Tuesday, December 31, 2019

2013 Noles, Offensive Record & NFL Draft




Monday, December 30, 2019

College football team social media accounts generating the most combined interactions



Sunday, December 29, 2019

BCS or #CFBPlayoff National Championship Appearances




Friday, December 27, 2019

ACC Revenue 2018 Comparison





Some insight on Coach Norvell (Updated)




https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2019/12/25/florida-state-football-mike-norvell-memphis-ad/2746473001/

Laird Veatch knows firsthand the importance of college football in the Sunshine State.
Prior to being named Memphis’ director of athletics in October, he was the executive associate athletics director for internal affairs at Florida for two years.
So, when it comes to new Florida State football coach Mike Norvell, Veatch gave the Seminoles hire two thumbs-up, followed by a bat flip.
“He’s an incredible coach. You all hit a home run, no question,” Veatch said from the Cotton Bowl, where Memphis plays Penn State Saturday in Arlington, Texas. “Most impressive for me, there are no holes in his game. Mike’s the epitome of what you want in a head football coach.”
“That boost of energy is not going to slow down,” Veatch promised.
“That’s part of who he is. It’s not a one-time burst.  It’s a constant source. He’s one of those unique people who's wired a little more different and a little more special than most everybody else.”
Although considered one of the game’s best young offensive minds, Norvell likes to be involved in all three phases and every position group. He stresses accountability, good habits and a shared sense of purpose.
Veatch also explained that Norvell understands the impact a football coach and football program can have on a community and all the people who are engaged with it. He said Norvell embraces that role. 
“That’s part of what makes him special – not only his energy and his intelligence – it’s his genuine passion,” Veatch said.
“The culture he created. … the team you walk around with that’s obviously doing very well on the field but you feel very proud of off the field. All those things combined into one leads me to be very confident that (FSU) has hired a great coach.”
“Who I really feel sorry for in this whole thing is my friends over at the University of Florida. .. it’s going to be a little more competitive for them,” Veatch said with a good-natured laugh.
“I wish Mike (Norvell) all the best.”

At just 38 years old, #FSU head coach Mike Norvell is the youngest head coach in the ACC and the third youngest among Power 5 head coaches

Fun Fact Friday: #FSU's Norvell is the ACC's Youngest Head Coach




https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-coaching-carousel-tracker-grades-analysis-on-2019-20-hires-changes/?ftag=SPM-16-10abi8e

He isn't Bob Stoops, and he might not be a household name, but Mike Norvell has had a lot of success at Memphis. In four seasons at Memphis he went 37-15 and 24-8 in the AAC leading Memphis to conference title and Cotton Bowl berth this season. He's done all this despite continually having his staff raided by bigger schools. Yet, year after year, Norvell's program has kept humming along. This is a home run hire, even if Noles fans don't realize it. Grade: A





Image



https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/coaches-who-have-gotten-their-team-to-3-straight-conference-title-games.282936/

Coaches who have gotten their team to 3 straight conference title games


Mike Norvell - Memphis (2017-2019)
Dabo Swinney - Clemson (2015-2019)
Lincoln Riley - Oklahoma (2017-2019)
Bryan Harsin - Boise State (2017-2019)
Kirby Smart - Georgia (2017-2019)
Nick Saban - Alabama (2014-2016)
Rod Carey - Northern Illinois (2013-2015)
Jimbo Fisher - Florida State (2012-2014)
Bob Stoops - Oklahoma (2006-2008)
Bob Pruett - Marshall (1997-2002)
Steve Spurrier - Florida (1992-1996)
Gene Stallings - Alabama (1992-1994)

TV ratings, Orange Bowl vs Sugar Bowl, 2014-19

Somebody explain this   Great find by https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/


https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/12/tv-ratings-orange-bowl-vs-sugar-bowl.html

ESPN is paying the SEC and Big XII $40 million each for rights to broadcast the Sugar Bowl in non-playoff years (same as the hugely popular Rose Bowl for the Big Ten and Pac-12). Meanwhile, it's only paying the ACC $27.5 million for Orange Bowl tv rights. 

CFB
Season
Sugar Bowl
Viewers
Sugar Bowl
Matchup
Orange Bowl
Viewers(M)
Orange Bowl
Matchup
2018-1913.3 MTexas
Georgia
semi-final
2017-18semi-final11.73 MMiami
Wisconsin
2016-179.52 MOklahoma
Auburn
11.7 MFlorida State
Michigan
2015-168.94 MOle Miss
Oklahoma St
semi-final
2014-15semi-final8.94 MGeorgia Tech
Miss. State
Total31.76 M32.37 M
Average10.59 M10.79 M

Thursday, December 26, 2019

The All-Time All-America team for college football's 150th anniversary



https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28356861/the-all-all-america-team-college-football-150th-anniversary

FIRST TEAM

CB Deion Sanders, Florida State (1985-88)
Interceptions: 14 | Punt return TDs: 3 | Punt return yards: 1,429
Legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden coached two Heisman Trophy winners, 26 consensus All-Americans and more than 150 NFL draft choices. But Bowden is certain which Seminole was the best athlete he ever coached. "Deion Sanders, no doubt about it," Bowden says. Sanders, an electrifying cornerback and punt returner, snagged 14 interceptions, four of which he returned for touchdowns. He led the FBS in punt returns with a 15.2-yard average in 1988, and set FSU career records with 126 punt returns for 1,429 yards with three scores. He was a unanimous All-American in 1987 and '88 and won the Thorpe Award as the sport's best defensive back as a senior.

K Sebastian Janikowski, Florida State (1997-99)
Points: 323 | Field goals made: 66 | PATs made: 125
After Janikowski helped the Seminoles win their second national title in 1999, FSU coach Bobby Bowden told reporters, "Boy, have you ever thought about how many national championships we might have won if we had Janikowski every year of my career?" The Seminoles were haunted by near misses -- and missed field goals -- throughout the early part of Bowden's career. That wasn't the case with the Polish-born Janikowski, who amassed 323 points in three seasons and is the only back-to-back winner of the Lou Groza Award in 1998 and '99. He set FSU and ACC records with 27 field goals in 1998.

SECOND TEAM

WR Fred Biletnikoff, Florida State (1962-64)
Receptions: 87 | Receiving yards: 1,463 | Touchdowns: 16
Biletnikoff gave few signs early in his career that he would become one of the legendary wide receivers in the game. But in 1964, paired with his classmate, quarterback Steve Tensi, Biletnikoff caught 57 passes for 987 yards and 11 touchdowns to become Florida State's first consensus All-American as a senior. He added 13, 192 and four, respectively, in a 36-19 rout of Oklahoma in the Gator Bowl that season. More importantly, Florida State beat Florida that season a) for the first time in seven attempts and b) on the Gators' first visit to Doak Campbell Stadium. Here's another way of knowing the impact you made: Florida State retired his No. 25 jersey when he graduated.

ACC CG TV Viewership, 2012-19

Great info from https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/

As I have always stated, the ACC misses the boat consistently that FSU is THE TV ratings draw for the ACC.

https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/12/acc-cg-tv-viewership-2012-19.html

Here are the TV ratings for this year's FBS conference championship games:
SEC- 13.7- Million 12/7, 4 pm CBS
B1G- 13.55 Million 12/7, 8 pm FOX
XII- 8.7 Million 12/7, Noon ABC
Pac- 5.86 Million 12/6, 8 pm ABC
ACC- 3.97 Million 12/7, 7:30 pm ABC
AAC- 2.88 Million 12/7, 3:30 pm ABC
SBC- 726K 12/7, Noon ESPN
MWC- 550K 12/7, 4 pm ESPN
MAC- 358K 12/7, Noon ESPN2

The ACC CG fell all the way to 5th, nearly 2 million viewers below the Pac-12. Totally unacceptable! What gives, ACC? Well, this is the culmination of a downward trend which began in 2015 (perhaps not coincidentally when Clemson took over the Atlantic division from Florida State?)

Here are the viewership numbers for the last 8 ACC Championship Games:

YearAtlanticCoastalViewers(M)
2012#13 Florida StGa Tech*1.97====
2013#1 Florida St#20 Duke5.7============
2014#2 Florida St#12 Ga Tech10.1====================
2015#1 Clemson#8 N Carolina7.9================
2016#3 Clemson#19 Va Tech5.34==========
2017#1 Clemson#7 Miami5.43===========
2018#2 ClemsonPitt4.24========
2019#3 Clemson#22 Virginia3.97========

ACC Network Carriers

Nobody covers the ACC better than ACC Football RX

https://accfootballrx.blogspot.com/2019/12/update-acc-network-carriers.html

Here's your updated TV providers/subscription numbers for the ACC Network as of 12/23/2019 (as far as I can tell):

DistributorRenewalsubs(M)
DirectTVsigned18.7
Charter/Spectrumsigned15.8
Dish Networksigned9.6
Verizon/FiOSsigned5.7
Altice/Optimumsigned4.6
Sling TVsigned2.4
Hulu TVsigned2.0
YouTube TVsigned1.0
PlayStation Vuesigned0.8
Cox9/7/196.2
ATT Uverse9/25/193.7
ATT TV Now9/25/191.5
NCTC**7/23/191.7
TOTAL SIGNED UP73.7
Comcast202222.1
Mediacom?0.8
RCN?0.3
Sparklight?0.3
TOTAL NOT SIGNED UP23.5

As you can see, nearly 74 million people have access to the ACCN already - mostly in the ACC footprint (I didn't include cable providers who don't cover at least part of the footprint). The only holdout of real significance (in the ACC footprint) remains Comcast/Xfinity.

What this means in terms of ACCN revenue.
If we plug this new carrier number into our formulas originally published here (then later updated here), we get a new estimated annual revenue of $9.28 million per school for the current fiscal year, increasing to about $10.9 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Why does the ACC have the lowest payout and the gap is growing?



https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/how-much-is-the-buy-out-if-fsu-left-for-the-big-12.284991/page-2#post-4950899
ACC conference members gave away their third tier rights in exchange for forming the ACC network. That happened a day late and a dollar short. The ACC was 5 years late to the conference network game under Swofford's leadership.

However, the real mess is Swofford's negotiation of the 1st and 2nd tier rights. Swofford sold the ACC's 1st and 2nd tier rights for lower (way lower) than any other conference and tied up those for longer (way longer ) than any other conference.

Part of that is because the ACC is comprised partly of schools like Wake that bring nothing to the table in terms of eyeballs or fan support. Part of that is the fact that we have 4 schools in a single market (North Carolina). Part of that is we allowed other schools to join that bring nothing to the table either.


Here's something I did a while back after the '17 season:

Big 12 ($28.7 million per member for FY'17):
1st and 2nd tier - ESPN and Fox (expires 2024-25)
Third tier – Each member.
Note: ESPN and Fox pay the Big 12 $200 million per year for their TV rights. For their third tier rights, Texas receive an additional $15 million from its individual deal, OU gets an additional $8-$9 million, and schools like Baylor, TCU, West Virginia and Oklahoma State, get an additional $6-$8 million.

Pac 12 ($28.7 million per member for FY'17):
1st and 2nd tier - ESPN and Fox (expires in 2023-24)
Third tier - PAC Network
Note: ESPN and Fox pay the Pac 12 $250 million per year for their TV rights. The PAC-12 has retained third tier rights for the PAC Network. The Pac-12 Network is owned by the Pac-12 Conference and generates money for the conference.

ACC ($26 million per member for FY'17):
1st, 2nd and third tier - ESPN (expires 2035-36)
Note: ESPN pays the ACC $240 million per year for all TV rights, but in 2019, the ACC Network starts and could be a source of additional revenue per member. ESPN will own the ACC network, so ESPN will continue to own all TV rights for ACC members.

SEC ($41 million per member for FY '17)
1st and 2nd tier - CBS (expires in 2022-23) and ESPN (expires in 2033-34)
Third tier - SEC Network
Note: CBS and ESPN pay the SEC $380 million per year for their TV rights. ESPN owns the SEC network, so ESPN will continue to own all TV rights for SEC members, but the SEC network currently generates money for the SEC.

Big 10 ($38.5 million for FY '17):
1st tier – ESPN, Fox (expire in 2022-23) and CBS (hoops)
Third tier - Big 10 Network
Note: Reportedly, ESPN, Fox and CBS are now paying the Big 10 around $440 million per year for their TV rights. Fox just paid $240 million per year for just half of the Big Ten's 1st tier media rights package, which is about 25 football games and 50 men's basketball games. ESPN pay $190 million per year. CBS is paying $10 million per year on average for some basketball rights. The Big 10 retains some third tier rights that go to the Big 10 Network by virtue of its partial ownership of the Big 10 network. The Big-10 Network is a joint venture between Fox Sports and the Big Ten, with Fox Entertainment Group as 51% stakeholder and operating partner, and the Big Ten Conference owning a 49% stake. The Big 10 network currently generates revenues for its members.

FSU falls to #20 in facilities rankings


https://247sports.com/college/florida-state/LongFormArticle/Alabama-football-Clemson-Tigers-Nick-Saban-Ohio-State-Buckeyes-LSU-college-facilities-rankings-2019-134061740/

25. Florida
24. Texas Tech
23. Oregon State
22. Arkansas
21. TCU
20. Florida State
19. Washington
18. USC
17. Northwestern
16. North Carolina

Friday, December 20, 2019

FSU player makes NFL All Time Team




FSU Softball




Monday, December 16, 2019

2013 FSU National Champ an all time great team?








Myron Rolle a Harvard Paul Farmer Global Surgery Research Fellow




Sunday, December 15, 2019

FSU grad wins Miss World 2019




Saturday, December 14, 2019

FSU vs ND 1993 First College Gameday Road Trip






Friday, December 13, 2019

Head coach Mike Norvell's contract details


https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/college/fsu/football/2019/12/12/florida-state-fsu-football-mike-norvell-contract-details-seminoles-head-coach-willie-taggart-buyout/4411446002/

New FSU head coach Mike Norvell -- officially announced by FSU Sunday after he coached Memphis to an AAC Championship Saturday -- will make a total of $26.5 million over the next six years. This equates to an average annual salary of $4.42 million before his annual retention bonus of $250,000.
He'll make $3.75 million in 2020 and max out at $5 million in 2025.
FSU will also be paying Norvell's buyout from Memphis, which is $500,000 according to Steve Berkowitz of USA Today Sports.
The contract states that Norvell's buyout would equate to 85% of the remainder of the contract if it is terminated early.
On the other hand, if he terminates the contract to take another job at the college or NFL level, the buyout he owes starts at $5 million in the first year and drops by $1 million each year.
The contract also states that Norvell will be given an approximate esti pool of $5.25 million to pay his 10 assistant coaches from. That's up slightly from the combined pool of $5,072,000 FSU's 10 on-field coaches made in 2019.

FSU Medical School Draws Accreditation 'Warning' After ' Very Unpleasant' April Site Visit


https://floridastate.forums.rivals.com/threads/fsu-college-of-medicine-warning.283919/

https://news.wfsu.org/post/fsu-medical-school-draws-accreditation-warning-after-very-unpleasant-april-site-visit

Florida State University’s medical school has received a warning from the organization responsible for accrediting medical schools across the United States and Canada.
The warning said the FSU College of Medicine has failed to meet standards that, if not corrected within the next one to two years, could “seriously compromise the ability of the school to conduct the educational program.”
College of Medicine Dean John Fogarty said that a Liaison Committee on Medical Education site team visited the school in April. University President John Thrasher was advised of the decision to issue a warning in an Oct. 25 letter.
Fogarty said the College of Medicine is working to ensure that it addresses the site team’s concerns before the team comes back in spring 2020.
“My expectation is over the next year they’ll like us again,” Fogarty told The News Service of Florida on Friday.
“What we are able to say to the students is that we are fully accredited and that the LCME has some findings that we need to work on,” Fogarty said. “And we’ll get that done. And it will have no impact on their education. It should have no impact on anyone interested in coming here.”
The LCME is responsible for the accreditation of educational programs leading to medical doctor degrees in the United States and Canada.
Fogarty said that before the LCME’s April visit, the College of Medicine spent 18 months reviewing the 96 LCME standards, identifying the program’s strengths and weaknesses. More than 400 pages of data were submitted to the accrediting organization in advance of the site team’s visit.
“Given how well we did in 2011 with almost no findings, we were shocked that the visit team did not see or recognize how good we are and how far we have continued to advance since the last visit,” Fogarty said.   
LCME can make six decisions during the accreditation process. “Warning” is one of four that is considered “severe,” according to the Oct. 25 letter. 
A warning occurs when the accrediting body finds one or more areas of noncompliance with standards, according to the organization’s website. If left unaddressed, those deficiencies could “seriously compromise the ability of the school to conduct the educational program,” according to the website.
Fogarty described the April site visit as “very unpleasant.”
“We felt that team did not really understand us, did not understand our model and made a number of significant findings about our model that we felt were inaccurate and wrong,” Fogarty said.
The LCME says on its website that findings are not public and don’t need to be disclosed. While Fogarty shared the Oct. 25 letter, he told The News Service of Florida “it is clear” that the specific findings made by the site team were not a public record.
But Fogarty said some findings were “picky,” such as not including on the school’s website the qualifications students need to meet to be enrolled in the College of Medicine. Another “picky” finding centered on bylaws, which Fogarty said have been corrected.
Another three or four findings, Fogarty contended, stemmed from a misunderstanding about how the medical school program operates, the result of the site team not visiting the school’s six regional campuses.
With backing from powerful state politicians, the College of Medicine was created by the Legislature in 2000 and designed as a community-based medical school. Unlike most schools, its students don’t train in large teaching hospitals anchored to the school.
The first two years of the program are spent on the Tallahassee campus, where students enroll in required courses. After that, students are assigned to one of six regional campuses across the state where they do clinical training, partnering with physicians.
Fogarty said the site team visited the regional campuses in 2011. But during this year’s review, faculty and students were brought to Tallahassee to meet with the site team, a move Fogarty said was “an error.”
“It’s very, very different from most traditional medical schools where they spend their time in a big box, in an academic medical center and hospital rotations,” he said. 
One area where the university fell short was the interaction of students with hospital residents. But Fogarty said that FSU medical students, “90 percent of the time” are working with board-certified physicians in doctors’ offices.
Another standard cited by the LCME team, Fogarty said, dealt with medical conditions the students are required to be exposed to during training and the level of care they provide while in school.
“We are all over that, but they just didn’t get it,” Fogarty said.
Alan Levine, a hospital executive and member of the state university system’s Board of Governors, had not seen the LCME’s findings.
Generally, though, he said the accreditation process is meant to be helpful. And while programs “hate” when they come up short, Levine said, the findings are meant to give colleges and universities “a road map of what needs to be worked on.”
“FSU has been at this for a while,” Levine said. “They have a good medical school, and I think they’ll address it. I’d be more concerned if they go through another cycle and they don’t address the issues.”

Combined men's and women's college basketball rankings


https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/28261001/louisville-no-1-combined-men-women-college-basketball-rankings

T-7 -- Florida State

Previous rank: 8
Rankings: AP No. 21 (men), AP No. 8 (women)
Men: The Seminoles have struggled to find consistency through the first six weeks of the season. They lost to Pittsburgh in the opener, then turned around and won at Florida. They beat Tennessee and Purdue on a neutral court, then got blown out at Indiana. There's enough talent and experience on the roster to figure things out in ACC play. -- Jeff Borzello
Women: The Seminoles, with wins over ranked foes Texas A&M and Michigan State, are among three unbeaten teams in the ACC, along with North Carolina and NC State. Florida State plays the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack back to back on Jan. 12 and 16. The Seminoles have three more nonconference games and four in the ACC before that, but that mid-January matchup with NC State, particularly, could be one of the key games in the ACC this season. Senior forward Kiah Gillespie is averaging nearly a double-double (16.2 points, 9.7 rebounds per game). -- Mechelle Voepel

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Terrell Buckley becomes the 9th Seminole inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame




Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Aggie and Jeff Stoops provide lead gift for FSU’s Renaissance Campaign



https://theosceola.com/aggie-jeff-stoops-make-major-gift-to-jump-start-renaissance-campaign/

Seminole Boosters, Inc. and the Florida State University athletic department have received a leadership commitment of $2.5 million from Aggie and Jeff Stoops in support of the Seminole Football program.
With their pledge, the Stoops are the first donors to support FSU’s Renaissance Campaign, which is a focused effort to receive gifts in support of a championship future for the football program. 
Additionally, with this gift the Stoops have made a commitment in support of the athletic department’s upcoming investment in a football operations building as part of the five-year Unconquered Campaign. In recognition of their generosity, the office of the new head coach Mike Norvell will be named The Aggie and Jeff Stoops Office of the Head Football Coach.
Jeff is the President and CEO of SBA Communications Corporation, one of the world’s largest cell phone tower companies and an S&P 500 Company. Both Aggie and Jeff are two-time FSU graduates and have been active in university leadership, including hosting many Seminole Boosters events at their home. Jeff joined the Board of Directors for Seminole Boosters in 2019.




http://unconqueredmagazine.com/aggie-and-jeff-stoops-step-up-for-fsu/

Top 150 coaches in college football history



1. Bear Bryant
2. Saban
3. Rockne
4. Osborne
5. Eddie Robinson
6. Charles (Bud) Wilkinson
7. Paterno
8. Bowden
9. Woody Hayes
10. Frank Leahy

Here is the Bowden write-up: "When Bowden arrived at Florida State, it was a midsize independent, not above taking a paycheck game to keep the athletics department's doors open. When he left 43 years later, the Seminoles had established themselves as a national power. From 1987-2000, Bowden's Seminoles finished in the top five every season, including two national titles (1993, 1999). After joining the ACC in 1992, Florida State won 12 of the next 14 ACC titles. Bowden loved fireworks on offense and fast, physical play on defense. He developed two Heisman winners (Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke) and a generation of goodwill for Florida State."



How the Playoff would have looked during the BCS Era (1998-2013)






Monday, December 9, 2019

Which network is aligned with the ACC?




Highest Single Season Point Margin in CFB History (modern)




Best team by decade in CFB history (by Win %)




Thursday, December 5, 2019

State of the Union



https://news.fsu.edu/news/university-news/2019/12/04/state-of-the-university-thrasher-applauds-fsus-culture-of-excellence/

State of the University: Thrasher applauds FSU’s culture of excellence

President John Thrasher delivers his fifth State of the University address. (FSU Photography Services)
Florida State University students, faculty and staff are achieving at the highest levels, according to President John Thrasher, who presented his annual State of the University address  to the Faculty Senate on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
Thrasher said a culture of excellence is the reason why Florida State is now recognized as the 18th best public university in America. He credited faculty, staff and administrators from across campus who have been working for nearly five years to first develop a strategic plan that would serve as FSU’s road map to the Top 25 and then implement measurable benchmarks to ensure the university moved in that direction.
“You know, when we first starting talking about reaching the U.S. News & World Report’s Top 25, there were some people who didn’t think we could do it,” Thrasher said. “And they certainly didn’t think we would break into the Top 20 — at least not this quickly.”

Florida State’s focus on student success has had the biggest impact on the university’s upward trajectory in the rankings, he said. FSU’s four-year graduation rate is the best in Florida and among the Top 10 public universities in the nation, while its 93 percent freshman retention rate ranks among the nation’s Top 20.
This success has resulted in FSU’s increasing popularity among prospective students. Applications for summer and fall admissions are already up 8 percent compared to this time last year.
“More and more, we are becoming the first choice for the very best students,” Thrasher said.
Graduate school enrollment is at an all-time high, and graduate student applications are up 26 percent since 2017, Thrasher said.
“Graduate education is a hallmark of any great research university, and we are strategically growing our graduate and postgraduate populations,” he said.
The Faculty Senate welcomed President Thrasher for the annual State of the University address. (FSU Photography Services)
In addition to exceeding its goal of reaching the Top 25, Florida State posted achievements in areas across the board.
This past fiscal year, FSU faculty researchers received nearly $234 million from federal, state and private sources — a new university record.
Faculty research is making a difference around the globe and close to home. As an example, Thrasher cited the opening of the College of Medicine’s FSU Primary Health center near Sabal Palm Elementary School where faculty and students are providing needed care and services to an underserved community.
Thrasher also recognized FSU’s newest college, the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship — the nation’s first stand-alone college of entrepreneurship — and its dean, Susan Fiorito.
“This shows how the $100 million gift from Jan Moran and The Jim Moran Foundation continues to transform our campus, and we continue to be grateful for their generosity,” he said.
Along with highlighting Florida State’s successes, Thrasher discussed some of the university’s key challenges, including the administration’s efforts to enact policies that support a healthier and safer environment for Greek Life organizations.
“I can assure you, FSU will be unyielding in its efforts to punish those who cannot abide by the rules and do not put the health and safety of their members and pledges first,” Thrasher said. “I think we’re making a difference in that area, and we’re going to continue to work hard on it.”
Looking ahead, Thrasher continues to have high expectations for FSU.
“The Top 15 is in our sights, and the Top 10 is a long-range goal,” he said. “But it’s going to take significant support from our friends as well as the Florida Legislature to make it happen.”
Thrasher said the fact that FSU moved up faster than any other university in the Top 50 bodes well for the 2020 Florida legislative session, which begins Jan. 14.
“I’ve been meeting with a number of legislators already, and I’m very optimistic about this session,” he said. “Our legislators understand the importance of higher education for the state, and they know FSU, in particular, provides a great return on investment.”
Florida State will ask the Legislature for funding to hire nationally recognized faculty, improve its faculty-student ratio and enrich Florida’s talent pipeline, as well as to provide more resources to recognize current faculty for their hard work. In addition, Thrasher said that securing funding for the new College of Business building and an Interdisciplinary Research and Commercialization building will be top priorities.
“From academic and research excellence to entrepreneurship and innovation, from student success to diversity and inclusion — everything we have accomplished has further enhanced our reputation of excellence,” Thrasher said. “I’m looking forward to continuing to work with you to reach even higher and achieve even more in 2020.”