Search For New AD Ushers In New Era At FSU
Published: Nov 1, 2007
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TALLAHASSEE - If you were there that day, you couldn't help but notice the divide between the two men. An aisle and a few church pews separated them physically, but in reality, the distance between Florida State president T.K. Wetherell and athletic director Dave Hart had grown much larger.
At the funeral of Ronnie Andrews in late August, Celebration Baptist Church overflowed with prominent members of the FSU family and Tallahassee society. They were there to pay their respect and show support for longtime Seminoles defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews in the wake of his 41-year-old son's tragic death. In the front-and-center row sat FSU and Tallahassee royalty.
At one end of the pew was Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, and next to him was FSU football coach Bobby Bowden and his wife, Ann. Wetherell and his wife, Virginia, sat next to the Bowdens. At the other end of the front pew, Hart and his wife, Pam, were noticeably missing among the natural hierarchy.
Instead, FSU assistant football coaches Chuck Amato and Jimbo Fisher sat somberly a few feet from Ronnie Andrews' casket, looking out of place dressed in their coaching attire. Meanwhile, the Harts sat quietly a few rows back and to the right of where Florida's governor and FSU's two most visible leaders, Wetherell and Bowden, paid their respect.
Several weeks earlier, Wetherell had notified Hart by letter that his contract would not be renewed when it expired in January 2009, providing one of the earliest termination notices in school history. Wetherell, a former FSU football player and Florida Speaker of the House, still hasn't given a formal reason for his decision to jettison Hart, an FSU outsider who took over the school's athletic department in 1995 after working at East Carolina.
"I'm not going to get into that," Wetherell said Friday during a news conference to announce Bill Proctor as FSU's interim AD. "That's behind us. It's important that we begin to move forward. Dave thought it was important to bring this to closure."
Since Hart finalized what he calls an "amicable separation agreement" with the university last week, both he and Wetherell have downplayed any personality or philosophical conflicts that exist between the two.
"We've had differences of opinions on certain issues, but neither one of us have aired those issues in public," Wetherell said. "We may fuss and fume behind the scenes like any good staff does, but when we came out, we came out with one point of view."
In the meantime, Hart's contract runs through Dec. 31, and until then he plans to help Proctor during an important transition period that includes FSU finalizing its report on an internal investigation of academic misconduct by 23 student-athletes. Chuck Smart, a former member of the NCAA Enforcement Staff who now runs a company called The Compliance Group, has been on campus this week gathering facts to send on to the NCAA.
By the end of the fall semester, Wetherell said he hopes to hire a consulting firm and form a search committee made up of boosters, alumni, community leaders and other university officials to conduct a national search for FSU's next AD.
"I think we will attract some interesting people with outstanding credentials. We'll be able to attract the person we want," Wetherell said. "We hope to have someone on board within three to six [to] eight months, something like that. We could make the process happen before that, but I don't think the person that we're looking for is going to be able to move that quickly."
Most FSU insiders believe that whoever is named the school's next athletic director will have ties to the university and possibly to Wetherell, and that the person could be a woman. Wetherell has a history of appointing women to high places in his office. Whoever it is, he or she will inherit a program that Wetherell, despite whatever differences he may have with Hart, admits is in better shape than when Hart arrived.
During Hart's 13-year tenure, FSU improved every athletic facility on campus, and with the help of Seminole Boosters - the fundraising arm of the athletic program - the department more than doubled its operation budget, which stood at $40 million when Hart arrived. The school also made significant strides in Olympic and women's sports, but the football and men's basketball programs have struggled in recent years.
"If I leave with one bit of business in my own heart unfinished, it would be that we couldn't quite turn that corner in men's basketball, the corner being getting in the tournament," said Hart. "That's the one loose end I wish we could have tied."
As Hart prepares to meet with Proctor on Monday to discuss the transition period, the 74-year-old Proctor isn't interesting in this becoming a long-term position. As part of an agreement that pays Proctor $10,000 per month, the former Flagler College president and current House representative from St. Augustine is not a candidate for the job.
"I don't think it's my role to initiate any major changes," Proctor said. "My view is that if I can just keep the routine things going on a steady note until they are ready to introduce the new person, then I will have done my job."
For now, part of that job is to continue to facilitate a strong relationship with Seminole Boosters, which is independent of the university but plays a major role in the success of FSU's athletic programs. Unlike at Florida, where the booster organization is under AD Jeremy Foley's direction, FSU's AD serves on Seminole Boosters' board but doesn't have total control of funds.
Hart and Seminole Boosters CEO Andy Miller shared many of the same visions over the past decade, a period that launched the greatest growth spurt in the athletic program's history in terms of finances and capital improvements. The organization will watch closely as the search for the next AD evolves.
"It is extremely important that we have a cordial and helpful relationship with the athletic director," said Charlie Barnes, executive director of Seminole Boosters. "I think you can have a lot of problems with a working relationship that is not sincere and genuine. There is too much money on the table."
When the search will end and who it lands remains uncertain. But what's not uncertain is that one era has ended, and another is about to begin, this one with Wetherell calling most of the shots.
"Clearly, we have some challenges before us with the NCAA, and we have some issues we have to explain, and quite frankly, we probably have to apologize to some of our fans and supporters," Wetherell said. "Some of the goals are the same we've had. We clearly want to take our program to the next level. We clearly would like to compete at a little bit different level in certain sports."
Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.
