Fans exiting Doak Campbell Stadium last Monday night after Florida State’s Week 1 loss to SMU were chanting “fire Norvell,” and they’ll soon get their wish, but for now, they’d no doubt take the change at athletic director that came a week later.
On Monday morning, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported that Florida State is firing athletic director Michael Alford. And while his disastrous Norvell extension after the 2023 season and his continued NIL miscalculations were undoubtedly fireable offenses, the timing of this decision is simple: He couldn’t be trusted to hire Norvell’s replacement, so he had to go first.
Florida State is finally starting to clean house
If there was any doubt still surrounding Mike Norvell’s future in Tallahassee, this decision to fire Alford clears it up. Florida State is cleaning house and starting at the top. There was some thought that Norvell, with a $50 million buyout tied to that eight-year extension Alford gave him after the 2023 season, as Alabama was reportedly sniffing around after Nick Saban’s retirement, could save his job by getting the Seminoles back to a bowl game this year.
Through two games, it looks incredibly unlikely that Norvell can accomplish that goal, and with a new athletic director coming in, that probably makes bowl eligibility irrelevant. This is the clearest possible sign that the power brokers in Tallahassee are ready to make a move on Norvell and do not want Alford leading the coaching search.
Firing Alford now gives the administration time to find a suitable replacement to lead the coaching search. That always had to be Step 1 in turning around the football program because Alford was so clearly incapable of setting up a Power Conference football program to succeed in the NIL era.
Michael Alford’s NIL miscalculation are worse than his Norvell extension
Alford arrived in Tallahassee four years ago, so he’s not on the hook for hiring Norvell, though he does have ink on his hands from his extension. However, that’s no the reason he’s out in Tallahassee right now, it’s because he miscalculated the NIL era as disastrously as any athletic director in the entire country.
First, at the very beginning of the NIL era, when programs could finally pay players to come to their school, rather than engaging in the facilities arms race to aid in recruiting efforts, Alford led the charge for massive Doak Campbell renovations and the construction of a football-only training facility.
Years ago, those would have been fantastic steps to competing for top talent in the country. When, more often than not, recruitment now comes down to who is the highest-bidder, directing the lion’s share of your fund in that direction is disastrous.
Then, when the House v. NCAA settlement was struck last summer, putting in place a $20+ million revenue-sharing cap for Power Conference athletic departments to pay players directly, Alford not only believed it should be a hard cap, but believed it would be a hard cap. In 2026, most of the national championship contenders in college football are spending more than $40 million on their roster.
Alford has demonstrated time and time again that he doesn’t understand the current landscape and can’t react properly to the changes. In a vacuum, that’s enough to move on from him, but with a critical coaching search upcoming, Florida State couldn’t waste any more time.
Florida State’s Labor Day embarrassment had to be the last straw
If the pressure of Norvell’s impending dismissal wasn’t enough to force Florida State’s hand, the program’s Labor Day embarrassment may have been the last straw. Not only did the team lose its ACC opener to SMU, a school it voted not to add to the ACC, but it could barely play the game because of a power outage at Doak Campbell.
Now, that power outage isn’t directly related to Alford at all, but he’s the head of an athletic department that comprehensively embarrassed itself in a stand-alone primetime game. With a trip to Tuscaloosa coming up this week, it’s hard to imagine things getting better for the football program, so may as well rip the band-aid now. And after a loss, Norvell could be next.
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