Spetman out as Florida State athletic director
Florida State soon will conduct a national search for a new athletic director as Randy Spetman will serve out the rest of his contract as a special adviser to the athletic department, the school announced on Wednesday.
"I am pleased that through mutual agreement, Randy will continue to advance the Athletics Department's Strategic Plan by working with a full range of stakeholders to gather additional information that will help shape the future of Florida State athletics," FSU president Eric Barron said in a statement.
Senior associate athletic director Vanessa Fuchs has been named the interim athletic director.
Spetman, who was a candidate for the same job at Rutgers, is former fighter pilot who was the athletic director at Utah State before coming to Florida State in 2008.
He told the Orlando Sentinel that he was happy at Tallahassee and did not know why his name was being linked to the Rutgers job.
The Sentinel reported that Spetman was criticized for the way he handled football coach Bobby Bowden's retirement and that his "stepping down as athletic director might have been a move that was a long time coming."
And despite more criticism concerning conference realignment and the Seminoles' future, Spetman earned praise just this week, the Sentinel said.
While the Seminoles and Savannah State were facing each other in an NCAA Regional baseball game, Spetman got up from his seat behind home plate and stopped a Savannah State fan from taunting rowdy FSU fans.
