Florida State’s coaching search is already moving, and new athletic director Jeff Purinton made it clear Tuesday that the school is looking for more than just a familiar name.
Purinton, introduced at a press conference on Nov. 10 in front of media members, boosters, university head coaches and administrators, said the Seminoles want the next head football coach to fit the university’s standards while also being the right person to lead the program back.
FSU President Richard McCullough had already said he wants a “Florida State guy” in the job, and Purinton echoed that idea with a broader definition.
“It means you are genuine, authentic, and you try to do things the right way. All the traits that we talk about here at this university. I think Florida State guy can mean a couple of things, but we want to get the best coach and the best person to lead this program,” Purinton said.
“I think our leadership would agree that it could be somebody with a degree from somewhere else; it could be a Florida State person. But we want to get the right one and build this thing back the right way and win a bunch of football games.”
The search has already attracted speculation around names such as Duke’s Manny Diaz and Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, both of whom have ties to Purinton from previous stops at FSU and Alabama since the firing of Mike Norvell.
FSU handled the athletic director search and the coaching search at the same time with help from Daniel Parker of Parker Executive Search. McCullough said the AD search took four days, and now the coaching hunt has become the main focus.
McCullough said he, Parker, Peter Collins and Purinton are all involved in the process. Purinton acknowledged the difficulty of trying to line up a coach in the middle of the season, but said the school will keep the work mostly out of sight as it narrows the field.
“We are going to need to do a lot of work behind the scenes. We will get our list together; we will work the three of us [himself, Collins and McCullough] and Daniel Parker and others, and identify candidates and do a lot of behind-the-scenes research,” Purinton said.
“Of course, no coach that's still in season is going to have conversations... I think it's open now, and we are going to explore every candidate and hire the best coach for Florida State.”
Florida State is 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the ACC. The Seminoles opened with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State, then lost to SMU 27-24 before a bye week.
They fell at Alabama 50-36, beat Central Arkansas 34-7, topped Virginia 38-7, then dropped road games at Louisville 44-20 and Miami 43-35 in double overtime. After another bye, FSU lost to Clemson 36-24, beat Boston College 31-24, and now has games left at Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, against NC State on Nov. 21 and against Florida on Nov.
In Other News...
Florida State Just Lost A Tradition To College Football's New Playoff Era
A major shift is coming to college football, and with it one of the sports most familiar December traditions is on the way out. A new five-year, $1.7 billion media rights deal with ESPN will expand the College Football Playoff to 24 teams starting next year, while also eliminating the Power Four conference championship games that have long helped shape the postseason path for programs like Florida State.
ESPN will remain the exclusive broadcast partner of the playoff and will pay an additional $345 million annually for the expanded format, which now includes on-site hosts for the first two rounds and neutral-site New Years Six bowl sites for the quarterfinals. For Florida State, the change is another reminder that the old road to the playoff is being rewritten, and one of the sports most recognizable checkpoints is disappearing with it. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Splatoon Is Starting To Look Like A Real Esports Threat
Florida States esports presence got a noticeable boost at GatorLAN in Gainesville, where the Seminoles sent two Splatoon teams into a large in-person field. Duck Duck Gorse turned in a strong run and finished as the runner-up in the Silver Bracket, while Go my FSU held its own against tougher opposition and reached the Top 8 of the Gold Bracket.
For a program still building its reputation in the collegiate scene, those results matter because they show FSU can compete on more than one level at the same event. Just as important, the players came away with a positive experience representing the school, a sign that the foundation is there for this group to keep growing into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Florida State Gets Its First Real Test Against No. 1 Florida
Florida State has spent the early part of the season showing how quickly a roster can take shape when transfers and freshmen click, and Tuesday night will bring the Seminoles their first real measuring stick. No. 1 Florida comes to Tallahassee unbeaten, with a frontcourt that has carried the Gators through their first two games and given them the kind of size and physical presence that tends to test every weakness.
For the Seminoles, this is the kind of matchup that can validate the early returns on a new-look group, especially with multiple players already scoring in double figures. It also gives Florida State a chance to see how its depth and balance hold up against the top-ranked team in the country, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2. [Read more 🡒]