to the NCAA," Wetherell said. "They'll manage the consequences of whatever comes out of that, but it's not their problem."

Wetherell and Mary Coburn, FSU's VP of student affairs and chairwoman of the advisory search committee, planned to meet this weekend to discuss the candidates and to review each committee member's written evaluation.

"There are several ways you can go," Wetherell said Friday. "I think each one depends on where an institution is at any given moment. In our case, we want an athletic director who has some experience and understands the system. We think that's important."

Coburn is confident that by early this week, possibly as soon as Monday, FSU will be prepared to make a job offer to one of the candidates.

"We would get a little something different with each of the four, but I think they all bring things that would move us forward," Coburn said. "T.K. makes very fast decisions, very intuitive decisions based on skill set. Really, it's about fit, because any of the four could do a good job."

Spetman stressed his team-building and leadership skills developed during a career in the military; Hogan touted his love for FSU and experience as a proven fundraiser and athletic administrator; Mayhew acknowledged a lack of experience, but said his career as an NFL executive and his student-athlete background have prepared him for the position; and Smiley's greatest selling point was his business savvy and marketing skill.

Wetherell has the final decision, which is why most FSU insiders believe he will hire Spetman. At the end of his interview Friday, Spetman addressed any concerns over his military background, which scared off some boosters when he was a finalist for the South Florida AD job in 2004.

"Utah State is not run as a military organization; it's run as a family," Spetman said. "This is a great time, from what I see, to come to Florida State."

In The Running

The four candidates vying to become Florida State's next athletic director:

Wayne Hogan
CURRENT JOB: Georgia Tech associate AD
FORMER JOB:: University of Montana AD
QUOTE OF NOTE: "We're going to make people feel good about what we're doing, and us. We're going to shake their hands. We're going to their fish fries, go to their barbecues, because that's FSU."

Martin Mayhew
CURRENT JOB: Senior VP/Assistant GM of Detroit Lions
FORMER JOB:: Nine-year NFL career
QUOTE OF NOTE: "Sports is the front porch of the university. So people who drive by, that's what they see. If that's inviting, then they will take time to stop and find out more."

Don Smiley
CURRENT JOB: President/CEO of Milwaukee World Festival, Inc.
FORMER JOB:: Florida Marlins president
QUOTE OF NOTE: "I think the athletic director's job is larger than [wins and losses]. It's more about graduation rates. The way I look at it is, 'How many kids did you graduate? How many speeches did you make? How did you do in fundraising?' There are other ways to keep score for this position."

Randy Spetman
CURRENT JOB: Utah State AD
FORMER JOB:: AD at Air Force Academy
QUOTE OF NOTE: "I know some sit around the table [who] are nervous that I may be selected to be here, but I can guarantee you that if I am selected, I will be a person that will bring great integrity and character to you all. I think I can be very beneficial at this time to the university, and bring great credit back to you all."

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