One day before the start of spring football practice, Florida State football coach Mike Norvell took a moment Friday to thank athletics director Michael Alford and the university administration for allowing him to add several new pieces to his staff.

In recent weeks, the Seminoles have hired new positions on the recruiting staff -- headlined by general manager of personnel Darrick Yray -- and several new members of the coaching support staff as well.

"The added personnel is something I'm absolutely grateful to the administration ... and the commitment to what we're doing," Norvell said. "And it's a necessity too. College football, I mean, it's changed. When you look at roster management, you look at roster development ... it's all important."

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Just this week, Warchant reported that veteran college and NFL coach John Garrett has joined the Seminoles' staff in a newly created position -- director of scouting on offense.

FSU also has added Maddy McCormack as director of recruiting operations.

There have been several other recent additions as well, including former FSU and NFL star Corey Fuller as director of football operations.

While other schools around the country, most notably Alabama, Clemson and Georgia, have been investing millions of dollars into support staff for years, FSU officials admit they haven't been as aggressive as they have needed to be.

But that is changing going forward. Earlier this spring, new athletics director Michael Alford told Warchant the Seminoles would be making a "substantial investment" in personnel.

Yray, who came in from Oregon State and represents one of those many new hires, said larger staffs have become essential in keeping up with the the other national powers.

"Everyone's going to look up at what models have been successful," Yray said. "So when certain schools in this area started establishing this, everyone is gonna want to catch on to that. You look no further than what happened in Tuscaloosa, establishing that personnel department 15 years ago, where there's 50 people. That's what started this."

Hiring additional staffers is important. But Norvell said it's equally important to make sure the Seminoles hire the right people, and that they are all working well together.

"I'm excited about the people we've been able to bring in," he said. "Making sure of the alignment is critical to me. As you add personnel, still making sure that everybody is still on the same page. And we're all pushing in the same direction.. ...

"It's been great. Really excited about the personnel that we've added."

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