TALLAHASSEE — Florida State president Dr. Eric Barron has reassigned athletic director Randy Spetman, demoting him to a role as senior adviser.
Spetman will serve out the end of his contract, which expires February 2014, in the new position. He had been Florida State’s athletic director since 2008.
“Randy established an enviable record for Florida State Athletics and has done so with the highest level of integrity and commitment,” Barron said. “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.”
Barron appointed senior associate athletic director Vanessa Fuchs as the interim athletic director. The university will begin a search for a new director.
Spetman, 59, has been both praised and criticized throughout his tenure at Florida State.
He oversaw an athletics department that was ranked fifth in the Director’s Cup in 2011-12 and has been in the top 10 the past few years. The Seminoles are 15th in the May 30 standings, which have not factored in the performance of the softball team (ACC runner-up) and baseball team that could make another trip to the College World Series.
Spetman also helped administrators and football coach Jimbo Fisher in fundraising for the school’s indoor practice facility, which will be completed in August. Additionally, he worked with Seminole Boosters, Inc., toward long-term plans for renovations at Doak Campbell Stadium (football) and the Donald L. Tucker Center (basketball).
But Spetman has been vilified on message boards and social media. The athletics budget in 2011-12 was briefly projected to run a deficit before being balanced with the help of additional money provided to all schools from the ACC.
He did not push for Florida State to jump from the ACC to the Southeastern Conference or Big 12, something a vocal segment of Seminoles fans wanted. And Spetman was often criticized for the football team’s weak scheduling, which in recent years included games against Charleston Southern, Savannah State, Murray State and Samford. Many fans argued that they were not willing to buy season tickets to see games against two Football Championship Series teams.
Recently, Spetman and senior associate athletic director Monk Bonasorte began to push for a tougher football schedule. In the past six months, Florida State has scheduled games against Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, South Florida and Boise State.
Spetman had been tasked with creating a five-year plan for Florida State athletics. He had completed a draft copy and was set to deliver the results to the school’s Board of Trustees at a meeting Thursday afternoon.
Now, he will not be attending the meeting or making the presentation.
