Florida State’s search for its next athletic director and head football coach now comes with a price tag.
Signed contracts obtained by Noles247 through a public records request show FSU will pay Parker Executive Search $175,000 in professional fees to handle both searches. The Atlanta-based firm is set to receive $100,000 for the athletic director search and $75,000 for the head coach search, with expenses billed separately.
FSU vice president for finance and administration Kyle Clark signed both agreements. The athletic director deal is dated Oct. 30, the same day as FSU’s Board of Trustees meeting. The head coach contract is dated Nov. 2, one day after FSU fired Mike Norvell.
Parker’s standard arrangement calls for 30 percent of the hire’s first-year total cash compensation, with a $60,000 minimum. FSU instead agreed to flat fees, and each search will be billed “in three equal increments at the beginning of the search and 30 and 60 days thereafter.”
The university’s final bill will be higher than the $175,000 in fees alone. Parker estimated its out-of-pocket expenses at no more than 10 percent of each fee, and those costs are not capped by the flat-rate agreement.
Advertising, background investigations, committee interview and travel costs, and candidate travel are excluded from that estimate and will be invoiced separately with documentation. If FSU changes the search or asks Parker to “recommence or expand” it, the firm is also entitled to an additional fee negotiated in advance.
The scope of work is essentially the same for both searches. Parker will meet with university leadership, help draft the position specification, set the timeline, advertise the opening and reach out to candidates directly. It will also conduct original research, screen candidates, schedule interviews and travel, and help prepare the interviewers.
The firm’s role extends into the compensation side as well. Parker will be involved in “salary and benefit negotiations, when appropriate” and encourages a memorandum of understanding with the finalist. But the search firm does not get the final say, since it “does not have a vote in the final selection process.”
There is also a built-in safeguard if the hire doesn’t work out. Parker does not guarantee success, but it does promise a replacement search at no additional fee if the person hired resigns, is terminated or is otherwise unable to perform within 18 months of the start date. In that case, FSU would still cover only out-of-pocket expenses.
The guarantee section says Parker will “make every possible effort to present FSU with the best candidates,” and that those candidates “must be candidates with established records of excellence in their field.” The firm also says it cannot verify everything it receives and makes “no warranties or representations, express or implied.”
FSU can also walk away from either search. The fee letters say the university may end a search at any time.
If that happens within the first three months, FSU would owe a prorated share of the fee plus expenses. After 90 days, the full fee plus expenses would be due.
The master agreement gives the university another exit path, allowing termination “for any reason, including convenience, upon thirty (30) days prior written notice without penalty or cause.” In that case, FSU would owe only for services completed before the termination date. If there is any conflict between the documents, the contract says the master agreement controls.
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