Michael Alford was never officially Florida State's Athletics Director in Waiting. And for a few days there, it didn't look like he would be FSU's next A.D. at all.
But that was then -- all of about 12-18 hours ago -- and this is now.
Shortly after the Seminoles were left at the altar early Thursday by the Runaway A.D., Vince Tyra, Florida State President Richard McCullough announced that Alford will take over the athletics department after all.
Just like we all expected, right?
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Alford has been at FSU, of course, since the summer of 2020 when he left his post as athletics director at Central Michigan to take over as CEO of Seminole Boosters Inc. Since Alford made that move, there has been widespread speculation he would end up sliding into the A.D.'s chair once David Coburn retired.
For most of the past 18 months, Alford worked closely with Coburn on a slew of day-to-day and long-term projects, including the planned construction of a new football operations center and potential renovations to Doak Campbell Stadium. He also has overseen an overhaul of Seminole Boosters' operations and sales strategies.
Given his past as a top administrator at schools like Oklahoma and Alabama as well as his years in professional sports with the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals, there were a great many FSU supporters -- including some heavy hitters financially -- who were strongly in favor of Alford getting the nod as A.D. without much deliberation.
But McCullough, who has only been in Tallahassee for a few months himself, wanted to conduct a thorough national search -- one that went on for several weeks and we're told included interviews with a number of highly qualified candidates.
At the end of that process, McCullough apparently settled in on Louisville athletics director Vince Tyra as the top candidate, and from what we have been told, Tyra indicated he would accept the position.
It seemed like a solid hire.
The thinking was Tyra could come in and bring his many years of business and fundraising connections, and he and Alford could team up to lead FSU's athletics department into a bold new future.
But shortly after Louisville's Board of Trustees cleared the way Wednesday for Tyra to leave, essentially tearing up the non-compete clause in his contract, he apparently made the bizarre decision to not only turn down the FSU offer, but to also tender his resignation to Louisville.
Now instead of running either athletics department, Tyra is reportedly taking his ball and running back to the private sector, where he spent the vast majority of his career.
I'm not going to say it was the strangest 24 hours in FSU athletics history, but it was up there.
In the end, though, what's most important right now isn't how we got here, but that the FSU athletics department finally can start moving forward in a real positive direction.
As I wrote earlier this week, Seminole Athletics has largely been treading water for more than a decade. The department didn't have strong leadership in general, and then David Coburn's three-year tenure has been focused almost entirely on managing the budget and cutting expenses during extremely difficult financial times.
As 2022 approaches, the department finally appears to have come through the worst of that, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
It will be up to Alford and his staff to usher FSU's athletics programs further and further away from the darkness.
*ALSO SEE: Back story on FSU's search and how things fell apart with Vince Tyra
Very high on his priority list will be securing all the funds needed to begin construction on that aforementioned football facility. Then there's continuing to determine the feasibility of the Doak renovations, which he says will help fund other improvements through improved ticket and concession revenue.
Because he has had the benefit of being here for nearly 18 months, Alford also knows all too well the other facility upgrades that are needed. New videoboards are coming for the softball and soccer programs, but improvements are needed at Dick Howser Stadium and other venues as well.
Then there is the greatest resource of any organization -- the people. That will be another challenge for Alford to work through.
Partly because of the coronavirus pandemic and partly due to ongoing leadership issues, FSU's athletics department has lost a number of very good, very experienced employees over the last few years. It's very likely there will be more turnover coming soon, as Alford and his leadership team review the entire operation.
During his nearly 18 months with Seminole Boosters, Alford was not shy about making changes he believed were needed to modernize and improve the efficiency of that operation. That hasn't always sat well with the employees, as you might expect, and there's a good chance he will ruffle some feathers in the Moore Center as well.
Then there are the coaches. Some might appreciate his management style, while others undoubtedly will not.
But the truth is, that would have been the case whether the hire was Michael Alford, Vince Tyra or virtually anybody else. The same dynamics that come into play in any of our workplaces occur in athletics programs as well -- ours just don't typically play out quite as publicly.
One large positive in that area, it should be noted, is we have gotten every indication that Alford has a very positive relationship with head football coach Mike Norvell. They have worked together extensively on the planning for the football operations center, and they have gone on numerous fundraising trips together.
There was no guarantee that Norvell was going to develop as strong of a relationship with a newer face -- and there's always a concern that a new A.D. will want his own guy running the football program -- so this could be one of the most important benefits of all.
The landscape of college athletics, and particularly football, is rapidly changing.
Having an A.D. and head football coach walking in lock-step is essential -- we have seen first-hand the damage that occurs when that isn't the case -- and it certainly doesn't hurt that Alford has connections with virtually all of the major industry players across the country.
On Friday morning around 11:30, Alford is going to be formally introduced as the Seminoles' next athletics director.
Years from now, this Vince Tyra saga might be an interesting little footnote in the history of Florida State athletics.
But it will be Michael Alford who helps author the Seminoles' next chapter.
Contact managing editor Ira Schoffel at ira@warchant.com and follow @IraSchoffel on Twitter.
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