Meet the Big-Money Boosters Behind College Football’s Top 25 Teams

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/college-football-boosters-top-25/

In anticipation of a new era of spendy “friends of the program,” here are Mother Jones‘ boosters of the top 25, based on this week’s Associated Press poll. It’s not a comprehensive list—in fact, feel free to add more boosters in the comments—but we tried to pull together some of college sports’ biggest names, a colorful and diverse crowd of folks with common traits: They’re all very rich, they’re all very powerful, and they’re treated with the deference reserved for university presidents and pro team owners.

1. Florida State: Al Dunlap
Known as “Chainsaw Al,” the 77-year-old Dunlap became infamous in the business world as a ruthless corporate downsizer while CEO of companies like Scott Paper. He’s been successfully sued by everyone from the Securities and Exchange Commission to his own shareholders over accounting fraud, and once physically attacked a critic. Dunlap retired in Ocala, Florida, and he and his wife have given $15 million to Seminole athletic facilities. (Dunlap, a West Point grad, never attended FSU.)