$20 million gift! Dunlaps step up again to help FSU build football center

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It takes a lot to rattle Al Dunlap.

He grew up on the rugged streets of New Jersey, served in the U.S. military, competed with corporate tycoons and battled high-priced attorneys. For years, he has been the subject of widespread media scrutiny.

And even though he and his wife, Judy, had already given more than $20 million to Florida State University over the past decade for various projects, this new gift proposal -- one seeking a $20 million donation to help build a new standalone football facility -- would take things to a whole new level.

"We had to pause a minute because the number was pretty staggering," Dunlap told Warchant in a lengthy sit-down interview. "But we thought, 'Wait a minute. This continues in the great tradition of this school. We want to be involved.'"

They're not just involved. They're leading the way.

During an on-field ceremony shortly before Florida State's game Saturday against No. 2 Clemson, Al and Judy Dunlap publicly announced they would be donating another $20 million to FSU. This pledge will be the lead gift in the Seminoles' recently announced Unconquered Campaign, which will feature the $60 million football operations center.

That 122,000-square-foot building, which will stand adjacent to the Seminoles' practice fields and indoor practice facility, will now be named the Dunlap Football Center. The university plans to break ground in November 2019 and open for operation in July 2021.

"We're very hopeful that our gift will be the catalyst for other people to say, 'Hey, I'm going to do that,'" Al Dunlap said.

Seminole Boosters Inc., approached the Dunlaps in their Ocala home two months ago with the formal proposal to make the lead gift in the overall $100 million capital campaign. The Dunlap name already adorns the indoor facility and practice fields, so it made sense that they would be involved in this next phase of FSU expansion.

But after donating more than $20 million to three earlier projects, this would push their total giving to the university past $40 million in about a decade.

The proposal was made on Aug. 24.

The Dunlaps agreed to make the gift on Aug. 29.

"We're at a stage in life where we're coming down the mountain," said Judy Dunlap, who married Al exactly 50 years ago. "This is a real legacy for us."

Although they agreed to make the pledge two months ago, the Dunlaps wanted to tell FSU head football coach Willie Taggart in person. So they asked their booster representatives to only tell him that they made a gift, but not the exact dollar amount.

They shared the news with Taggart this week in an emotional meeting inside his office overlooking Bobby Bowden Field.

"I'm very, very impressed by Coach Taggart," Dunlap said. "My view is this: He inherited a mess. But I truly believe within two years he'll have it turned around. You can't walk into a total mess and say, 'OK, I'm the new guy. Everything will be good.' It doesn't work like that. So I'm not on his back.

"He will turn it around. I'm on his team."

The Dunlaps' latest gift is an incredible next chapter in a relationship that began about 20 years ago when Al was asked to speak to FSU business students. He was immediately enamored with the passion and character of the faculty and students, and the Dunlaps would come back to attend their first Florida State football game in October 2005.

Three years later, they donated $10 million to build the Dunlap Student Success Center on campus. And then they turned their attention to Seminole athletics, pledging $5 million for the practice facility and another $5 million for the Champions Club project.

"Making money is important. But the most important thing is: What do you do with it?" said Dunlap, whose cut-throat business practices at various companies led to him being nicknamed, "Chainsaw Al" -- a reputation from which he doesn't hide. In the mid-1990s, he wrote a best-selling book titled, "Mean Business."

"We want to help others," Al Dunlap said. "Because if we didn't have help when we were younger, we wouldn't be here today. I'd be out washing dishes."

When it comes to giving, the Dunlaps decided years ago they would focus on three primary areas -- helping animals, donating to medical initiatives, and supporting athletics.

The last one is important to them because Dunlap credits sports with providing him the opportunity to escape poverty as a youth.

"My mom went to fifth grade, dad went to ninth grade," Dunlap said. "Nobody in my family had ever graduated from high school. Sports changed my life. Without sports, I would've never went to college, because we couldn't afford it. We were, I mean seriously, poor."

Although he was a very good student, Dunlap says it was his athletic success -- he was an All-State player in football and a standout in the shot put -- that attracted the attention of college recruiters. He ended up receiving a scholarship to West Point, the United States Military Academy, and believes the lessons he learned there paved the way to his success in business.

The Dunlaps hope the contributions they've made to FSU will pave the way for future Seminoles to enjoy the same type of success -- on and off the field.

"You're gonna get knocked on your butt. You're gonna feel sorry for yourself," Dunlap said of competing in athletics. "But you learn you have to get over it and get back in the game."

Said Judy: "It teaches you a lot about life. You get knocked down, you get back up. You win, you lose, you learn to be a teammate."

For more information on giving to the Unconquered Campaign, visit the Seminole Boosters Inc. website.

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