Florida State’s search for a new athletic director and its separate hunt for a head football coach come with a clear price tag now: $175,000 in professional fees to Parker Executive Search, plus expenses.
According to signed contracts obtained by Noles247 through a public records request, FSU will pay the Atlanta-based firm $100,000 for the athletic director search and $75,000 for the head coach search. Those amounts do not include expenses, which will be billed separately.
The agreements were signed by FSU vice president for finance and administration Kyle Clark. The athletic director contract 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 fee is 30 percent of the hire’s first-year total cash compensation, with a $60,000 minimum, but Florida State opted for flat fees instead. Each search will be billed “in three equal increments at the beginning of the search and 30 and 60 days thereafter.”
The university will also absorb Parker’s expenses, which the firm estimates at no more than 10 percent of each fee. Advertising, background investigations, committee interview and travel costs, and candidate travel are not included in that estimate and will be billed separately with documentation. In other words, the final cost will climb above the $175,000 in fees alone.
If FSU changes the search or asks Parker to “recommence or expand” it, the firm is entitled to an additional fee negotiated in advance.
The two searches are built on nearly the same framework. Parker will meet with university leadership, help draft the position specification, establish the timeline, advertise the opening and reach out directly to candidates. The firm will also conduct original research, screen applicants, arrange interviews and travel, and help prepare interviewers.
It will take part in “salary and benefit negotiations, when appropriate,” and encourages a memorandum of understanding with the finalist. But the final call stays with the university. Parker “does not have a vote in the final selection process.”
The contracts also spell out what happens 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 hired candidate resigns, is terminated or is otherwise unable to perform within 18 months of the starting date. FSU would still owe out-of-pocket expenses for that redo.
In the guarantee section, Parker says it will “make every possible effort to present FSU with the best candidates,” who “must be candidates with established records of excellence in their field.” At the same time, the firm protects itself by noting that “it is not possible to assure the accuracy of the information” it receives and makes “no warranties or representations, express or implied.”
Florida State also retains the right to walk away. The fee letters say the school can end either search at any time.
If that happens within the first three months, FSU would owe a prorated portion of the fee plus expenses. After 90 days, the full fee plus expenses would be due.
The master agreement gives the university another exit route, allowing termination “for any reason, including convenience, upon thirty (30) days prior written notice without penalty or cause,” with FSU responsible only for services completed before the effective date. If the documents conflict, the contract says the master agreement controls.
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