AD Michael Alford assesses FSU football team, expectations for 2023 in exclusive Q&A

Florida State football enters the 2023 season with high expectations coming off a 10-win season and a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

The Seminoles are entering Year 4 under head coach Mike Norvell and return quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Jordan Travis, receiver Johnny Wilson and defensive end Jared Verse, along with key additions from the transfer portal.

Seminole Athletics Director Michael Alford awarded Norvell a contract extension following a successful 2022 season. The AD has expressed confidence in the former Memphis coach and the football program.

The Democrat sat down with Alford for an exclusive interview that covered a wide array of topics.

To begin this three-part Q&A series, Alford discussed FSU’s upcoming football season, Norvell, Travis and the state of college football with NIL and the transfer portal.

FSU begins its 2022 season at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, opening with LSU at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 3. The Seminoles hope that the primetime matchup catapults them to a season that ends in an ACC Championship and as a College Football Playoff contender.

Editor's Note: Alford declined to further discuss conference realignment. FSU President Richard McCullough told his board of trustees during a meeting Wednesday that the university would have to consider leaving the ACC unless there is a radical change to the conference's revenue distribution model.

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Michael Alford Q&A

Coming off a 10-win season and Cheez-It Bowl victory, it seems the pressure of coaching for his job is off Mike Norvell's back. Is that money off his back?

Alford: Knowing him the monkey is never under the pressure he's going to put internally on himself and that's never an issue. But just seeing it over the last three years. I want to say behind the curtain we knew he was setting up this program for success because we saw the changes and the personnel, we saw the changes in the character, we saw the changes in the culture that were being placed in appearing in this program. So you knew where we were heading in a positive direction.

You had to be patient because we saw the improvement coming and still and getting this program putting in the right core values to get this program back where you can have sustainable success. And he and I talked about that all the time. And this place was the model for sustainable success for many, many years. And we think with the right core values and getting the culture, correct, that's going to be where we're heading in the future.

In today’s world, fans want instant results. Behind the scenes did the trust and faith in Norvell ever waver during the first two seasons?

Alford: We trusted the process, trusted the plan, trusted him and his coaching staff, and once again, just being around the program as much as I am around the student-athletes as much as I am seeing that a culture that was getting placed in there talking to them about how they were getting better.

You just knew success was around the corner and you know he had a plan to get the program back and we knew it wasn't going to be overnight. We knew he was going to utilize the portal, utilize high school recruiting and utilize everything to get the right fit for Florida State which is going to get the program to where it used to be and then our job is to continue to give resources so we have that sustainable success.

To go from 5 wins in 2021 to 10 wins in 2023, was that something that surprised you last season?

Alford: I wouldn't say it was a surprise. I knew we were we had the capability to get to 10 wins. You never know how that balls gonna bounce on any given Saturday. But we knew we had the talent to get to 10 and with the kids the young man had put in the work. And that was really something to look in. They were ready. And then they went out and performed. So I wouldn't say it was a surprise.

This past February you awarded Norvell with a big contract extension. Was that an easy decision after the last season?

Alford: Yeah, it was something I was looking at when I first came in. I gave him a year extension, I think within the first week of being the Athletics Director. Then we gave another extension, the following (year).

He's the right guy to lead his program. He fits the culture of the university, that community and he's doing it the right way. I firmly believe in the success of where the program's going, and we want to make sure that he and his wife and the family understand that we want them in Tallahassee for a long time. We wanted to make sure to make that commitment to him.

Quarterback Jordan Travis is receiving love this year as an early Heisman Trophy candidate. How do you view his success?

Alford: Unbelievable. He's such an inspiring young man and individual and someone who is a selfless leader, a servant leader. He rallies around his team, he will care more about his teammates than himself.

That's the kind of leader servant leadership style that he has and it's just really impressive. Not only how he represents the program, the department and how he represents the university and the community. He's just a first-class individual and it's somebody that you want to cheer for, because of the character that he has.

You mentioned the transfer portal earlier. It’s fair to say that it's in its early days so far but FSU and Norvell have been the early leaders of using it. How has it been used so effectively?

Alford: I've mentioned it before, but setting it up like an NFL team, and how they go about evaluating talent evaluating character, and we were able to get on the forefront of that and structure that staff. So we could go out and do great evaluations of people entering the portal and entering free agency and find out what kind of players they are.

But are they a fit? Are they a quarterly fear to character fit to what we're building here? I think he's done a marvelous job of not only finding talented individuals on the field but also extremely bright and quality individuals off the field.

I tip my hat to him and his staff in their evaluation process.

The staff utilized the portal to rebuild the program. Now they are hitting in high school recruiting. Is that still the best way to build the foundation?

Alford: 100%. The one thing the portal gives you is the opportunity to go get a quick fix if you have an injury or something or get some depth in positions. But at the end of the day, you're going to build your roster around high school individuals and that's he's doing a great job of going out, and once again, it goes back to the brand of Florida State.

It goes back to what we're investing into that program and recruits are really seeing the culture of the program that's coming now with some investments that we've made to make that student-athlete experience the best it is the best it can be. So that's the student-athletes are going to see that and what we're building here and they want to be a part of it.

How does the team handle the preseason hype?

Alford: It's going out and just really taking care of what we control and being disciplined and continue building on the program. I mean every season is important in football and soccer every season baseball every season is important for us.

But this one in football I think we have the pieces to have success. Believe in the hard work the young men are putting in and hours just to go show their talents on the gridiron.

In the first month of the season, the Seminoles get LSU and Clemson. Obviously, every game is important but how big is the first month of the season?

Alford: LSU has got a great team and it was a great matchup last year in New Orleans. Now to have them in Orlando with our fan base. We took over New Orleans last year our fan base was unbelievable and looking forward to getting to Orlando and painting Orlando in Garnet and Gold and can't wait.

This is a month away and it's sort of an exciting opening game that's gonna get a lot of national attention. It's gonna be once again, we're on primetime TV, and I'm anxious to get there and just kick it off the season.

How important is it scheduling games like LSU, a perennial SEC powerhouse?

Alford: That's Florida State. That goes back to Coach Bobby Bowden's philosophy. We have LSU, we have Alabama starting in a couple of years. We have Georgia on the schedule after that.

Florida State, we owe that to our fan base. They expect it we expect it to compete against the very best, and we're never gonna shy away from scheduling games that our competition is amongst the very best in the country.

NIL continues to be a major discussion in college athletics. There have been talks in Congress of regulating it. What’s the best course of path?

Alford: That's interesting because you know, I do a lot of work in DC and talking to Congressmen. The best thing about the state of Florida as we're leading it with Congressman Gus Bilirakis down in the Tampa area, U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds is very involved. United States Congressman Neal Dunn is very involved and Senator Marco Rubio's very involved in the conversations they understand that it needs to get fixed.

They understand our stance on it. So, it's just waiting and making sure that they're they have several bills that we're following that we're talking to those individuals about that are going through DC, working with the NCAA about what they need to do to get involved and giving them feedback.

So it's, it's an interesting time in collegiate athletics, but it's here to stay. And now it's just making sure that it's done properly.

When you say done properly, what's your vision for it? What do you believe is the best way to do it?

Alford: I come from the NFL and dealing with the NFLPA, I firmly believe in agent registration. I firmly believe in fair market value being measured in these arrangements. Then I believe in a third party administrator to go and be kind of collection is where it has to run through and to monitor and so it's those things that (NCAA) President Charlie Baker is talking about now.

We've been talking for three years about how to structure it and set it up. So I'm glad to see he is coming in as president of the NCAA and picked up on what we've said since 2019. Before it was an issue that he's this is what needs to happen. And he's now listening and putting in some of those.

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU athletic director believes in Mike Norvell and hype for Seminoles