Unconquered magazine (USPS 18182) is published quarterly by Seminole Boosters, Inc., 225 University Center, Suite 5100, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306. (850) 644-3484, Fax: (850) 222-5929. POSTMASTER: send change of address to, Unconquered magazine, care of Seminole Boosters, Florida State University Center, Suite C-5100, 5th Floor, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306. Periodicals Postage Paid at Tallahassee, FL, Volume 34, Issue 2. All advertising revenues directly support programs of the Seminole Boosters, Inc. For advertising rates, please contact the sales representatives listed below. © 2018, Seminole Boosters, Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Florida State University faculty, staff or administration. OVERVIEW Unconquered magazine celebrates Seminole athletics and the indomitable spirit of its student-athletes who overcome adversity, the passion of its coaches and educators who help students reach beyond their limits and the devotion of donors who redefine the boundaries of generosity by giving scholarships that change lives and who make donations that build first-class athletic facilities. By sharing their stories of transformational experiences — on the athletic playing field, in the classroom and in life — Unconquered magazine encourages the growth of responsible world citizenship and cross-cultural understanding. Each issue carries stories on what makes student-athletes great and how they were shaped by their experience at FSU, features on Seminole community sports legends and profiles of donors who make contributions.
SEMINOLE BOOSTERS, INC. 2018-19 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
DOUG RUSSELL Chairman
BOB DAVIS Chairman Elect
BOB FREY Secretary
JOHN CROWE Treasurer
TOM JENNINGS Presidential Designee
ED BURR Chairman of the Board of Trustees
STAN WILCOX Vice President and Director for Intercollegiate Athletics
CONTACT Send correspondence to Derril Beech, at the address shown above or by email to derril.beech@fsu.edu. Telephone: (850) 644-3484. MAGAZINE STAFF Publishers: Andy Miller, Jerry Kutz Managing editor: Derril Beech Design, layout, production, pre-press: IMG College Featured photographers: Ross Obley, Mike Olivella, Ryals Lee Contributing photographers: Seminole Boosters, FSU Sports Information, Andrew Salinero/FSView, Sara Davis/ACC, the ACC, Maury Neipris Columnists: Charlie Barnes, Jerry Kutz Contributing writers: Derril Beech, Jim Crosby, Bonnie Holub, Jerry Kutz, John Lata, Tim Linafelt, Jeff Romance, FSU Sports Information, Bob Thomas Copy editor: Bob Ferrante Photo purchasing information: derril.beech@fsu.edu
EXECUTIVE STAFF Andy Miller President & CEO Greg Hulen Executive Vice President Derril Beech Vice President, Marketing & Annual Giving Eric Carr Vice President of Development Coordination, Training & Oversight Mike Dasher Senior Vice President, Development Jerry Kutz Senior Vice President, Communication JP Sinclair Chief Financial Officer Kari Terezakis Vice President of Stewardship Ben Zierden Senior Vice President, Operations DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS Tom Carlson Senior Vice President, North Florida Region Chris Wilson Director of Development, Atlanta Area Javi Garcia-Tunon Associate Director of Fundraising, Goldcoast of Florida Colson Hosford Director of Real Estate & Development Billy Sexton Director of Development South Florida Kevin Smith Director of Development, Greater Tampa Bay Region Hugh Tomlinson Director of Development & Gift Planning James Warren Associate Director – Panhandle Area & Big Bend Region Max Zahn Regional Annual Fund Director
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TICKET SALES & BOOSTER MEMBERSHIPS Mark Cameron Director of Ticket Sales Timara Gore Account Executive – New Sales Andrew Pope Account Executive New Sales Justin Schaefer Account Executive New Sales Fernando Segura Account Executive Premium Sales George Seliga Team Lead – New Sales Ray Silva Account Executive New Sales Joey Veneziano Account Executive Premium Sales Brian Wagner Account Executive Premium Service & Retention Brittany Coles Account Executive Service & Retention Mikey Drinkard Account Executive Service & Retention Ed Servil Account Executive Service & Retention D'minia Stokes Account Executive Premium Service & Retention Nicole Sullivan Team Lead – Service & Retention Analisa Trstensky Account Executive Service & Retention T. J. Alford Account Executive Service & Retention ACCOUNTING/ HUMAN RESOURCES Chyenne Bibik Accounting Clerk Amy Hanstein Director of Employee Relations & Accounts Payable Mark Majszak Comptroller
GARY THURSTON Immediate Past Chairman
NYLAH THOMPSON 2nd Immediate Past Chairman
ALAN FLAUMENHAFT At-Large
JIMMY GRAGANELLA At-Large
2018-19 DIRECTORS AT-LARGE
KRIS INCHCOMBE At-Large
DELORES SPEARMAN At-Large
PAST CHAIRMEN
Diana Azor
Linda Dupree
DeVoe Moore
Kathy Atkins-Gunter
Byron Bailey
Don Everett
Brian Murphy
Tom Barron
W.O. Bell
Eric Friall
Parrish Owens
Steve Brown
Jim Boyd
Ernie Garcia
Warner Peacock
Joe Camps
Kevin Carpenter
Bill Hagen
Craig Ramsey
Bill Carraway
Eleanor Connan
Kevin Hawkins
Mark Shelnutt
Jim Carter
Marilyn Cox
Dan Hendrix
Jim Steiner
Ken Cashin
Clif Curry
Nick Iarossi
Bill Stephenson
Bob Caton
Bill Dawkins
Bob Johnson
Mike Summey
Raymond Cottrell
ADVANCEMENT SERVICES Patrick Harrity Web Application Specialist Alesha McCann Data Analyst
Mary Demetree
Pete Law
Philip Troyer
Dave Cowens
Craig Dewhurst
Brett Lindquist
Richard Welch
Carl Domino
Charles Dudley
Scott Madden
Jerry Williams
Frank Fain
Albert Dunlap
John McCann
Mike Fields
COACHES CLUBS Sarah Wisemann Assistant Director of Annual Giving
Doug Dunlap
Richard McMullen
Andy Haggard
FSU TRADEMARK LICENSING Katie Watt Director of Trademark Licensing Garrett O'Connor Assistant Director of Trademark Licensing
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
ADMINISTRATIVE Patti Barber Receptionist James Bird Director of Maintenance
GIFT PROCESSING Logan Byrd Gift Processing Manager Rob Neal Gift Processing Specialist Alex Pope Gift Processing Specialist David Newman Mail Processing & Records Management MARKETING Alex Douglas Director of Annual Giving Monica Perez Director of Graphic Arts Kristin Tubeck Director of Events Marketing STEWARDSHIP Jordan Jarmakowicz Stewardship & Events Coordinator Blake Moore Stewardship & Events Coordinator VARSITY CLUB Betsy Hosey Director of Varsity Club
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Bruce Harrell Mike Harrell
Tom Jennings, Presidential Designee Ed Burr, Board of Trustees Chairman Stan Wilcox, Vice President and Director for Intercollegiate Athletics Nan Hillis, Foundation Chair Designee
Sherman Henderson Ron Hobbs
Nada Usina, Women’s Athletics Representative Max Oligario, Alumni Chairman Pam Parrewe, Athletic Board Designee Wade Wallace, Varsity Club Designee Chris Garrison Student Booster Designee
Doug Russell, Seminole Boosters Chair Bob Davis, Seminole Boosters Vice-Chair Gary Thurston, Seminole Boosters Immediate Past Chair Nylah Thompson, Seminole Boosters 2nd Immediate Past Chair
FLORIDA STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Todd Adams Maximo "Max" Alvarez Kathryn Ballard Edward E. “Ed” Burr, Chair William “Billy” Buzzett Emily Fleming “June” Duda Jorge Gonzalez Jim W. Henderson
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Mark Hillis Craig Mateer Stacey Pierre Bob Sasser Brent W. Sembler John Thrasher President, Florida State University
Chris Kraft George Langford Lawton Langford Douglas Mannheimer Russ Morcom John Olson Bill Parker Theo Proctor, Jr. David Rancourt Lomax Smith Brian Swain Nylah Thompson Gary Thurston Gary Walsingham
In December, I will be a college graduate and honestly this is so far from what I envisioned for myself. I cannot thank the Seminole Boosters enough for their financial support and providing me with the means to be a studentathlete. The support that they have given to my team through facilities and different enhancements in just four years is unparalleled. My life has forever changed because of my experience here at Florida State and I owe a lot of that to the men and women of the Seminole Boosters organization. NYQWAN MURRAY Football
THANK YOU, SEMINOLE BOOSTER MEMBERS P.O. Box 1353
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Tallahassee, FL 32302
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(850) 644-1830
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SeminoleBoosters.com
W H A T ’ S
I N S I D E
CONTENTS Booster Life 4 Board of Directors 12 Booster Event photos 88 Newest Noles 90 Eternal Flame 92 Welcome New Members 96 Compliance
PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION AND BILLIE JONES
Features 14 50th Anniversary of Women’s Athletics 20 Brianne Burkert 38 John Crowe 40 Charlie Ward 45 Football Fan Guide 56 New Fan Traditions 68 Gene Deckerhoff 74 Choose Tallahassee Report 6 Andy Miller Q&A 8 Charlie Barnes’ Column 22 Stan Wilcox Q&A 26 Hall of Fame 28 Year in Review 37 Seminole Golf Course 42 Women’s Football Clinic 64 CollegeTown 76 Trademark Licensing 80 Women’s Basketball Schedule 81 Men’s Basketball Schedule 82 Soccer Preview 84 Volleyball Preview 86 Cross Country Preview
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One the cover: The debut of the Willie Taggart area with the Premier on Monday Sept.3 vs. VA Tech. The stars will include Bobby Bowden and Frank Beamer as honorary captains, ’99 Nat’l Championship standouts Peter Warrick and Michael Vick signing autographs in CollegeTown, and more! Cam Akers photo by Ross Obley Cover design by Monica Perez
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Q & A
Q&A PRESIDENT AND CEO
ANDY MILLER Q: There were questions about how to accommodate football’s operational needs. Describe how a decision like this is made. A: It begins with a request from the head football coach to the athletic department to address an operational need. A year ago the athletic department selected Populous, a national architectural firm specializing in sports and entertainment venues, to develop options to address deficiencies in the current football operations facility and to create the optimum design. Childers Construction was retained to develop cost estimates for each option. While studying the facilities, FSU had a head coaching change and Populous re-booted their study to include new head coach Willie Taggart. In June, Populous made a presentation to the athletic department and the university. President Thrasher asked Chairman of the Board of Trustees Ed Burr — who is a real estate developer — along with members of the University, Athletics Department and Seminole Boosters to evaluate the options and develop financing and fund raising plans to underwrite the cost of construction and ongoing maintenance. A decision should be announced at the start of football season. Q: What was the Boosters role in the process? A: Seminole Boosters is the fundraising arm of athletics and our responsibility is to fund the priorities set by 6
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the university athletic administration in a fiscally responsible manner while paying the debt ($10 million per year) on past priority projects. We raise money so the athletics administration can provide the football staff with the tools deemed necessary and to provide funding for scholarship and operations for 19 additional sports. The university leadership – Board of Trustees, President, Athletics Director and Seminole Boosters – are all mindful of our overall investment in new facilities for these 20 sports. Maintaining comprehensive excellence comes with a price. It’s a difficult challenge and requires time necessary to weigh the options in order to make the right decisions. While athletics and the university were weighing their options, Seminole Boosters was meeting with donors to raise money for the football operations facility as well as other priority athletic facilities for golf, basketball and baseball as well as for scholarships and operations. We are seeing positive early results from existing and new donors. Q: A project like the football operations facility does not generate revenue so how will it be funded? A: A project like this will have multiple funding sources. Athletics has committed to use revenues from a new media rights contract and potentially from the ACC Network and Seminole Boosters will also raise money, which we have been doing for more than a year.
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Q: Are there competing priorities?
donors. The activities surrounding the live sporting events have been dramatically enhanced. We call it the Friday to Sunday experience during which we showcase as many sports as possible along with other forms of entertainment in the community to provide an experience our donors won’t want to miss.
A: Yes, but I would not describe baseball, basketball, golf and scholarships as “competing.” They are all important to the University, Athletics and Seminole Boosters. Technically, the scholarship endowment could be considered competing because there are donors who choose to pledge their money to scholarships rather than facilities. Our role as fundraisers is to communicate these needs to prospective donors so it is the donors who ultimately decide which project they will fund. Fortunately, we have Seminoles with an interest in one or more of these projects. Q: As we look to the future of collegiate athletics, what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats? A: Without a doubt, interest in college athletics is at an all-time high and the trend continues with dramatic growth in Olympic and women’s sports. Because of increased coverage of sports on a daily basis and new networks to broadcast events live, alumni and friends can stay connected to their schools. A successful program enhances development efforts for both athletics and the university. With the increased coverage comes challenges. Live attendance for sporting events is in a decline. Increased coverage allows fans to stay home rather than attend the live event. This is costly to the university in many ways. Tickets, concessions and donations are all affected. And people support FSU at much higher levels when they attend live events. At Florida State, we are blessed with the natural beauty of Tallahassee, but our remote location and demographics present additional challenges and cost of attendance.
Q: Can you describe the Friday to Sunday football experience? A: Our fans can create their own experience when they come to a home game. Their weekend could include exciting volleyball and/or soccer matches, the Spear Lighting tradition every Friday evening, dinner in College Town, where they can enjoy live concerts from 5-10 p.m. at the Block Party. Or they could join the University Center Club – which is also a Booster enterprise to enhance the experience -- and enjoy member dining, cocktails and live entertainment overlooking Bobby Bowden Field.
ame Day offers traditional tailgating, the Marching G Chiefs skull session at Dick Howser Stadium and the Sod Talks at the Sod Cemetery where our fans can meet former players. And this year, we’ll introduce the pregame Player Walk, where the team and fans interact as the players walk from their buses to the stadium, and catered tailgating opportunities.
In addition to stadium seating we offer several premium experiences in the UCC, Dunlap Champions Club and with skyboxes. Many of our fans enjoy visiting College Town or the UCC after the game while they let the traffic clear. We’ve even programmed Sunday Brunch at College Town and at the University Center Club, where they can meet friends to chat about the game before traveling home. Additionally, Tallahassee and the surrounding area offer many natural resources, events and activities all fans can enjoy.
Q: What are we doing now to overcome these challenges? A: Seminole Boosters has focused on the donor experience as a starting point. Our team of customer service representatives aggressively stay connected to our
We want to program the football weekend to be memorable. We want to provide opportunities for our fans to see old friends, meet new ones and amplify the spirit as only a live event can. SB
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Former FSU coach Bobby Bowden and former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer will be honorary captains for the teams’ game on Sept. 3.
BECOMING GOLIATH AGAIN
A TOUGH SCHEDULE AWAITS A FLORIDA STATE SQUAD LOOKING TO REGAIN ITS STATUS AS A PERENNIAL POWER
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id Jimbo Fisher have a ‘Bobby Bowden moment’ when he looked ahead at the 2018 schedule? Bowden’s plan back in 1976 was to stay at Florida State for only a few years, catch the eye of some more substantial program and then move on. He could see the future schedules, and most especially the ghastly ‘Oktoberfest’ of 1981, which featured away games on consecutive weekends at Nebraska, at Ohio State, at Notre Dame, at Pitt and at LSU. All this was in addition to games against Miami and Florida. “I remember thinking to myself,” Bowden chuckled, “I said, ‘I wonder who’s going to be coaching these guys then.’” But he didn’t leave. After the victory over LSU in Baton Rouge in October 1979, Bowden made the decision to stay and stick it out at FSU. The 1981 8
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season was every bit the terror that it was thought to be, but the Tribe did beat Notre Dame, LSU and Ohio State all on the road, and for those remarkable achievements Bowden and the Seminoles were christened ‘The Road Warriors’ by the national sports media. For the most part, fans don’t remember the losses we suffered that year. They do cherish the memories of struggles against impossible odds and the iconic victories against legendary programs on the road. For a long time, Bowden has said the 1981 win over Notre Dame was his most meaningful career victory. In those days, Florida State yearned to win respect from the goliaths of college football. The annual post-season Football Awards Banquet was held in Jacksonville on January, 1982, with a caravan of busses bringing players over for the event. Senior quarterback
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BY CHARLIE BARNES Charlie Barnes is the retired Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Seminole Boosters; he is also President of the Seminole Greek Alumni Foundation.
Rick Stockstill choked back tears as he apologized to thousands of adoring fans for the 6-5 record. No bowl awarded Florida State a berth that year, despite the signature victories over national powers. In those days there were far fewer bowls, and 6-5 was just not enough ante to sit at the table. But, 1981 was the last time the Seminoles would be without a bowl bid. Coach Fisher’s final record in 2017 was 5-6. Coach Odell Haggins breathed draughts of much needed oxygen into the team, winning the final two contests including the Independence Bowl.
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Above: Fred Biletnikoff (25) is one of Florida State’s greatest players. He arrived at Florida State in 1961 and played for three seasons. He retired in 1978 and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1988. After the Orange Bowl loss in 2001, it took 13 years for the Seminoles to become a goliath again. And when it did happen in 2013 — oh, my! That 2013 team, led by Jimbo Fisher and quarterback Jameis Winston, was a thing of wonder. Winston set FSU, ACC and freshman national passing records. The Seminoles set new FSU and ACC records for total offense; they set a new national record for total points in the season; they led the nation in pass defense and had the most touchdowns in the country while setting new FSU and ACC records. In 1981, no one questioned that Florida State played the toughest schedule in the country. There are those — mostly the preseason magazines and professional prognosticators — who say that this Seminole 2018 schedule will once again be the toughest in the land, comparable to 1981. Our fans don’t want to hear it. Coach
PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Taggart made such a powerful first impression that some of us have talked ourselves into believing that we will be playing for the big trophy on Jan. 7, 2019, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The people who make their living predicting outcomes start by looking at our opening game against Virginia Tech (and trust me, the Hokies cannot wait to get here), and the night game in South Bend, Indiana, in November. Games at Syracuse, at Louisville, at N.C. State and at Miami will be challenging. And of course Clemson and Florida will come to Tallahassee to pay its respects. It has not escaped notice that both Miami and Florida seem to be much improved over previous seasons. In just a few days from now, we open at home against an old rival, a team we’ve played off and on since 1955. Virginia Tech fans make a point of being unimpressed with Florida State.
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They are the hill people; we are the flat-landers. This fall, our Seminoles will seek the way to become a goliath again. And come Labor Day, Virginia Tech will arrive in town with a chip on its shoulder as it looks to be the David to Florida State’s Goliath. Until 2007, Virginia Tech had never beaten a Bowden-coached team, either at West Virginia or at FSU. Its record against the Seminoles is 12-23-1 but 10 of those 12 wins over FSU came between 1955 and the arrival of Bowden. Old timers among the Hokie faithful laugh gleefully at memories of the 1964 game in Blacksburg. With the game out of reach, and in its final moments, the great Fred Biletnikoff caught a meaningless touchdown pass and then blew off his frustration by throwing the ball high up into the Hokie stands — Florida State entered that contest undefeated and proceeded to finish the year with just the one loss.
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Peter Warrick will sign autographs for fans at the Block Party on Sunday and will speak at the Sod Talk ceremony on Monday before the game
The Hokies are a stout and hearty clan. Tucked into the deep folds of western Virginia’s mountains, their campus is remote and gorgeous. The distinctive collegiate-gothic buildings clad in native limestone, their strong military tradition and fanatically loyal fans make them similar in culture and style to Texas A&M. They have absolutely been an asset to ACC football fortunes and we were lucky to have included them into the conference in 2003, albeit over the intense objections of their most despised in-state rival. Virginia Tech was long a wanderer in search of an appropriate home. Between 1990 and 2003, the Hokies officially held sequential membership in four different conferences (some count five). By contrast, our FSU alumni grew 10
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up in a state of 20 million people with deep wellsprings of top football talent who grew up outdoors and almost all of whom are fast. Our Seminole alumni like to joke about remembering their childhoods “back when Florida only had two NFL teams”. Our state is the glamour capital of the south, the launching pad to the stars and the nation’s gateway to the exotic southern hemisphere. We have Mickey Mouse and Universal Studios and more professional baseball, basketball, soccer and hockey teams than you would think could fully occupy our interest. This is astonishing: Since 1983, nearly one third of all national college football championships have been won by the combined forces of Florida State, Florida and Miami, and each of those
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teams can boast of multiple Heisman Trophy quarterbacks. Such is the frenzied passion for championships in Florida that the Central Florida Knights awarded themselves the title last season after going undefeated and beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl. And why not? If the voters refuse to put UCF on the ballot for Homecoming Queen, then let them fashion their own crown and put up its own decorations. In the style of UCF’s claim to a 2017 national championship, the Virginia Tech Hokies now officially claim “the longest bowl game streak in the country recognized by the NCAA.” They claim to have participated in 25 consecutive bowls beginning in 1993. But of course, the real longest bowl streak belongs
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to the Seminoles, beginning 11 years earlier in 1982. Our game against the Hokies in the 1999 national championship in New Orleans was Virginia Tech’s Gettysburg; the high water mark of their program’s long history (start date: 1892). They don’t like us and they never have. It is an intentional thumb in FSU’s eye that the Virginia Tech Wikipedia page lists who they consider to be their six major football rivals, a list that includes tiny Virginia Military Institute but not Florida State. Let no doubts cloud your mind. When they come to Tallahassee, nothing would please the Hokies and their people more than to deliver a triumphant punch in the nose to the Seminoles and to head coach Taggart in his first outing. If you churn through the pre-season magazines, the general prediction seems to be an 8-4 season for the Seminoles. Writers tend to gasp when they look at our schedule, and there
are a few unkind sneers about recent “gaps in recruiting” that Taggart will have to address over time. Most pre-season rankings spot us behind the usual suspects: Clemson, Miami, Notre Dame and even Florida. And even Virginia Tech. The Roanoke Times is high on the Hokies. They reprinted an analysis of the coming matchup by Ian Boyd of SBNation.com. “The Hokies will be catching the Seminoles at the right time,” he writes. “Willie Taggart’s overhaul of Florida State offers big potential, but the experienced Hokies (may be too much) for week one of year one … This is going to be a slugfest, with both teams figuring each other out. But given how new everything will be at Florida State, Virginia Tech has the advantage.” Yes. Having once been a goliath, we yearn to experience anew the glories so familiar in our memories. Not many programs can ever reach that elevated
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status, and even fewer can ever recover what was once lost. It’s difficult, but not impossible to become a goliath. Our Seminoles certainly sustained it in the 1990s when we were the ‘Team of the Decade’. Lately, Alabama is making a pretty impressive run and you can name a few others who always seem to hover around the top of the pyramid. Coach Taggart has certainly been impressive out of the gate, but there is a learning curve for even the best coaches. Taggart is not yet familiar with the conference, and he will want to install his own system manned by the talent he identifies to fit his needs. All that takes time and this 2018 schedule is anything but hospitable. But we Seminoles know where we want to go and what we want to be. We’ve been here before. So, saddle up Seminoles and gird yourselves for the first step in becoming Goliath again. The journey back is about to begin. SB
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BOOSTER EVENTS FROM THE SUMMER
Willie Taggart with MICCO Donor Mark Macek and his daughters Molly and Mary Kate
Willie Taggart with MICCO Donors Diana and Jorge Azor
Willie Taggart with Football Scholarship Donors Steve Kalenich and Kriste LaMay
Congratulations to MICCO donor Parrish Owens and Catherine Terc
Scholarship donors Nan and Bill O’Leary and son Nick O’Leary present contribution to Billy Sexton on behalf of Seminole Boosters
Smokey Mountain Shoot-Out: Joe Hughes Gary Landrum Tom Herndon and Tom Carlson at Wade Hampton
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MICCO Scholarship and Academic Support donors Jeff and Agie Stoops and family with Coach Taggart at their home in Jupiter, Florida
Al and Judy Dunlap with Nylah Thompson, HL Hartford, George Mayer, Scott Arensten and Marta Hardyman on the final voyage of the Dunlap’s former boat, White Wings IV
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BY KERRY DUNNING
I
stepped into Doak Campbell Stadium as a student in 1968 and 50 years later into the Champions Club writing about the women’s softball championship celebration. Somewhere along the way “throw like a girl” evolved into television coverage of women’s sports garnering top television ratings and tweets from male athletes. Since there has been a college in Tallahassee, women have played a multitude of sports, through club sports or intramurals. Mary Lou Norwood says, in “A Century of Women’s Sports,” Florida State College for Women required “physical culture” classes. Robin Sellers’ Femina Perfecta tells of a spontaneous basketball games between the Odds and Evens (different mixes of classes) leading to impromptu pep rallies in the streets. An abundance of success on the field, and a list of very successful and long-tenured coaches took humble beginnings 14
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to championships. Most importantly, talented players were given an opportunity. Today there are 79 Varsity Club members from these defining years. As Dr. Billie Jones, one of the first volleyball and softball coaches said, “It took one girl, probably with her own ball, wanting to play a game, and she sought out a faculty member to help get it started.” Florida State University announced in June a year-long celebration of women’s intercollegiate sports. FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Stan Wilcox said, “It is particularly fitting that we will be recognizing the achievement of our teams, student-athletes and the coaches who helped build our sports to the nationally competitive level we are today.” This most recent evolution began before ESPN’s birth, even before Title IX’s impact on athletics, during a time when schools grappled with the growing expense of intercollegiate sports. Athletic Director John Bridgers, who inherited a $1 million deficit in the early 1970s, hired Women’s Athletic Director Dr. Barbara Jo Palmer, and both struggled to aid men’s programs and women’s intercollegiate teams in their infancy. “To put it in perspective, when I came in, women had $163,000 and no full-time coaches,” said Palmer when she received the NACWAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007.
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PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION AND BILLIE JONES
CHAMPIONSHIPS BUILT ON HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
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Before that, in the late 1960s, there were coaches but no money. That’s where this 50-year history begins. When Florida State became a co-educational institution, sports clubs like F Club (students with multiple athletic achievements), Tarpon Club (synchronized swimming), Gymkana (gymnastics performance) and the Raquettes (tennis club) gave women an opportunity to compete. Both men and women had access to a robust intramural program in the 1960s and this allowed many women access to sports they had played through high school but were not yet represented even by club sports. The beginnings of “intercollegiate” began informally in 1958 as tennis hosted college and high school teams, and Jim Joanos in “Tennis, Anyone?” documents travel to schools like Mississippi College for Women, Agnes Scott, the Women’s College of Georgia, Rollins, Stetson and the University of Florida. As with other sports, there was a faculty leader (Virginia Dumas) who served as a coach — though not listed as such in Florida State records — who helped organize and find money for travel. The students were responsible for all their equipment. Many of those same colleges would be opponents when volleyball left its club roots in 1968. Pat Moore coached the inaugural volleyball intercollegiate team. By 1971 volleyball took advantage of the newly formed Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), Dr. Jones took over and by 1972 the squad played in its first national tournament. She would finish with an impressive 107-22 record. “I was a graduate Ph.D. student, assistant teacher and was coaching volleyball in the fall and softball in the spring,” Dr. Jones recounted in a recent interview. To find players, they used campus bulletin boards and the Flambeau to ask for anyone interested in playing. Then whoever would show up would go through a couple of weeks of tryouts before the team was narrowed down to 12. The real challenge was then something as simple as finding shirts ($2 long sleeve
T-shirts at Kmart) and they had six volleyballs for the season. They set up their games on weekends so students wouldn’t miss classes. Sometimes, they got on a bus, played matches all day, and then got back on the bus because there were no funds for a hotel. “If we stayed over, it was 4 to a room,” Dr. Jones said with a smile. “And it was six to a (state) car.”Dr. Jones, now a Professor Emeriti, began as an Associate Professor in the Department of Movement Science and Physician Education. Her volleyball team made it to the AIWA National Championship Tournament in 1973, 1974 and 1975. It is important to note key factors in women’s sports getting off the ground. Literally all of the coaches came from the Physical Education Department, and many of the players were Physical Education majors. Secondly, what funding they could initially capture came from Student Government funds. “Volleyball did get the first scholarship,” said Dr. Jones. “I think it was a leftover football scholarship but it went to a player from New Jersey.” Eddie Cubbon ran intramural sports and administered the beginning women’s programs, including finding funding and coaching basketball. Cubbon would also convince Marlene Fermel to come to FSU as the first women’s administrator — though the single parent was a graduate student and this was an unpaid position. She is given credit for laying the foundation, policies and structure it would take for multiple fledgling sports to unite under the auspices of the Athletic Department. Golf (1968) was not a varsity sport in 1948, but had excellent players who took on the men’s team, says Bob Perrone in “Early Florida State Women’s Golf.” Jo Ann Whitaker, who won the Florida Women’s State Amateur tournament, and Mary Lena Faulk, who joined the LPGA, set the tone. And in 1981, FSU coach Verlyn Giles led the varsity team to an AIAW national championship. Track and Field (1969) joined the rapidly expanding but loosely organized ranks of intercollegiate sports. Dr. Frankie Hall took the inaugural team to its first national championship meet sponsored
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B E G I N N I N G S
by the Division of Girls and Women’s Sports (DGWS). The team would be the first sanctioned team to represent FSU at a national event. Softball, which also grew out of OddsEvens events, hit the intercollegiate field in 1969-70 along with swimming and diving. Students approached Judy Blucker, another Ph.D. student to get a softball team started. Dr. Jones coached the 1971 team to the state championship and the 1974 squad to the runner-up slot. Barbara Hollingsworth coached the first women’s basketball team at FSU in 1970-71. The coaching record for that season and the next, under Linda Warren, is unknown. Cubbon would be the team’s third coach and finished 11-5. This culminated with this year’s national championship softball team and a national championship runner-up in beach volleyball. Tennis made it to the Elite Eight, golf finished 12th in the NCAA finals, volleyball and basketball advanced within the NCAA; and track and field finished first in the ACC (indoor) and third in the ACC (outdoor) sending student-athletes to the NCAA tournament in each. Dr. Jones wouldn’t trade the experience, but did say, “I think if I had it to do over, I’d like to be a little wiser ... and I’d like to be better at speaking out.” SB
ABOUT KERRY DUNNING Kerry Dunning has been a sportswriter for nearly 40 years including 39 seasons as the first female beat writer covering Florida State athletics. She is an award winning writer and the first female officer in the Florida Sportswriters Association. While a writer/ columnist for the Palatka Daily News, she has also published articles and photographs for multiple sources, including AP, UPI, Reuters, NYTRNG, GolfWorld, and Daytona International Speedway publications. Kerry graduated with a BA from Florida State in 1971. While a student, she served as president of the Southern Scholarship Interhouse Council, and in Garnet Key. Kerry is a Seminole Booster and a member of the Varsity Club.
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50TH ANNIVERSARY
FSU CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF WOMEN’S INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS BY KERRY DUNNING
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hen Sue DeLuca migrated south from Rhode Island to attend Florida State, she says she “finally found a place on earth where I could be happy from sun up to sun down.” The primarily two-sport athlete and former president of the F Club found a university where women’s sports were encouraged, and 50 years later her excitement remains unabated. That enthusiasm is exactly what Florida State Athletics wants to relive in announcing a year-long celebration of the 50th year of women’s intercollegiate athletics. “This is the 50th year of having the women’s athletics program at Florida State and we want to give just due to it,” FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Stan Wilcox said. “We’re going to kick it off on September 2nd with a big celebration and that celebration is going to spill over to the rest of the academic year.” FSU had women’s athletics dating back to the early 1900s, but will honor the stretch beginning with the university’s first-ever intercollegiate women’s athletics program, volleyball, which began in 1968. Over that 50-year stretch, FSU’s women’s athletics won seven national championships (3 AIAW, 4 NCAA), adding its most recent and first NCAA championship in softball just three days prior to the announcement. Heading up the planning committee is Vanessa Fuchs, Senior Associate Athletics Director and the Senior Woman Administrator at FSU. Fuchs has more than a passing interest in the unfolding of this celebration. Playing basketball for the Seminoles from 19972001, Fuchs was a co-captain, four-year letter winner, and a three-time ACC Honor Roll selection. “As a former FSU student-athlete
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myself, I know how much women’s athletics means to our university and our fans,” said Fuchs. “Our hope is that they (student-athletes and supporters) will join us in remembering and celebrating all that has been achieved over the last 50 years. We also hope that they (student-athletes and supporters) will consider the opportunities they have to help us continue and grow what we have at FSU.” The planning committee itself is a Who’s Who in Seminole sports history and leadership. Represented are administrators, coaches, former players, and athletic department staff. It is a good reminder that for every player who has had the opportunity to participate in intercollegiate sports, there remains a host of gifted leaders behind them. The committee is charged with designing, scheduling and considering everything from historical summaries to individual sports reunions to organizing major events. “A number of our key stakeholders, including university administration, Seminole Boosters, the FSU varsity club, the FSU Hall of Fame and our staff in athletics have been working behind the scenes for some time to make this a fitting tribute to this milestone,” Wilcox said at the kickoff announcement. “Our women’s programs have had an outstanding year so it is particularly fitting that we will be recognizing the achievements of our teams, student-athletes and the coaches who helped build our sports to the nationally competitive level we are today.” The year of special events opens with the “Garnet And Golden Celebration” scheduled for Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. in Tully Gym. An unveiling of a traveling picture display capturing each of the 50 years will highlight that event. Each sport will host a reunion during their respective seasons. The end of the year highlight
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FSU women’s teams will honor the past with this uniform patch to be worn throughout the year
will be a gala, with date, time and place to be announced. Details are posted at Seminoles. com/50th and on social media utilizing the hashtag #GarnetAndGolden. A Facebook page has opened, and other social media outlets will be used to announce events, reunions, and highlights of Florida State’s history. (Former players, coaches and administrators will be directly contacted for their participation in the events.) Seminole women began intercollegiate sports officially with three sports – volleyball, cross country and softball – in 1968-69. Basketball and Swimming were added in 1970. During the next two decades, golf, tennis, track and field, and soccer began fielding teams. The most recent sport was the 2012 addition of beach volleyball. Dance and cheer squads will additionally be honored. During that time, golf (1981) and softball (1981 and 1982) won Association for Intercollegiate Athletics (AIAW) championships. Four NCAA championships — outdoor track and field (1984), indoor
Garnet and Golden CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF WOMEN’S ATHLETICS AT FSU
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND TULLY GYM 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
TO PURCHASE TICKETS PLEASE VISIT: boosters.fsu.edu/garnetandgoldencelebration
# GARNETANDGOLDEN
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Top: Billie Jones (right) and Gabrielle Reece
track and field (1985), soccer (2014) and softball (2018) — joined the honor roll. FSU’s recent success in ACC and national events bodes well for ongoing success. “This is an outstanding opportunity for us to celebrate each of our sports as well as to encourage our many, many supporters and fans to be involved with our programs,” said Fuchs. To commemorate the 50th year of Women’s Sports at Florida State, a goal has been set to raise $5 million toward women’s scholarships or facilities as designated by donors. Seminole Boosters are actively meeting with supporters who have an interest in honoring the legacy to explain the many giving options. Softball coach Lonni Alameda says, “We have great support from the university, boosters, and alumni. I get that it is an arms race, keeping up with the Joneses’. We were ahead and now in my time we fell behind; there is an ebb and flow.” The timing of the fundraising goal couldn’t be more timely. It just added to 18
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the family atmosphere she encourages, but the master plan will make the experience top notch. “We got a locker room update, and it was so important for our kids, who spend so much time here,” Alameda explains. “It includes a kitchen where they are cooking and sharing in the scholarship experience.” Alameda said the master plan will add even more to the program in the future. Each of the FSU venues will be adorned with special logos commemorating the 50th anniversary and each of the uniforms of FSU’s women’s athletics programs will also have special logos as well. Commemorative items will be available soon for FSU graduates and supporters to purchase. DeLuca said she can’t wait to see which of the many former players, coaches and administrators she’ll run into during the year celebration. “To have the 50th year reunion ... it will be a great story after story of people and connections.” SB
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A N N I V E R S A R Y
SAAC PRESIDENT
BRIANNE BURKERT SETTING THE TONE ON AND OFF THE COURT
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PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION AND FSU STUDENT SERVICES
BY TIM LINAFELT While she doesn’t yet know exactly what she wants to do with the public relations degree she’s set to earn, Brianne Burkert knows that she wants to lead people, whether as a manager or a director in the communications field. Four years as a key member of the FSU volleyball team have put Burkert on that path and, if that wasn’t enough, her latest appointment as president of the FSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council should have the senior setter well on her way. A native of Richardson, Texas, Burkert recently assumed her post at the top of SAAC and has wasted no time making her mark on the organization, which serves as one of the best available resources for Seminole student-athletes. Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka was a member of SAAC during his time at FSU. With multiple representatives from each of FSU’s 20 varsity sports, SAAC provides a voice for student-athletes at the university, conference and national level. Student-athletes can express their concerns, ask questions, find ways to engage with their campus and community and prepare for life after college. Burkert has been a SAAC member since the spring of her freshman year and, after serving in a variety of roles on the group’s executive board as a sophomore and junior, is the perfect choice to lead SAAC in 2018-19. “She is so driven in going after her goals,” said Sarah Petronio, Florida State’s director of student-athlete development and events. “I’ve just been so impressed with her vision and what she wants to accomplish. She’s got an action plan behind all of it. She’s taken initiative and led with full force.” In addition to preparing for the Seminoles’ upcoming season — she’s one of four seniors looking to improve on last year’s first-round finish in the NCAA tournament — Burkert is also busy with a lengthy checklist for her
term as SAAC president. Tops on that list is getting FSU’s student-athletes more involved in campus life. Classes, practices and games don’t leave much time for joining clubs or going to on-campus events, but Burkert is hoping to change that. “One of my main goals for SAAC internally is for every single member to join or get involved with another organization on campus not related to athletics,” she said. “Because I don’t think our athletes are out on campus enough.” That commitment extends to the Tallahassee community as well. Community service has long been one of SAAC’s top priorities, and that won’t change with Burkert at the helm. Previous service stops have included visits to nursing homes, hospitals and homeless shelters, and Burkert said she plans to team up with other campus organizations to expand SAAC’s reach even further. Planned partnerships include an event with the recently founded FSU Mental Health Council as well as a potential canned food drive with the FSU Student Government Association. “The biggest thing is that community
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service element,” Burkert said. “If there wasn’t a group like SAAC, you wouldn’t see so many athletes out in the community. “We’ll get opportunities for community service, and we’ll go grab our teammates and get a big group of people to go serve somewhere — to go play with kids somewhere, to go read to students at elementary schools.” Also on the agenda is a focus on professional development, with a chance to take professional headshots, attend resume-building workshops and hear public speaking tips from longtime FSU professor Mark Zeigler. There are currently 53 current student-athletes in SAAC, including standouts from football (Alec Eberle, Logan Tyler and Adam Torres, among others), men’s basketball (Trent Forrest, Terance Mann), baseball (Drew Mendoza, Chase Haney), softball (Meghan King) and track and field (Cortney Jones, Armani Wallace). “I think that’s really cool, to make sure our athletes aren’t just athletes,” Burkert said. “They get the college experience and also they give back to the community. It’s getting them involved in stuff that they wouldn’t typically know about.” SB
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AT H L E T I C D I R E C T O R Q & A
Q&A VICE PRESIDENT AND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
STAN WILCOX Q: You commented recently about reaching one of your early goals when you came to Florida State. Can you elaborate? A: I did set goals when I came to FSU, and one of those was in the area of academic achievement. I stressed my desire to enhance the overall academic experience for our student-athletes while challenging them to put as much emphasis on their classroom performance as they do their athletics performance. That is not to say that FSU was not performing well prior to my arrival, but historically we approached a cumulative 3.0 GPA several times and never reached it. So, I set that as a goal, and we reached it last semester. It is a great achievement for the students, and it is a tribute to the efforts of our outstanding academic services department led by Dr. Greg Beaumont and Dr. Kacy King. Q: Softball’s NCAA championship certainly put a nice exclamation point on the 2017-18 athletic campaign, didn’t it? A: Yes, it did. It was very gratifying to watch the success of our softball program this season. The winning culture that Coach Alameda has established over her 10 years in Tallahassee was on full, national display throughout the team’s championship run. It was great to win it all after making it to the WCWS three of the last five years, an accomplishment in and of itself I might add. We are so proud to have finished ninth in the NACDA Learfield Directors’ Cup standings this year, which marks a three-year climb in the rankings and makes FSU the highest finisher among ACC schools. It is difficult to appreciate the enormity of the accomplishment, but I will try to give it some context: the ranking takes into account the performance of the top 10 men’s teams and the top 10 women’s teams. However, when an institution only has 10 and 10 (like us) all teams must perform well, as opposed to an institution that can cherry pick its 10 best from each gender. In short, we have to be outstanding 22
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in everything we do, and a top-10 finish is a resounding stamp of across-the-board excellence. Cases in point: we reached the NCAA Elite Eight in men’s basketball; had record seasons in men’s and women’s tennis; played for the National Championship in beach volleyball; and softball, well, you know how that went. And if that’s not enough, Mike Martin became college baseball’s all-time winningest coach, and we are about to break ground on a new Nicklaus Legacy golf course. We reached a historic mark with over a 3.0 grade point average for our student-athlete population, and our outstanding faculty representative, Dr. Pam Perrewè, won the highest honor the FSU faculty can bestow on a colleague (2018-2019 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor). It’s been a very good year, to say the least. Q: That leads nicely to our next question, which is what is on the horizon regarding facilities? A: Well, we are extremely excited about the changes that are about to take place at Don Veller Seminole golf course, as I mentioned. The city and university share our vision and feeling that this will be a transcendent project in a number of ways. The benefits of a Nicklaus Legacy course for our golf teams are obvious, while the economic and business opportunities generated by a project of this magnitude may potentially pay dividends for years to come. I suppose it’s no secret that athletics, the Seminole Boosters and the University have been studying potential improvements to our football facilities. We continue to explore the solution that is best for our program and feel that we have some realistic options that we will present in the near future. The video board at baseball has been a big improvement, and I am excited for what the new boards at soccer, softball and tennis will bring to the experience for both our teams and the fans.
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2018
SEMINOLE T-SHIRT
ON SALE NOW! Since 2007, Seminole Student Boosters’ TRUE campaign has raised over $255,000 to support the Athletic Scholarship Endowment.
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AT H L E T I C D I R E C T O R Q & A
Q: By all accounts replacing coaches is one of the most challenging aspects of any athletics director’s job. What has it been like in the last six months, as you’ve replaced a football coach and announced that a legendary baseball coach is in his final season? A: I’ve heard this before, and it’s true that no two coaching searches are the same. The challenges we, and by we I mean the university administration, Seminole Boosters and athletics, faced in the timing of hiring a head football coach with two games left in the season were particularly unique. It is clear that Coach Taggart has been extremely effective since taking over the program. To say he has made all the right moves is an understatement. I can assure our supporters that as impressive as he has been in the public eye, he and his staff have been even more effective with our administrative team. Coach Martin becoming the all-time winningest coach in college baseball history is a record that Florida State will cherish forever. I am so pleased that he will coach us again next season and I look forward to the challenge of finding his successor.
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I am so happy that Lonni Alameda got so much welldeserved attention for her leadership of our softball program over the National Championship run. Dwayne Hultquist (men’s tennis), Jennifer Hyde (women’s tennis), Brooke Niles (beach volleyball) and Amy Bond (women’s golf) all had record-breaking seasons as well. And Leonard Hamilton took our men’s basketball team to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 1993. Q: Last question, how does it feel to be entering your sixth year at Florida State? A: The word that comes to mind is grateful. I’m grateful to be at an institution that values and supports intercollegiate athletics and is determined to do things the right way. And I’m grateful to be surrounded by administrators, coaches, staff and student-athletes who work every day to be among the best in the country. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, I am grateful for the many Boosters, donors and fans that make being a Seminole an experience to cherish for a lifetime. We change lives at Florida State. Just ask WCWS Most Outstanding Player Jessie Warren. She’s proof positive. SB
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2018 FLORIDA STATE ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME CLASS
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lorida State’s Athletics Hall of Fame will induct a class of nine new members on Friday, Sept. 7, including a National League MVP, a two-time Olympic medalist and one of the Seminoles’ all-time great defensive linemen. Buster Posey won every award he was eligible for in college baseball during his junior season at FSU, and has become one of Major League Baseball’s brightest stars as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants. Sprinter Walter Dix won a pair of bronze medals at the 2008 Olympic Games. Odell Haggins was an All-American at nose guard for the Seminoles and has been a member of the coaching staff for the last 22 years. The class also includes 2002 NCAA outdoor triple jump champion Teresa Bundy, long-time assistant football coach Jim Gladden, former NBA player Al Thornton, three-time softball All-American Veronica Wootson, 2007 college soccer player of the year Mami Yamaguchi and Moore-Stone Award winner Bob Perrone.
WALTER DIX MEN’S TRACK & FIELD (2005-08) Coral Springs, Fla. At FSU: From 2005-08, Dix was arguably the greatest collegiate track & field athlete of a generation. He won an FSU-record seven individual NCAA events and was a member of the 2007 NCAA winning 4×100 meter relay team. Dix became the third-most decorated track athlete in NCAA history. He set school records in the indoor 60 meters (6.59); indoor 200 meters (20.27); outdoor 100 meters (9.91) and outdoor 200 meters (19.69). He was part of the greatest four-year run in program history when FSU won three consecutive men’s outdoor National Championships (2006-08; the 2007 title was later vacated by NCAA ruling). In the Olympics: Dix capped his 2008 senior campaign by winning bronze medals in the 100 and 200 at the Beijing Olympic Games.
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JIM GLADDEN COACHES & ADMINISTRATION (1976-2001) Springfield, Mo. At FSU: Gladden joined Darrell Mudra’s coaching staff in 1975 as a graduate assistant and was elevated to a full-time position in 1976 when the legendary Bobby Bowden took over the program. He coached outside linebackers for Bowden from 1976-95 and defensive ends from 1996 until his retirement in 2001, helping the Seminoles win national titles in 1993 and ’99. Gladden coached and recruited some of the greatest names in Seminole history including Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, and FSU Hall of Famers Peter Boulware, Reinard Wilson, Andre Wadsworth and Jamal Reynolds. He also coached FSU’s legendary groups that blocked 80 punts over his tenure. ODELL HAGGINS FOOTBALL (1986-89) Bartow, Fla. At FSU: Haggins’ senior year was one for the ages as he totaled 100 tackles and 5.5 sacks. He was named a first team All-American by Walter Camp, Kodak and the AFCA, and to the second team by Football News and UPI. FSU finished second in the country (11-1) in 1987, third (11-1) in 1988 and third his senior season (10-2) in 1989. After playing three years in the NFL, Haggins was hired by Bobby Bowden as an assistant coach in 1994 and will begin his 25th season as an FSU assistant in 2018. He served as FSU’s interim head coach to wrap up the 2017 season, leading the Seminoles to wins over ULM and Southern Miss (which preserved Florida State’s streak of 40 straight winning seasons).
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TERESA BUNDY WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD (1998-2002) Cleveland, Ohio At FSU: Bundy was indoor and outdoor All-ACC in 2000, earning an ACC Championship as a member of the 4×400 relay team. As a junior in 2001, Bundy added the triple jump to her competitive resume, finishing second in the ACC both indoors and outdoors. Her senior season was one for the record books as she earned elite status in the triple jump and won the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championship with a jump of 45-3 (13.79m), which is the second-best jump in school history.
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BUSTER POSEY BASEBALL (2006-08) Leesburg, Ga. At FSU: Posey earned All-America honors as a shortstop for the Seminoles as a freshman in 2006, then switched to catcher and became arguably the greatest player in FSU history. As a sophomore, Posey was a first-team All-American (Collegiate Baseball) and earned a spot on the All-ACC first team. His junior season saw him win the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy, Brooks Wallace, Johnny Bench and Player of the Year honors by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Rivals.com. A consensus first-team All-American, he led the nation in six offensive categories: batting average (.463), hits (119), RBI (93), total bases (226), on-base percentage (.566) and slugging percentage (.879). His batting average was the highest recorded in a single season in Seminole baseball history. In Major League Baseball: A five-time All-Star with the San Francisco Giants, Posey was the 2010 Rookie of the Year, the 2012 NL MVP, a three-time Silver Slugger winner and the 2016 Gold Glove winner. The Giants won World Series titles with Posey behind the plate in 2010, 2012 and 2014. AL THORNTON MEN’S BASKETBALL (2004-07) Perry, Ga. At FSU: Thornton was one of the transcendent players under Coach Leonard Hamilton’s tenure at Florida State. By his senior year, Thornton was a finalist for the Wooden, Naismith and Rupp Awards as the nation’s top player. He earned third-team Associated Press All-America honors and was runner-up in the voting for the ACC Player of the Year in 2007. Thornton scored 1,034 career points, which places him among the top 12 all-time. He averaged 16.1 points per game as a junior and 19.7 points and 7.2 rebounds as a senior (leading FSU to a 26-13 record). In addition to his AP honors, Thornton was named to cnnsi.com and Rivals.com All-America teams. In pro basketball: Thornton played for the LA Clippers, Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors before a long international career.
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VERONICA WOOTSON SOFTBALL (2004-07) Fontana, Calif. At FSU: Wootson started all 273 games of her career, leading the Seminoles to a 2004 ACC Championship and was a member of 2004 Women’s College World Series team. FSU advanced to the NCAA postseason in all four of her seasons. The 2004 ACC Rookie of the Year, Wootson is just one of four players in the history of FSU Softball to be a three-time NFCA All-American. Wootson finished with a career batting average .322 and had 29 home runs, 137 RBI and 79 stolen bases. She ranks in the FSU all-time Top 10 in 10 categories, including doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage. MAMI YAMAGUCHI SOCCER (2005-07) Tokyo, Japan At FSU: Mami Yamaguchi became the most decorated player in Florida State soccer history in 2007 as the winner of the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy (presented to the top female player in NCAA Division I soccer) and the school’s first consensus first-team All-American. Yamaguchi claimed the Hermann Trophy after leading the country in points (66) while finishing second in goals (24) and assists (18). Yamaguchi began the 2007 season by setting the school record with at least one goal scored in seven consecutive contests. She finished the season registering a point in 22 of 26 games for the Seminoles. By year’s end, Yamaguchi held the FSU single-season records for points, goals and assists. Yamaguchi was also recognized as the NSCAA, Soccer Buzz and Soccer America Player of the Year. BOB PERRONE MOORE – STONE AWARD Jacksonville, Fla. At FSU: Perrone was a four-year high jumper for the FSU track team from 1972-76. While he scored in several meets, his greatest feat became chronicling Seminole athletics as a historian. He spent thousands of hours gathering newspaper articles, box scores, media guides, game and match records, team rosters and photographs. In 1999, Perrone began assembling the records for every Seminole athlete and published them on his Nolefan.org website. Nolefan.org is the definitive record of the history of FSU athletics, containing the individual records of more than 10,000 athletes and each of FSU’s past and current sports programs.
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YEAR IN REVIEW INDIVIDUAL & TEAM AWARDS SPRING FORWARD: FSU MAKES LATE PUSH FOR TOP-10 IN DIRECTOR’S CUP
ACC TEAM CHAMPIONS Indoor Men’s Track & Field Indoor Women’s Track & Field Outdoor Men’s Track & Field Softball Baseball
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ACC & NCAA TEAM RESULTS Baseball: ACC: 6th (16-13); NCAA: Regionals Men’s Basketball: ACC: 8th (9-9); NCAA: Elite Eight Women’s Basketball: ACC: 3rd (12-4); NCAA: Second Round Beach Volleyball: CCSA: 1st; NCAA: National Runner-Up Men’s Cross Country: 4th ACC Championships; NCAA: 4th South Region Women’s Cross Country: 9th ACC Championships; NCAA: 4th South Region Football: 6th ACC Atlantic; Independence Bowl Champion Men’s Golf: 9th in ACC Tournament; 6th in NCAA Regionals Women’s Golf: 2nd in ACC / 2nd in NCAA Tallahassee Regional / T12th in NCAA Championship Finals Soccer: 7th in ACC; NCAA Third Round Softball: ACC regular season and tournament champions, NCAA National Champions Men’s Swimming & Diving: ACC – 5th, 21st NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving: ACC – 8th, 42nd NCAA Men’s Tennis: ACC – 3rd, Second round the NCAA tournament Women’s Tennis: ACC 5th, Elite 8 Indoor Men’s Track & Field: ACC 1st; NCAA 21st Indoor Women’s Track & Field: ACC 1st; NCAA 26th Outdoor Men’s Track & Field: ACC 1st; NCAA 11th Outdoor Women’s Track & Field: ACC 3rd; NCAA 14th Volleyball: T-5th in ACC, NCAA First Round
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PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION
Florida State placed ninth and finished first among ACC institutions in the final 2017-18 standings for the NACDA Learfield Director’s Cup. FSU’s ninth-place finish marked the third straight year of improvement in the standings, climbing from 22nd in 2015-16 to 13th in 2016-17 to ninth. It is the fourth top-10 finish since the Director’s Cup rankings began in 1993-94. The Seminoles have now finished as high as fifth twice and ninth on two occasions as well. “Finishing ninth nationally in the Directors’ Cup, our highest finish since 2011-12, is a tremendous achievement,” FSU athletics director and university vice president Stan Wilcox said. “It is a testament to the work of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. This is the third consecutive year in which we have improved our finish and the first time in six years we have led the ACC as the top finisher.” The Seminoles’ ascension to the top 10 came as a result of an extremely strong spring. In the final sports season of the year, the softball team won a national championship (100 points). Beach volleyball also finished as the national runner-up (90 points). Women’s tennis finished in the Elite Eight for the first time, earning 73 points. Women’s golf (63 points), men’s tennis (50 points), men’s track and field (66 points) and women’s track and field (60.75 points) all contributed to FSU’s bump from spring sports. Every FSU sport in 2017-18 reached the NCAA postseason for a second straight season. Making the success on the field even more special was the unprecedented success FSU had in the classroom in 2017-18. For the first time in school history, the cumulative GPA for the entire student-athlete population was at a 3.0. This was a major goal Wilcox had set out for the athletic department, and this past year it came hand-in-hand with one of the best seasons athletically as well. “It’s very satisfying,” Wilcox said. “Just like we set goals on the playing field, we’ve got to set goals in the classroom. The better we can get, the better our student-athletes’ experience is going to be during their time at Florida State.”
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Kylee Hanson was named ACC Softball Scholar Athlete of the Year. DIRECTOR’S CUP FINISH – Ninth NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR Softball: Kylee Hanson (USA Softball National Player of the Year – Top 25 Finalist) NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR Men’s Basketball: Leonard Hamilton (Clarence “Big House” Gaines COY presented by National Sports Media Association) Softball: Lonni Alameda – NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year ACC PLAYER/ PERFORMER OF THE YEAR HONORS Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Armani Wallace, ACC Championship Field MVP Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Ka’Tia Seymour, ACC Championship Track MVP Softball: Jessie Warren (Player of the Year), Kylee Hanson (Pitcher of the Year), Sydney Sherrill (Freshman of the Year) Womens’ Outdoor Track & Field: Lauri Paredes Meza, ACC Field Performer of the Year Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Andre Ewers, ACC Championship Track MVP; Corion Knight ACC Championship Field MVP; Andre Ewers, ACC Track Performer of the Year
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HONORS Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Trey Cunningham, ACC Freshman of the Year Volleyball: Taryn Knuth, ACC Freshman of the Year Men’s Golf: John Pak, ACC Freshman of the Year Softball: Sydney Sherrill, ACC Freshman of the Year Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: Ka’Tia Seymour, ACC Freshman of the Year Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Trey Cunningham, ACC Freshman of the Year ACC COACH OF THE YEAR HONORS Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Bob Braman Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Bob Braman Men’s Tennis: Dwayne Hultquist Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Bob Braman ALL-AMERICANS Baseball: Drew Parrish (2nd), Cal Raleigh (2nd & 3rd), Jonah Scolaro (FR), C.J. Van Eyk (2nd FR) Women’s Basketball: Shakayla Thomas (AP and WBCA HM); Imani Wright (AP and WBCA HM) Beach Volleyball: Vanessa Freire (AVCA), Tory Paranagua (AVCA) Football: Derwin James (1st FWAA, CBS, Phil Steele; 2nd Walter Camp, AP, Sporting News, AFCA)
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Men’s Golf: John Pak (Phil Mickelson Freshman All-American; PING Third Team All-American) Women’s Golf: Morgane Metraux (HM, WGCA) Soccer: Deyna Castellanos (United Soccer Coaches – Second Team) Softball: Jessie Warren (NFCA – Second Team), Kylee Hanson (NFCA – Second Team), Sydney Sherrill (NFCA – Third Team) Men’s Swimming and Diving: 400 free relay (9th, HM, Emir Muratovic, Joe Plechy, Will Pisani, Kanoa Kaleoaloha), 200 free relay (7th, Will Pisani, Chad Mylin, Joe Plechy, Kanoa Kaleoaloha) Women’s Swimming and Diving: Tayla Lovemore, 100 fly (16th HM), Molly Carlson 3-meter (15th HM) Men’s Indoor Track and Field: First-team – Austin Droogsma (shot put, 4th), Trey Cunningham (60 hurdles, 6th); Kenneth Fisher (long jump, 8th), Andre Ewers (200m, 8th). Second-team – Corion Knight (long jump, 13th), Armani Wallace (triple jump, 13th) Men’s Outdoor Track and Field: First-Team – Andre Ewers (100m, 3rd; 200m 2nd); Austin Droogsma (shot put, 7th); Trey Cunningham (110H, 4th), 4x100 Relay (Keniel Grant, Darryl Haraway, Darryl Gay, Andre Ewers); Second-Team – Kenneth Fisher (long jump, 16th), Darryl Haraway (100m, 15th) Women’s Indoor Track and Field: First-team - Cortney Jones (60 hurdles, 4th), Ka’Tia Seymour (200, 6th), Gleneve Grange (shot put, 8th). Second-team – Jayla Kirkland (60 dash, 11th), Ka’Tia Seymour (60 dash, 13th), Shauna Helps (200, 12th) Women’s Outdoor Track and Field: First-Team – Cortney Jones (100 hurdles, 3rd), Lauri Paredes Meza (javelin, 3rd place), Ka’Tia Seymour (200m, 4th), 4x100 relay (Jayla Kirkland, Shauna Helps, Cortney Jones, Ka’Tia Seymour, 8th). Second-Team – Ka’Tia Seymour (100m, 9th), Gleneve Grange (shot put, 11th), Ieva Zarankaite (discus, 9th) Volleyball: Milica Kubura, Honorable Mention
Andre Ewers was named to the All-ACC First Team after winning a slew of meets this past season.
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ALL-ACC HONORS Baseball: Drew Parrish (1st), Cal Raleigh (1st), Drew Mendoza (3rd), Jackson Lueck (3rd), CJ Van Eyk (FR) Men’s Basketball: Terance Mann (Honorable Mention) Women’s Basketball: Shakayla Thomas (1st – Coaches, B/R Panel); Imani Wright (1st – Coaches, B/R Panel). Women’s Swimming & Diving: Natalie Pierce, Blaire Mulka, Molly Carlson, Tayla Lovemore Men’s Swimming & Diving: Joshua Davidson, Aidan Faminoff Beach Volleyball (CCSA): Tory Paranagua/Vanessa Freire, Hailey Luke/Katie Horton Women’s Cross Country: Militsa Mircheva (6th place) Men’s Cross Country: David Barney (21sth place) Football: Derwin James (1st); Alec Eberle & Tarvarus McFadden (2nd); Cam Akers & Derrick Nnadi (3rd) Men’s Golf: John Pak; Harry Ellis Women’s Golf: Amanda Doherty, Morgane Metraux Soccer: Deyna Castellanos (First Team), Natalia Kuikka (First Team), Gloriana Villalobos (Third Team), Gloriana Villalobos (All-Freshman Team) Softball: Jessie Warren (First Team), Kylee Hanson (First Team), Zoe Casas (First Team), Sydney Sherrill (First Team), Meghan King (First Team), Carsyn Gordon (First Team)
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Carla Touly was a first-team All-ACC selection in 2018, and led team to NCAA Elite 8, the team’s best finish in school history. Men’s Tennis: Aziz Dougaz (First Team), Guy Iradukunda (Second Team), Lucas Pouallain (Second Team) Women’s Tennis: Carla Touly (First Team), Petra Hule (Second Team) Men’s Indoor Track and Field: First Team – Edward Clarke, Andre Ewers (2), Trey Cunningham, Kenneth Fisher, Corion Knight, Armani Wallace (2), Austin Droogsma, Dante Newberg. Second Team – Darryl Gay, Tye Dickens, Corion Knight, Jakub Andrzejczak, Montel Nevers, Brandon Tirado Men’s Outdoor Track and Field: First Team – Andre Ewers (2), Corion Knight (2), Armani Wallace (2), Kenneth Fisher, Austin Droogsma, Darryl Haraway, Trye Cunningham. Second Team – Michael Hall, Austin Droogsma, Noah Agwu, Darryl Haraway, Andre Ewers, Darryl Gay, Edward Clarke. Women’s Indoor Track and Field: First Team – Jayla Kirkland, Ka’Tia Seymour (2), Shauna Helps, Militsa Mircheva, Cortney Jones, Eleonora Omoregie, Gleneve Grange, Ieva Zarankaite. Second Team – Shauna Helps, Maudie Skyring, Militsa Mircheva Women’s Outdoor Track and Field: First Team – Ka’Tia Seymour, Shauna Helps, Cortney Jones, Gleneve Grange, Ieva Zarankaite (2), Eleonora Omoregie, Lauri Paredes, Shanice Love. Second Team – Kayla Maczuga (2), Jayla Kirkland (3), Hannah Welsh, Gleneve Grange, Shauna Helps, Cortney Jones, Ka’Tia Seymour. Volleyball: Milica Kubura (First Team), Taryn Knuth (Second Team, All-Freshman Team)
INDIVIDUAL ACC CHAMPIONS Women’s Swimming & Diving: Natalie Pierce – 100 breast, Blaire Mulka — 1M Diving Men’s Indoor Track and Field: Edward Clarke – 60m Dash; Andre Ewers – 200m Dash; Trey Cunningham – 60m Hurdles; Austin Droogsma – Shot Put; Kenneth Fisher – Long Jump Men’s Outdoor Track and Field: Andre Ewers – 100m Dash, Andre Ewers – 200m Dash, Corion Knight – Long Jump; Armani Wallace – Triple Jump; Austin Droogsma – Shot Put Women’s Indoor Track and Field: Jayla Kirkland – 60m Dash; Ka’Tia Seymour – 200m Dash Women’s Outdoor Track and Field: Ka’Tia Seymour – 100m Dash, Gleneve Grange – Shot Put, Lauri Paredes – Javelin, Shanice Love - Discus SENIOR CLASS AWARD Men’s Basketball: Braian Angola (candidate) Softball: Kylee Hanson (candidate, Top 10 Finalist), Morgan Klaevemann (candidate) NCAA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Men’s Basketball: Phil Cofer, Terance Mann (All-West Region) Softball: Elizabeth Mason (WCWS All-Tournament Team), Anna Shelnutt (WCWS All-Tournament Team), Sydney Sherrill (WCWS All-Tournament Team), Meghan King (WCWS All-Tournament Team), Jessie Warren (WCWS All-Tournament Team, WCWS Most Outstanding Player)
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ACC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Women’s Basketball: Imani Wright Beach Volleyball (CCSA): Hailey Luke/Katie Horton (Tournament MVP), Sara Putt/Macy Jerger Softball: Sydney Sherrill (Tournament MVP), Anna Shelnutt, Meghan King Baseball: Jackson Lueck, Drew Mendoza, Drew Parrish, Cal Raleigh (MVP) ACC WEAVER-JAMES-CORRIGAN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP AWARD Beach Volleyball: Vanessa Freire Softball: Morgan Klaevemann Swimming & Diving: Dylan Grisell, Natalie Pierce (Honorary) ACC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR Beach Volleyball (CCSA): Macy Jerger ACADEMIC ALL-ACC TEAMS Men’s Basketball: Trent Forrest, Mfiondu Kabengele Women’s Basketball: Chatrice White, Ama Degbeon, Imani Wright, AJ Alix. Beach Volleyball (CCSA): Macy Jerger Men’s Cross Country: David Barney, Stanley Linton, Istvan Szogi Women’s Cross Country: Emily Edwards, Jodie Judd, Militsa Mircheva Soccer: Dallas Dorosy, Emma Koivisto, Kaycie Tillman Men’s Swimming and Diving: Josh Davidson, Cameron Thatcher, Tyler Roberge, Griffin Alaniz, Nate Samson Women’s Swimming and Diving: Natalie Pierce, Tayla Lovemore, Ayla Bonniwell, Molly Carlson, Blaire Mulka Men’s Indoor Track and Field: Trey Cunningham, Darryl Gay, Brandon Tirado Women’s Indoor Track and Field: Shauna Helps, Jodie Judd, Eleonora Omoregie, Ka’Tia Seymour, Maudie Skyring Men’s Golf: Harry Ellis Women’s Golf: Amanda Doherty, Kim Metraux, Morgane Metraux, Kathleen Sumner Men’s Tennis: Aziz Dougaz, Lucas Poullain, Alex Knaff Women’s Tennis: Ariana Rahmanparast, Andrea Garcia, Carla Touly, Petra Hule Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Montel Nevers, Brandon Tirado Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: Janae Caldwell, Shauna Helps, Shanice Love, Kayla Maczuga, Militsa Mircheva, Lauri Paredes Meza, Hannah Welsh, Ieva Zarankaite ACADEMIC HONORS USTFCCCA All-Academic Women’s Cross Country: Emily Edwards, Jodie Judd USTFCCCA All-Academic Men’s Cross Country: David Barney, Stanley Linton
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USTFCCCA All-Academic (team honors, 3.0 GPA minimum): Women’s Cross Country (3.48 GPA); Men’s Cross Country (3.17 GPA) WGCA All-American Scholar Athlete Team (3.5 GPA minimum): Amanda Doherty, Kim Metraux, Morgane Metraux, Kathleen Sumner CSCAA Scholar All-America - Women’s Swimming & Diving Fall 2017, Women’s Swimming and Diving Spring 2018, Men’s Swimming and Diving Spring 2018: Individual: First-Team – Joshua Davidson, Nate Samson, Emma Terebo, Tayla Lovemore, Molly Carlson, Ayla Bonniwell; Honorable Mention: Ariel Barber, Shelly Drozda, Caroline Gerhardt, Natalie Purnell, Daniella Van den Berg, Jonathan Ratliff, Paxton Rhoads, Tyler Roberge, Cameron Thatcher OTHER ATHLETICS ACCOMPLISHMENTS Men’s Basketball: Jamaica Classic Tournament Champions Swimming & Diving: Emir Muratovich – Bosnia & Herzegovina Record Holder – 100m free, Joshua Davidson – 3M gold medalist & 1M silver medalist, Pan American Games; Men – GT Invite Champs ATHLETES/COACHES Football: Mavin Saunders named to Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Men’s Basketball: Terance Mann (Jamaica Classic All-Tournament Team), M.J. Walker (Jamaica Classic All-Tournament Team)’ Leonard Hamilton honored at Dick Vitale Gala for Pediatric Cancer Women’s Basketball: Shakayla Thomas (Cheryl Miller Award finalist), Imani Wright (Ann Meyers Drysdale Top 10 candidate), AJ Alix (Nancy Lieberman Award Top 10 candidate). Soccer: Deyna Castellanos was one of three finalists for the FIFA Best Women’s Player of the Year, among all soccer players in the entire world. She became the third current NCAA student-athlete to be one of the top 10 nominees, and the first to ever be a top three finalist. She was also a top three for the FIFA Puskas Award, given to the “most beautiful” goal scored during the year. Castellanos was the only female among the top 10 nominees. Natalia Kuikka was named the Finland Women’s National Player of the Year. Men’s Tennis: Guy Iradukunda won the Wilma Rudolph StudentAthlete Achievement Award Women’s Track & Field: Cortney Jones (silver, 100 hurdles) and Jayla Kirkland (silver, 200m; bronze 100m) earn spots on Team USA for the 2018 IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships in Tampere, Finland (July 10-15) with their performances at the USATF Junior Championships at the University of Indiana. Men’s Golf: Harry Ellis has competed at The Open Championship (2017), The Masters (2018) and U.S. Open (2018) as an amateur Volleyball: Jordana Price named AVCA Thirty Under 30 award winner. Baseball: Mike Martin most wins in college baseball history (1,987)
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“When I look at what I’ve done in the past two months, it’s incredible. Looking where I was, sitting on my couch watching the Masters, and to think I would do this, I would have laughed at you and told you there was no way, no chance, and to do it is really incredible.”
PHOTOS BY PHOTOS BY USGA AND USA TODAY SPORTS IMAGES
Former FSU Golfer and Student-Athlete Advisory Council member Brooks Koepka won the US Open for the second-consecutive year in June and the PGA Championship (inset) in August of 2018.
“I am beyond proud of Brooks. To win three of his last six majors proves he continues to be elite at every level. More importantly, seeing his dreams become a reality makes all of us proud of him.” FSU men’s golf coach Trey Jones
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CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON DREAM REDESIGN OF FSU’S GOLF COURSE BY BOB FERRANTE
PHOTOS BY ROSS OBLEY
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he familiar feeling of Don Veller Seminole Golf Course will remain. But the redesigned course will be improved in every way and on every hole. A redesign of Florida State’s home golf course had long been a dream of coach Trey Jones. And the dream of handing over the redesign to one of the nation’s prominent golf course designers, Jack Nicklaus and son Jack Nicklaus II, is now a reality. “Jack Nicklaus II said, ‘We have this option here to stay within the corridors but dad is unbelievable at taking a piece of property and making it better. Why don’t we give him a blank slate?’ ” Jones recalled of his early conversations with the father-son design team. The Veller Seminole Course is now Nicklaus’ canvas as renovations began in mid-August. The anticipated 12-month construction process will see the course transformed into the nation’s first Jack Nicklaus Legacy Course and ready to reach golfers who travel to Tallahassee during the 2019 football season. The cost of the project is approximately $8 million with funding coming from Seminole Boosters donors, the FSU Athletics Department and from the University as the project will help to create a gateway to campus. Seminole Boosters has been asked to raise an initial $4.5 million toward the course renovation. “Over the past 12 months our staff has visited with many alumni and friends who have a passion for golf and for FSU,” Executive Vice President Greg Hulen said. “And as a result, over $3.5 million has been pledged with the final $1 million in funding anticipated to be raised by 2019.”
The Nicklaus duo will redesign the par-73 course and Childers Construction will oversee the project. The course and driving range will be closed until Sept. 30, 2019. Jones is thrilled by what the course will mean for FSU’s golf program and for members who play the course. He said the course will “challenge a good player but also the less accomplished golfer will still be able to get the ball up on the green and have an opportunity.” Boosters leapt at the opportunity to sponsor individual holes, helping to make the project a reality. Jones said he is excited to see the project that he had long envisioned move to the next phase. “Everyone that is associated with Florida State, they’re going to feel so proud of their golf course,” Jones said. “It’s a labor of love for me. Something that I’ve thought about forever. It really is thanks to a lot of special donors. The donors that have gotten behind this project and purchased golf holes with their names on it, our boosters have really shown how important this is to them. … “There is a motto in golf that you leave the course better than you found it, and our new Nicklaus Legacy golf course will certainly do that for us.” When completed, the course will be a key component to the City of Tallahassee’s creation of the Gateway District bridging campus to the Tallahassee International Airport. “The project to renovate our golf course has the potential for positive change beyond the championship level course,” said FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Stan Wilcox. “It is as important to the campus and potentially the city as it is to our golf programs. Thanks to the support of the University and the Seminole Boosters, our golf studentathletes will practice and compete on one of the finest courses in America.” SB
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JOHN CROWE BY CHARLIE BARNES
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ove arrives when it will; sometimes it just shows up unannounced. It was December 1967 and the Phi Delts and Kappa Deltas were having a Christmas party. John Crowe introduced himself to the prettiest girl he had ever seen. The chemistry was immediate. On a whim, John teased her, “Do you want to run away and get married?” Betty Williams responded, “When do you want to leave?” John and Betty did get married, two years later. They will celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary soon. Since his 2013 retirement as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Buckeye Technologies, Inc., John has busied himself with other business and 38
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philanthropic interests. He is on the Board of Directors of Myers Industries, as well as the National Civil Rights Museum. He also served on the board of the United Way of the Mid-South. John is especially enthused about keeping up with his Seminole teammates. One is former NCIS Agent (yes, that NCIS) and fellow FSU Hall-of-Famer Dale McCullers. “Dale and I are writing a book together,” he says. “We’re calling it ‘Sons of the ‘60s; A Case for the Defense.’” Crowe and McCullers were defensive stars for the Seminoles. Dale earned All-American honors at linebacker and played a year for the Dolphins. John Crowe is considered by some to be the best safety in Seminole history. His senior year he snagged five interceptions, and accounted for an incredible total of 104 tackles. John and Dale have committed
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themselves to promoting the significance of defense. “We’re interviewing former players, and coaches like Mickey Andrews on what it takes to play defense,” he says. They began by contacting players who have been inducted into the FSU Athletic Hall of Fame. Every fan remembers head coach Bobby Bowden’s locker room admonition to his teams at halftime when the Seminoles were ahead: “If they don’t score, we win!” John said Bowden’s philosophy was to put the “fastest and toughest players on defense.” John and Dale agree the key to defense is speed. “And it’s not just speed,” John says, “its speed and instinct. You have to possess the kind of instinct to know where to be on the field. The offense knows their assignment; the defense has to figure it out.”
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WHICH ONE IS THE GIANT?
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John Crowe was to play on offense when he came to Florida State, joining a corps of receivers that included T.K. Wetherell and other notables. “I was 6-foot-2 and 159 pounds,” he says. He had played quarterback in high school and also helped out on defense. St. Cloud was small then: there were only 64 members of his senior class. “This was all before Disney,” he laughs. All eight of the freshman receivers were skinny. “One of the coaches said we looked like a bunch of mice running around chasing cheese.” The name stuck; they were christened ‘The Rat Pack’ and Nic Gavalas at Nic’s Toggery made up special jackets for them with a picture of a mouse. Neither football nor Florida State was John’s first choice. He had been offered a chance to play basketball for Duke University, but a knee injury ended that opportunity. He decided to follow coach Bill Peterson to FSU. Bowden was John’s receivers’ coach. It was 1965 and Bowden was almost out the door to become offensive coordinator at West Virginia. “We were going through those awful, grueling mat drills and the players were exhausted. Then the coaches called for the receivers to run routes.” A pass sailed high over John’s head but he dove to make the catch. Bowden came right down out of the stands. “He said to me, ‘If you practice that way when you’re exhausted, then you’ll do all right.’” That one moment of close attention from Bowden made an instant, lasting impression on Crowe. As a scholar, John earned a BS in Chemistry and then a Master’s degree in Mathematics. “Mat drills taught me to be tough,” John said. The discipline that John applied in football mirrored his dedication to academics. “Mathematics is an interesting degree,” he says. “It makes you logical. Two and two is always four.” As a mathematics student, he followed one practice unique to that field of study. He said, “Answers to the odd-numbered math problems are always in the back of the book. Answers to the even-numbered problems are not in the book at all. I always focused on the even-numbered problems. Those were the hardest challenges.
I learned there’s value in doing the extra stuff.” He played in the iconic, 37-37, game against Alabama in 1967, but that game doesn’t rank as one of his two favorite memories. “We had great expectations before that season, but we were only 0-2-1 going into the game against a great Texas A&M team.” John Crowe recovered a fumble to set up the winning touchdown, giving the Seminoles their first win of the season. The second best game memory? “Well,” he laughs, “That win over Florida down there in Gainesville was awfully sweet, too!” Commissioned as a second lieutenant through ROTC, Crowe flew transports and bombers for the Air Force during the Vietnam War. A decade later, he interviewed for a job with the commercial airlines only to find that they weren’t hiring. “Before my interview, I noticed a brochure on the table in the waiting room,” he says. “There was a pretty girl on the front, and the brochure promoted Buckeye Cellulose Corporation.” He figured his degree in chemistry would match well with a company invested in the pulp and paper industry so he cold-called them. His interview, he said, was largely taken up with a discussion of college football in general and the Seminoles in particular. “And the young woman on the brochure cover ended up working for me for years.” At Buckeye, the sales side of the business interested him but he found he liked operations so much he stayed in management. After 34 years, he retired as President and CEO of the company. On retirement, he laughs, “I like it! I don’t know now how I ever had time to work. It’s given me an appreciation for what my wife, Betty, had to do just to keep the house up all these years.” Not too far now from their golden wedding anniversary, the Crowes have prospered, and can boast of two sons, a daughter-in-law and a pair of grand-daughters. John and Betty enjoy giving generously to all areas of the University. “I established a scholarship in the name of my favorite mathematics professor; Betty also
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John Crowe, 1966
established a professorial scholarship in her field.” They established another academic scholarship based on her father’s experience in World War II. In addition, they established a scholarship for ROTC cadets in the name of former FSU center Johnny Stevens. Lt. Stevens was killed in action in 1969, leaving behind a young family. Of course, the Crowes are annual Golden Chiefs; their giving record extends back nearly 30 years and totals over $1 million. They’ve made a bequest to Seminole Boosters of $600,000 as well as an additional cash gift of $250,000 to the Doak Campbell Stadium Fund. Another cash gift of $250,000 establishes the John Crowe Defensive Safety Position Scholarship. A year or so ago, John was a featured guest at one of Doug Mannheimer’s wonderful game-day Sod Talks. As he wrapped up his remarks, John told his favorite coach Bill Peterson story. “In the pre-game locker room, Coach Pete wanted to use the story of David & Goliath to motivate the team. But first he turned to one of his assistant coaches and whispered … ’Now which one was the giant?’” In Seminole lore and legend, in any assessment of honors on the field, in the classroom, and across a lifetime of personal and professional achievements, let there be no doubt that the giant is John Crowe. SB
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CHARLIE WARD A GREAT AMBASSADOR FOR FSU BY JIM CROSBY
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obby Bowden couldn’t believe his eyes. The untested freshman quarterback was shredding his vaunted, top-10 team’s defense in the 1989 Garnet and Gold spring game. Recently the Hall of Fame coach, who had just come in from reading and reminiscing under the Magnolia tree in his backyard, sat down to share the story with Unconquered magazine by phone. Bowden’s Seminoles had finished third in the AP rankings the previous season and were picked again for a top-10 finish. But here was this freshman from Thomasville, Georgia, totally baffling his veteran defenders. “I remember very vividly that Garnet and Gold spring game when we played our first two teams against everybody else,” Bowden said. “Charlie Ward was a freshman who was on the ‘everybody else’ team. As I recall they upset the varsity. They just couldn’t hem Cholly (Bobby’s pronunciation) in.” That’s Charlie Ward for you. A quiet, soft-spoken and humble leader who went from the scout squad and punter on the freshman team to win every award he was eligible for in his senior season. These included not only the prestigious Heisman Trophy, but also the Davey O’Brien, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm and Maxwell Awards as well. Jeff Van Gundy, Ward’s coach with the New York Knicks, described Ward this way: “This is Charlie Ward. He is going to pray for you before the game, he’s going to rip your heart out during the game, then he is going to pat you on the butt after the game after he beats you.” Ward is the perfect example of how an athletic scholarship, funded by Seminole Boosters, can mold and transform a young person’s life when used productively. In an interview from his new home base,
Florida State University School (commonly known as Florida High) where he coaches basketball, Ward reflected. “The scholarship offer afforded me the opportunity to get a degree in a sense without my parents having to pay for a great education, and we were very appreciative of it,” Ward said. He certainly showed that appreciation not only in his on-field accomplishments, where he led FSU to its first of three national championships, but by making the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Academic team, as well. There were two main reasons Ward ended up at Florida State. He points out the first reason was Coach Bowden, “a great coach who allowed his players, especially his QBs — Brad Johnson, for example — to play two sports.” The other reason: FSU was a 30-minute drive from home so his parents and friends who supported him in high school could see him play. Ward, who will also have a role as an ambassador at FSU, encountered a lot of speed bumps on the road to success. As
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a freshman, he was asked to take on the role of team punter when the starter, John Wimberly, was hurt. “In my freshman year I didn’t see the blessing in punting because I was immature, and I just wanted to play QB,” Ward said. “But as I look back I see the blessing in it because it gave me the opportunity to get some experience against some very good football teams. Also if I hadn’t punted that year I probably would have missed a year of basketball because they probably wouldn’t have allowed me to play basketball if I was the starting QB at that time.” Ward points to the value of the good coaching he received that moved him along the road to success. He certainly appreciated the late Wayne McDuffie, FSU’s offensive coordinator from 198390, who believed in him from the start and even “stood on a table and shouted (at the other coaches) to let them know I needed to be in a Seminole uniform.” JohnEasonwasalsoinhiscorner.TheFSU receivers coach had attended his parents’
PHOTO BY ROSS OBLEY
university — Florida A&M — and assured them he would make sure Charlie graduated. Then there was quarterback coach Mark Richt, who went from FSU to be the head coach at Georgia and now at Miami. “I learned a lot from him because he was with me for four years — the day-to-day film watching and fundamentals were things I learned from him,” said Ward. “But the biggest and most important thing I learned from him was that he was a great family man. I saw how he incorporated his family into his coaching. His wife and boys were around practice, and I saw how he enjoyed being around his family.” Of course, Ward used his four years of basketball to not only complement his football exploits but to fashion a 10-year NBA career, mostly with the Knicks. Spurning an NFL career, Ward became the only Heisman Trophy winner ever to play in the NBA. There, he led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999. Everywhere Charlie Ward has been, without seeking it, he has always ended up in a leadership role. “I’ve kind of been thrust and thrown into leadership, especially early on as a QB,” Ward said. “I’ve always been a QB. I’ve just led in a different way, which is by example. Every now and then I will speak up when I see something that is going awry.” When Ward roomed with Warrick Dunn they were both quiet. People wondered if they talked at all in their room. Coach Bowden says with a chuckle: “I always said they should have put a sign on their door: ‘FSU Library.’ I know there was not much talking going on in that room.” There was some talking, however. Ward asked to room with Dunn, when Warrick came in. He had just lost his mother, Betty Smothers, and was hurting. Ward thought that he could help the younger player from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, get adjusted and perhaps deal with his grief. Ward recalls: “Our friendship was most definitely a match made in heaven. His coming in after his mother had been killed. We were both quiet but he just needed someone to listen to him. I was able to give him some insight into handling the media. The limelight of being a person thrust into leadership.” And Ward was definitely in the middle of the limelight. Wayne Hogan, current Executive Director of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, was FSU’s sports information director when Ward was at FSU. He recalls the enormous following that Ward had accumulated. “I do remember we had to put together a separate room just for stuff people wanted Charlie to sign,” Hogan said. “He was so popular in those days. If people wanted him to sign a jersey or helmet or football they could send it in. Of course he had the football and basketball thing going.” That was probably the only time FSU received more “stuff” to be autographed by a player than they did for highly popular coach Bowden. There was pressure everywhere that Ward went. Fans, media. All kinds of folks vying for a little of his time. It wasn’t something that he liked as much as a Deion Sanders-type of person did. “It was a full-time job (keeping up with requests),” Hogan said. “On the other hand, Charlie was always accommodating,
although he didn’t necessarily enjoy the limelight. He was not a ‘me guy.’ Yet it was good times. One thing about Charlie Ward. Sometimes, even if it was painful for him to do an interview, he was always there for us. He always came through. He was a clutch player.” Even though he continued his soft-spoken, reserved ways, Ward is one of the best leaders Florida State football has had. He talked with us about what he sees as the keys to being a good leader. “I guess to be a good leader you have to be willing to be held accountable, first,” Ward said. “And second, you have to go out and do what you are talking about others doing before people are going to follow you.” Once again what Charlie Ward says makes good sense. There is another important thing in Ward’s life that keeps him centered. “My faith has definitely put things in perspective,” Ward said. “It gives me humility. My Mom and Dad taught me humility early on,” said Ward. “We grow our faith and trust that God is in control. We all go through trials and tribulations. Not one person misses that boat. So it always best to be in tune and in sync with Him.” Finally, in college, Charlie Ward found himself on the two biggest stages in College Football: the national championship game and the Heisman Trophy. He won them both. Hogan’s efficient sports information assistant Donna Turner tied together all the loose ends and suddenly the quiet Georgia boy from Thomasville, population 18,000, was headed to the Big Apple. There he would be in the center of attention among the brightest stars in football history. He was a big hit. Ward, 48, continues to positively affect the lives of those he comes in contact with, often even without trying. He certainly looks right at home wearing the Garnet and Gold colors of Florida High with the Seminole name emblazoned on the uniforms. His life and actions speak for themselves, and he certainly has those young basketball players’ attention. They will not only be better players but will grow into better young men because of their exposure to Ward. “There is nothing negative that anybody could ever say about Charlie Ward,” Hogan said. “He is as good as they come.” SB
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SEMINOLES HOST ANNUAL WOMEN’S CAMP
BY ARIYA MASSOUDI
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eing a Seminole runs through generations for Betty Lou Joanos. Her husband, Jim, attended the first Florida State football game in 1947. Both are alumni of the university, and their kids and grandkids also graduated from FSU. Garnet and Gold colors the history of their family. That’s why when new head coach Willie Taggart announced the Women’s Football Clinic, she jumped at the opportunity to attend. “It’s super cool. Years ago the Extra Point Club would do a similar thing with Coach (Bobby) Bowden, but this is much bigger and certainly more grand,” Joanos said. “It’s night and day, just incredible. Everyone is so happy, and the fans love the infusion.” Held at the Dunlap Practice Fields, Taggart and his assistant coaches started the day indoors. A meet and greet was followed by an intensive film review of the new offensive
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and defensive philosophies the staff is implementing with the players this season. The breakdown of the X’s and O’s was a particular hit with the women in attendance as most enjoyed the deeper dive into the schematics of the game. “I love the way this event is bringing the enthusiasm back to football. Just being able to learn about the plays was amazing,” June Duda said during the event. Duda, a longtime booster and now member of the FSU Board of Trustees, has always had a passion for the game. She appreciated being instructed on the intricacies of the game from the coaching staff. “I love football, but I didn’t really understand the X’s and O’s,” an excited Duda continued. “I learned what a nickel and dime was today. I always heard those terms but never knew what it meant. So when they put it up there (on the projector screen) it became very clear to me.”
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After the film session, lunch was provided and current players on the team began to trickle in. Among those in attendance were quarterback Deondre Francois, running back Jacques Patrick and kicker Ricky Aguayo. The attendees and players had a chance to interact and get to know each other, often taking pictures and sharing laughs. A silent auction and a football coaches’ wives panel also highlighted the day before it was time to get down to the dirty work. Moving outside, the players and coaches ran the participants through drills and different stations. Some of the stops included tackling practice dummies and kicking field goals off a tee. It was a cool glimpse into the daily grind the team goes through during the season. “It was really competitive, this was one of the best clinics ever,” Taggart said laughing. “We had some women who go up and catch some balls and I’m like, ‘Man, we need to sign them
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up.’ Some of them have wristbands, gloves and towels. It’s really cool to see.” Wrapping up the day was a trip inside Doak Campbell Stadium and an opportunity to run through the tunnel onto Bobby Bowden Field. As the Warchant blared over the speakers, a great event came to a close — celebrating the program and game this group of over 300 women love. “It’s been amazing to see the skyrocketing of women’s interest in football,” Joanos said. “Women used to be a little more subdued in their support of athletics, and now they’re a very integral part of supporting the game.” Said FSU associate head coach and defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins: “This type of event helps that a lot. I wish we would have been doing this all along. It gives them an inside look on the things we coach with the kids and what they’re learning.
“Florida State is a national brand and I met a couple of participants today who were from Connecticut and Texas. That means a lot to see their support and interest.” The game of football transcends many generations, races and genders. The chance to show appreciation to the women that support the program was an opportunity Taggart and his staff didn’t want to pass up. “Seeing so many passionate women about the game of football says a lot about them and their love for Florida State,” Taggart said. “Julie Reed (Assistant Director of Operations) and I have done this at every stop and I think it’s great that we could come out here and teach them some things that they may not have already known.” Taggart’s first months in Tallahassee have seen an increased attention to outreach and interaction with the Seminole fan base. From spring booster tour stops in various cities throughout the state of Florida, to events such as
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this one and the Junior ’Noles Camp, Taggart sees an opportunity to bring back the family atmosphere around the program and build enthusiasm prior to the game against Virginia Tech on Labor Day evening. “Any great team that wins championships, I think you see a passionate fan base behind them. To me, from afar, that’s what I always thought Florida State was and it was a big reason why we won a lot around here,” Taggart said. “So many people are invested and passionate about Florida State football. So it’s been great to give back and be around them all, to let them know they’re appreciated.” If the beginning of his tenure is any indication, he’s succeeding in that goal. “I’ve never seen anything like this, they’re (the coaching staff) a different type of people,” Duda said. “I think they’re going to do great things for our young men with responsibility and discipline, but also enthusiasm.” SB
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2018 SCHEDULE DATE SEPT. 3 SEPT. 8 SEPT. 15 SEPT. 22 SEPT. 29 OCT. 6 OCT. 20 OCT. 27 NOV. 3 NOV. 10 NOV. 17 NOV. 24
OPPONENT VIRGINIA TECH SAMFORD AT SYRACUSE NORTHERN ILLINOIS AT LOUISVILLE AT MIAMI WAKE FOREST CLEMSON AT NC STATE AT NOTRE DAME BOSTON COLLEGE FLORIDA
TIME 8 P.M. ET 7:20 P.M. ET NOON TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 7:30 P.M. TBA TBA TBA
PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION (MITCH WHITE)
FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEW SEASON PREVIEW WITH COACH TAGGART ............46 WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE GULF COAST OFFENSE .............................. 48 BARNETT’S PHILOSOPHY: MAKE A PLAY ................50 MEET THE COACHING STAFF................................... 52 HOME GAME WEEKEND ACTIVITIES ........................56 POSITION PREVIEWS ..............................................54 HOME GAME WEEKEND ACTIVITIES ........................56 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS ............................................58 CHAMPIONS CLUBS ................................................60 WILLIE TAGGART CALL-IN SHOW............................63 ROAD GAMES & OPPONENTS ................................. 73
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MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN WILLIE TAGGART HAS VISION OF EXCELLENCE BY JERRY KUTZ While Florida State’s courtship with Willie Taggart was briefer than a shotgun wedding, the Seminoles faithful have enjoyed a nine-month honeymoon getting to know each other’s values, memories and ambitions. You may laugh at this marital analogy. But make no mistake, Willie Taggart is hitched to Florida State his first and abiding love. Over the past nine months the Palmetto, Fla., native has shared countless memories of his youth, where mom and dad watched FSU football to the exclusion of all other teams and where young Willie’s earliest heroes wore garnet and gold. So when FSU chose to tie the knot with him, no shotgun was needed. FSU proposed and Taggart said, “I do.” The former Oregon head coach came home to make the vow “to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health … to death do us part.” As each day has passed, a growing number of FSU’s Faithful have said, “I do too.” Granted the Faithful’s version of the vow is curter: “To have and to hold … win or tie.” So, there’s just one thing left to do. Win. And if that sounds a bit cold, it isn’t. Willie Taggart knows the score. Winning matters. Taggart will have a lot of folks pulling for him. And not just because he’s the Seminoles’ head coach. Folks truly want to see Taggart succeed because of shared values. Winning is never easy but its appreciably less complicated when you have highly talented players who are also highly motivated. Taggart inherited the former and is developing the latter. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to have former players and coaches, as well as Seminole Booster members, feeling he is “one of us.” “My vision for this program is to win multiple championships in a first-class manner. That’s our vision,” Taggart said. “That’s going to always be our vision. “To me that’s what Florida State is all about, and that’s what I grew up watching and loving when it came to Florida State football. Every year they were competing for a championship, and every year they were winning. That’s our goal. That’s our vision, and that’s why we all come to Florida State University … to win championships.” Those are vows he wrote and the Florida State Faithful have responded to. Count the Board of Trustees, the FSU Athletic and Seminole Booster Administration among those who have taken the vow. Life together begins against a very tough Virginia Tech program and won’t get easier as FSU plays one of the toughest schedules in the country. Difficult road trips to unfriendly 46
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stadiums in Miami, Raleigh, N.C. and South Bend, Ind., are only the half of it. The Seminoles will face adversity at home too, with Clemson, Florida and Va. Tech, who will test the coach, the team and the fan base. There will be triumphs and adversities that will challenge this union of Taggart and the FSU Faithful. We’ll learn about the character of one another along the way. Back in the Dynasty Era, Bobby Bowden frequently said he learned more about his teams in the agony of defeat than in the ecstasy of victory. “Adversity doesn’t build character,” Bowden said. “It reveals it.” When Taggart arrived in Tallahassee the team was preparing for the Independence Bowl and Taggart made the wise decision to allow interim head coach Odell Haggins to coach the bowl game. In addition to being the right thing to do, it allowed Taggart to objectively evaluate the team. The players were talented, he noted, but he was shocked to see they didn’t seem to care about each other. Nor did they know much about the Seminole football tradition, which he has adored. Team building critical for players and fan base “We weren’t a football team that handled adversity well and we had a lot of adversity last year,” Taggart said. “Usually when you don’t handle adversity well as a team, it’s because you don’t care enough about each other. “I just felt like our team didn’t care about each other enough to overcome adversity and those tough times.” He’s spent the past nine months with players in teambuilding exercises in an attempt to change the culture. Taggart has never said it but one could extend the logic of his quote to the FSU fan base, too. One can make a strong argument that the nine-month courtship has been a teambuilding exercise for the FSU Faithful as much as for the players themselves. The investment of time in team building will pay dividends when adversity raises its ugly head. It will help fill Doak for tough opening games in September. And when adversity comes, as it inevitably will, it can only help to have the fans solidly united. Taggart found a willing partner in this courtship because FSU fans trust the values Taggart is teaching. They relate to the lessons of accountability he is emphasizing. They know accountability is fundamental to success in life. Seminole fans, most of whom were raised in the Bowden era, are thrilled to see the culture of responsibility being emphasized. It was a building block of the Bowden era and it paid dividends with offensive and defensive execution as well as better off the field behavior, too. Go to class. Go to study hall. Respect others. Be on time.
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Give your best effort. Accept no excuses. “It is something he stresses every day,” running back Cam Akers told the media in Charlotte. More important than preaching it, Taggart inspects what he expects. And players learned quickly, there are consequences for failures. “I’m just glad there’s law,” defensive end Brian Burns, echoed. “It is making guys accountable.” “You can’t make excuses,” Burns said. “You either get there or you get there. You’ve got one choice.” What if a player does not? “If you don’t you’ve got a punishment… and it’s nothing you want to be a part of.” Like Bowden, Taggart believes accountability is a habit the players can practice throughout the year. Accountability is essential to execution on game day and failure to do so brings consequences that are “nothing you want to be a part of.”
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Looking forward to the KISS method FSU fans have been cultivated to believe in the style of football Taggart will implement. “Lethal Simplicity” as he calls it, could be a synonym for the fast-break offense and attacking defense of the Dynasty Era. Taggart’s more-simple approach, he reminded audiences along the Seminole Booster tour, was designed to meet the needs of his players. They don’t have the time for emersion in a complex playbook. The formula Taggart follows is very much the same as that of the Bowden era: recruit fast, hard-hitting football players, give them easy to follow rules, demand accountability, teach blocking and tackling technique every day while practicing a digestible game plan… and then on game day, release them to do what the Good Lord blessed them to do. Can it really be that simple? FSU’s fans say “absolutely.” They witnessed FSU coaches making football look easy during the Seminoles 14 straight, top-5 finishes of the Dynasty Era. They grew used to hearing simple answers to complex questions. “The only adjustment that matters is on your chinstrap,” said former defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews when asked about halftime adjustments. “Just buckle your chinstrap tighter and play harder.” And the “War Daddies,” as Taggart refers to those teams, did as told. The FSU Faithful come to Doak to watch touchdowns, jarring tackles, blocked punts, high fives and grown men hugging… not to watch a calculus test. Taggart recently hired Andrews to join his staff as an advisor, which speaks volumes about shared values and memories. Premiere of Lethal Simplicity And fans can’t wait to come to Doak to see the premiere of ‘lethal simplicity’ for themselves. Just how will Taggart’s coaches get plays in fast enough for a Gulf Coast Offense to run 90 or more plays per game? We are told some of the plays
will be signaled in while the running back is still galloping down the field. Seminole fans understand the game but not this game, so it is going to be a learning experience this season. Fans will watch the action on the sideline as carefully as the play on the field, which makes Doak the best place to be on game day. Select what you want to watch rather than what a television cameraman shows you. There will be plenty of new wrinkles to experience outside Doak, too, as Willie Taggart quickly said “I do” to the question of a pregame “Player Walk,” which Seminole fans have wanted for years. This new tradition, which allows players to interact with fans on a short walk from the team busses to the locker room, is yet another means by which Taggart will wed his team with the FSU Faithful. Florida State has been blessed to have built lasting relations with its head coaches. It is not an accident Mike Martin and Bobby Bowden are the winningest coaches in their sport or that Sue Semrau and Leonard Hamilton have set roots in the red clay of the Seven Hills. Even Jimbo Fisher’s eight-year tenure, which is relatively brief by FSU standards, was longer than the collegiate norm. Each and every day Willie Taggart and the FSU administration have taken one more, careful, step toward building an enduring union with the FSU Faithful. On September 3rd, with a national television audience watching, they’ll take their first steps together as the 2018 football season opens. SB
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BY BOB FERRANTE
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PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION (MIKE EWEN)
illie Taggart saw a South Florida offense that was moving the ball down the field but struggling to score touchdowns in his first two seasons. But when the Bulls went to the two-minute offense, everything changed: Players were having fun and South Florida was lighting up the scoreboard. “We put our athletes in space and let them do what they do best,” Taggart said. “The best way to put it is backyard football. Just go out there and play football.” The backyard was a 100-yard playground as the Bulls went from a lethargic offense — averaging just 13.8 points in 2013 and 17.2 points in 2014 — to a no-huddle, up-tempo offense and put up 33.6 points in 2015 and 43.8 points in 2016. It was a dramatic turnaround statistically but also a reminder to Taggart that sometimes the best option is to let football be fun and keep it simple. Taggart and his staff had visited schools like Ole Miss, Auburn, Baylor and Clemson before the 2015 season, learning how they used tempo on offense and took “something from each one of them.” He blended the concepts together along with some of his own philosophies from time spent at Western Kentucky and Stanford. And the Gulf Coast Offense was born. On the day of his introductory press conference in December, Taggart’s smile turned into a wide grin when asked about the Gulf Coast Offense. His response, “Lethal Simplicity,” set off breathless anticipation for what Taggart’s principles could achieve when blended with Florida State’s quarterbacks and playmakers. And from the first day of FSU’s spring practice, the message was clear as they ran past a sign that stated, “Speed Limit Fast.” The Seminoles adapted quickly, embracing the new offense and seeing its potential for the fall. “It’s just a lot faster,” FSU quarterback James Blackman said. “No more huddling. We’re going to be moving quickly.” So just what are the key elements of the Gulf Coast Offense? Let’s take a look at four points. SIMPLE APPROACH: Taggart’s offense is rooted in the less-is-more philosophy. He remarked immediately upon seeing the success of the offense at USF that, “It was really like drawing it up in the dirt. And it was working.” The Bulls previously communicated from the sidelines to players, who checked their wristbands to decipher the plays. That took time and was complicated. “We made it simple for them,” Taggart said. “Allowed them to line up and go play football. Most of those kids came out of that system (in high school).”
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Before a crowd of nearly 60,000 fans, it was a first glimpse at just how fast the offense could move. Regardless of whether Blackman or Bailey Hockman was the quarterback, the ball was often snapped after just 10 or 12 seconds had run off the play clock. No huddling, no messing around. Coaches can achieve this pace in part for two reasons: it’s become a mindset for all 11 players on the field and the quarterback is immediately looking to the sideline after the conclusion of a play, running to the line of scrimmage while getting the call for the next play. QUARTERBACK IS A POINT GUARD: With the speed of the game moving so rapidly, the quarterback is also processing the play while reading the defense and making decisions. Taggart likes to have quarterbacks in the shotgun, which allows for designed runs. Former USF quarterback Quinton Flowers ran for 2,521 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2015-16. And while Flowers was often praised for his ability to scramble, he also threw for 2,812 yards, 28 touchdowns and just seven interceptions as a junior in 2016. Taggart’s offense places a premium on a quarterback who is a leader, reads defenses, uses play-action passing, distributes the ball well and makes good decisions. RUNNING GAME FEATURED HEAVILY: Perhaps the biggest misnomer of the term “spread offense” is that the running game takes a backseat as the quarterback slings the ball around and play callers abandon the run game. South Florida was No. 5 in the FBS in rush offense in 2016, racking up 3,709 rushing yards and 47 touchdowns. Oregon was 12th in the FBS in 2017, accumulating 3,263 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns. This plays into FSU’s strengths. Taggart inherited a deep group of running backs, including Cam Akers (a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman), Jacques Patrick and Khalan Laborn. He has hinted that two tailbacks could be used on the field at the same time, taking advantage of their speed as runners and pass-catchers. “It shows the versatility for me, being able to do a lot of different things,” Akers said. Lethal Simplicity. It will be a must-see show this fall. SB
NO HUDDLE, SNAP QUICKLY: Fast. Furious. Fun. Florida State showed all of that in the spring game in April, rattling off 125 plays despite a running clock in the second half.
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BARNETT’S PHILOSOPHY
‘MAKE A PLAY’ BY BOB FERRANTE
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n every sport, a game comes down to a few plays in critical situations. And in football, those are often on third or fourth down, in the red zone or in the final two minutes. Florida State’s new defensive coordinator, Harlon Barnett, wants the Seminoles to be prepared for those moments. To embrace them. And to make a play. “Don’t come in with a bunch of excuses, be it in practice or in a game,” Barnett said. “You make a play. That’s where it came from. Make plays in crucial moments and guys caught hold to that and believed in it.” The acronym “MAP” is one of many that Barnett has used over the past 15 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Cincinnati (2004-06) and Michigan State (2007-17). But none hold more emphasis than “Make A Play.” Barnett is widely respected as a coach and teacher of the game. He is smart and well-spoken, earning a communications degree at Michigan State. He has NFL experience, playing from 1990-96 with Cleveland, New England and Minnesota. He was coached in the NFL by Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, Bill Parcells, Dennis Green and Tony Dungy. He is also a no-nonsense man and fiery on gamedays. “One of the best coaches and best men I’ve ever been around,” said Miami Dolphins cornerback Tony Lippett, who played for Barnett at Michigan State. “He understands players. He’s played the game. He understands how to communicate with players. He’s a player’s coach.” And the results were evident each week. Michigan State was No. 7 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense (297.6 yards per game) and 19th 50
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in scoring defense (20 points per game) in 2017. The Spartans averaged 9.8 wins per season the previous five years, in large part because of the strength of the defense that was coached by Barnett. Coach Willie Taggart quickly made headlines with the two-word description “Lethal Simplicity” for his offense. Barnett’s defensive philosophy is similar with “Make a Play.” “Go out there, lay it all out there on the line,” Lippett said. “That was one of the things he preached. It let you just go out there and play free. There wasn’t a lot of crazy stuff regarding different techniques. Sometimes you just have to go out there and use your natural ability and make a play.” Barnett’s ability to develop players and get them to consistently deliver week in and week out were attractive to Taggart when building his staff at FSU. And Barnett left the comfort of coaching at his alma mater for a new challenge: coaching FSU’s defense. His first impression this spring when he took the field with the Seminoles for 15 practices? Despite the annual losses to the NFL, Barnett saw the speed and athleticism. “At Florida State, you inherit some talent,” Barnett said. “And it’s here. These guys have talent. They can play. Let them play. We’re not going to try to make it too complicated. We’ll allow them to understand how the offense is trying to try to attack us and let their natural abilities just play and flourish.” The defensive philosophy is fairly straightforward, rooted in principles that have been tried and true for Barnett for decades. There is an emphasis on film study, learning the opponent and also realizing how they will try to find holes in the Seminoles’ defense. Barnett wants to attack with a four-man front, putting pressure on the quarterback. Corners are on an island in press man-to-man coverage. Linebackers and safeties must be versatile, adept at stopping the run and defending the pass. “We’re going to be aggressive,” Barnett said. “We’re going to have a four-man front, let those guys get after it. Press our
corners. We almost look at it in certain situations based on formations as our defense is a nine-man front. Being able to stop the run first. That’s No. 1 in football. When you can stop the run, you can make an offense one-dimensional. And you go from there.” The Seminoles have embraced Barnett’s philosophies. It’s a fun defense to play in and allows them to use their full capabilities. “He’s simplified our life,” defensive tackle Marvin Wilson said. “He made it a lot more easy on us. Right now we’re
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going to trust the defense, see where it gets us.” The schedule certainly is daunting, starting with a Labor Day night matchup against Virginia Tech. There are also home games against Clemson and Florida as well as road matchups with Miami, Notre Dame and NC State. Barnett is looking forward to showing a new defense that he hopes will be making plenty of plays. “I can’t wait for my first home game on Sept. 3,” Barnett said. “The place is going to be rocking.” SB
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MEET THE ASSISTANT COACHES OFFENSE
WALT BELL Position: QBs/Off. coordinator Age: 34 Previous job: Maryland’s offensive coordinator/QB coach in 2016-17
TELLY LOCKETTE Position: Tight ends Age: 44 Previous job: Oregon State’s running backs coach from 2015-17
Career highlights: In 26 games at Arkansas State, Bell’s offenses eclipsed 500 yards in 11 games. Bell was offered but didn’t accept the Louisiana-Monroe job at 31, which would have made him the youngest coach in FBS. He played receiver at Middle Tennessee State. Bell has experience as an assistant coach at Arkansas State (2014-15), North Carolina (2012-13), Southern Miss (2010-11) and Maryland.
Career highlights: He began his college coaching career at USF in 2013-14. Lockette coached former FSU running backs Dalvin Cook and Devonta Freeman as Miami Central’s head coach from 2008-12.
DONTE’ PIMPLETON Position: Running backs Age: 39 Previous job: Oregon’s running backs coach in 2017
GREG FREY Position: Run-game coordinator/OL coach Age: 45 Previous job: Michigan’s offensive tackles/tight ends coach/run-game coordinator in 2017
Career highlights: In 2016, Pimpleton’s rushing attack was second in the nation with an average of 6.5 yards per carry. Pimpleton coached at South Florida (2015-16) and Western Kentucky (2010-12). He helped develop RB Marlon Mack into USF’s all-time leading rusher (3,609 yards in three seasons).
Career highlights: Frey developed offensive linemen into NFL talent at Indiana (from 2011-16), including 2016 second-rounder Jason Spriggs and 2017 third-rounder Dan Feeney. The Clearwater, Florida, native was a three-year letterman for FSU in the early 1990s and was a member of the 1993 national championship team. Frey has experience at Michigan (2017 and 2008-10), Indiana (2011-16), West Virginia (2007) and South Florida (1999-2006).
Career highlights: Kelly was South Florida’s Director of Player Personnel in 2016. He was UCF’s receivers coach from 2007-11, helping to recruit a group of future NFL players (including Pro Bowl CB A.J. Bouye and WR Breshad Perriman). Kelly has also coached at Georgia (1994-95), LSU (1996-99), Georgia Tech (2000-01), Stanford (2002-03) and Duke (2004-05).
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DAVID KELLY Position: Wide receivers Age: 61 Previous job: Oregon’s Assistant Athletic Director of Football Recruiting Operations in 2017
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MEET THE ASSISTANT COACHES DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS
RAYMOND WOODIE Position: Linebackers Age: 44 Previous job: Outside linebackers and special teams at Oregon in 2017
HARLON BARNETT Position: Defensive backs coach/ defensive coordinator Age: 51 Previous job: Defensive backs coach/ co-defensive coordinator at Michigan State, where he was an assistant coach from 2007-17 Career highlights: Barnett was the defensive play-caller in 2017 for an MSU team that finished in the top 20 in scoring defense, total defense, run defense and opposing passer rating. He helped his alma mater win three Big Ten titles. Barnett also has experience at Cincinnati (2004-06) and was a graduate assistant at LSU (2003). He played in the NFL from 1990-96 with Cleveland, New England and Minnesota.
Career highlights: Woodie helped recruit seven future NFL players to WKU, where he was an assistant coach from 2010-12. Woodie has coached with Taggart at Oregon (2017), South Florida (2013-2016) and Western Kentucky (2010-12). He also had a 10-year run as Bradenton (Florida) Bayshore head coach from 1997-2006 and Palmetto High (2007-09).
ALONZO HAMPTON Position: Special teams coach Age: 44 Previous job: Off-field analyst at Oregon in 2017
ODELL HAGGINS Position: Defensive tackles Age: 51 Previous job: A fixture at FSU as an assistant coach since 1994 under Bobby Bowden, Jimbo Fisher and now Willie Taggart. This will be Haggins’ 25th season as an FSU assistant Career highlights: Haggins has been able to coach and develop future NFL prospects like Darnell Dockett, Travis Johnson, Brodrick Bunkley, Timmy Jernigan, Eddie Goldman and Derrick Nnadi. He was undefeated as FSU’s interim head coach with a 2-0 record to close the 2017 season.
Career highlights: Hampton has been an assistant coach at South Florida (2015-16), Western Kentucky (2011-12) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2006-10). He has also been a high school coach in Georgia and Arkansas.
MARK SNYDER Position: Defensive ends Age: 53 Previous job: Snyder was Michigan State’s defensive ends coach in 2015-2017 Career highlights: Snyder was the head coach at Marshall, his alma mater, from 2005-09. He has been a defensive coordinator at three FBS schools: Texas A&M (2012-14), USF (2010-11) and Ohio State (2004). Snyder has coached linebackers, defensive ends and special teams at various stops.
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POSITION BREAKDOWN OFFENSE
QB
DEONDRE FRANCOIS QUARTERBACK
Few quarterback rooms can boast of having a pair of starters with a season of experience. Florida State has just that with Deondre Francois (a 3,000-yard passer in 2016) and James Blackman (who tossed 19 touchdown passes in 2017). And don’t forget about redshirt freshman lefthander Bailey Hockman. Who will be the guy? There are three big considerations to take into account: who best fits coach Willie Taggart’s Gulf Coast Offense, who shows the needed leadership and the health of Francois’ knee. No matter who is under center, the no-huddle, spread-option offense will be fun to watch and should light up the scoreboard. Blackman was the first true freshman to play at quarterback for FSU since Chip Ferguson in 1985. He showed steady progress as the season went on, and Blackman completed 66 percent of his passes in his final two games and threw 10 touchdowns in his last four games. Francois was limited in the spring due to his rehabilitation from season-ending knee surgery in Sept. 2017 but was able to learn the offense in the film room and by watching on the practice field. Hockman has been limited in his one season at FSU due to injury but he has shown his ability to throw with accuracy on the run. FSU’s future at quarterback is bright regardless of whom Taggart chooses.
RB
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Well, yes, the group of tailbacks is as loaded as any in FSU history. Led by sophomore Cam Akers (1,025 yards and seven touchdowns in 2017), Athlon Sports considers the group the best in the ACC and the sixth-best nationally. Akers headlines a group that includes senior Jacques Patrick (748 yards, 7 TDs), junior Amir Rasul and redshirt freshman Khalan Laborn. The abundance of riches at tailback has Taggart thinking about how he can put two on the field at the same time and maximize their speed as rushers and receivers.
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WR/TE
The Seminoles are short on experience but there’s no shortage of enthusiasm about the Seminoles’ receivers. Senior Nyqwan Murray (40 receptions, 604 yards, four touchdowns) has flashed as a multi-year starter, racing across the middle to grab passes and pick up yards after the catch. Beyond Murray, there are receivers who have shown a glimpse of their talent. Junior Keith Gavin (27 receptions, 278 yards) and sophomore D.J. Matthews (six receptions, 72 yards, one touchdown) lead a group that includes one of the spring’s breakout performers, redshirt freshman Tamorrion Terry, as well as redshirt junior George Campbell, who had six catches for 122 yards but missed most of 2017 due to injury. Johnathan Vickers and Gabe Nabers were on the move this spring as Taggart eliminated the fullback job and converted both to tight ends. Vickers (four catches, 50 yards), Tre’ McKity (1 catch, 23 yards), Gabe Nabers (one catch, two yards), Naseir Upshur and Alexander Marshall don’t have much game experience but will be valuable as passblockers and receivers.
OL
FSU’s running backs averaged a robust 4.4 yards per carry in 2017 as the Seminoles had a 1,000-yard rusher for a fourth straight season. Run blocking should again be a strength of a veteran offensive line that has 81 starts under their belts. Landon Dickerson, Alec Eberle, Derrick Kelly and Cole Minshew lead a group under the direction of new offensive line coach / run game coordinator Greg Frey, who was a member of FSU’s 1993 national championship team. The Seminoles must improve as a passblocking unit: FSU’s quarterbacks were sacked 32 times in 2017. Taggart’s offense should help the line, placing an emphasis on tempo and quick passes, which means linemen won’t have to block nearly as long.
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DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS
DE
FSU places an emphasis on height, speed and athleticism at end. And a position that appears like it could be a group of power forwards should be effective at rushing the passer. Brian Burns, FSU’s returning leader with 48 tackles and 4.5 sacks, has worn out offensive tackles with his quickness off the edge. The 6-foot-5, 231-pound junior is quick off the edge and capable of disrupting passing plays at any time. Senior Walvenski Aime, at 6-5 and 295 pounds, slides from tackle to end, where his size and physicality will be tough to block. And 6-7 sophomore Joshua Kaindoh (17 tackles, 4.0 sacks) displayed a high motor, ranging effectively to the sideline to make plays as a freshman. Janarius Robinson (who is 6-5) and Tre Lawson (who is 6-6) should also factor in and find playing time.
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If there was one pre-draft decision that went under the radar it was that of Demarcus Christmas, who opted to return for his senior season and is working to complete his Social Science degree. Christmas will be entering his third season as a starter and is coming off a 36-tackle junior year. FSU has a nice blend of veterans with experience and young, promising stars at tackle. Senior Fredrick Jones (18 tackles) is the embodiment of his position coach, Odell Haggins, as Jones displays sound technique and work ethic. Sophomore Marvin Wilson missed most of the spring due to injury but has slimmed down and is a rising star on the interior. There is a considerable amount of depth in the group with Cedric Wood, Cory Durden, Arthur Williams and Ja’len Parks.
DB
New defensive coordinator/ defensive backs coach Harlon Barnett inherits a defensive backfield that is stacked at corner and safety. Athlon Sports views FSU’s secondary as the No. 7 group nationally. FSU has a pair of exceptional corners in 6-2 Stanford Samuels III and 5-10 Levonta Taylor, who allowed
a passer rating of 26.1 in 2017 (the lowest among ACC corners, according to Pro Football Focus). Senior A.J. Westbrook has learned from adversity early in his career and could start at one safety spot opposite versatile sophomore Hamsah Nasirildeen. Cyrus Fagan, who was an effective run-stopper as a freshman in 2017, and Carlos Becker, who had a knee injury this spring, should also have a chance to play. And the true freshman who could get the most playing time? Jaiden Woodbey, who enrolled early and Taggart labeled as a “dude” after the spring game and could play at FSU’s nickel/star spot.
LB
Coaches spent the spring searching for starters after losing three to graduation. FSU will often use a 4-2-5 defensive alignment, and the two linebackers must be adept at stopping the run and defending the pass. Two of the top candidates to start are junior Dontavious Jackson (17 tackles in 2017, three career starts) and sophomore Leonard Warner (five tackles). Junior Josh Brown is an option on the strong side where he is capable as a stand-up rusher or taking an angle to pursue running backs or receivers. Redshirt junior Adonis Thomas (12 tackles) is coming off a spring in which he showed his versatility while playing on the inside and outside. Redshirt freshman DeCalon Brooks, the son of former FSU legend Derrick Brooks, is in the mix when the Seminoles go to a three-linebacker set. Junior Emmett Rice (14 tackles) will also look to show that his knee injury is behind him and that making plays on special teams will translate to playing time at linebacker.
LEVONTA TAYLOR CORNERBACK
PK/P
Junior kicker Ricky Aguayo made 18 of 21 field-goal attempts, finishing 2017 by making seven straight. Junior Logan Tyler averaged 43.2 yards per punt, displaying improved hang time in 2017. Sophomore D.J. Matthews pumped life back into FSU’s punt return game by averaging 11.1 yards (14th in the FBS) in the last month of 2017. SEMINOLE-BOOSTERS.COM
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FRESH TRADITIONS ACCOMPANY TAGGART ERA
TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR ALL SEVEN HOME GAMES BY JERRY KUTZ
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illie Taggart has brought a fresh, new enthusiasm to the Florida State football program and it will extend beyond Bobby Bowden Field into a full football weekend experience beginning on Labor Day night, Sept. 3, against Virginia Tech. In addition to the traditional color and pageantry of the Marching Chiefs, Renegade and Osceola, cheerleaders and game day tailgating, the Seminoles have added a number of fan-friendly weekend events and traditions. PLAYERS, FANS GREET BEFORE THE GAME The Legacy Team Walk, which has been in high demand by fans for years, will become a popular, new game day tradition for players and fans alike. The Legacy Team Walk will start 2½ hours prior to kickoff when the players step off team buses at the Heritage Tower Fountain (near Dick Howser Stadium). Fans are encouraged to assemble and greet the team, which will make its way down the sidewalk and into Gate K of Doak Campbell Stadium. ALL-INCLUSIVE TAILGATE PARTIES The Coca-Cola Tailgate Zone, a ticketed tailgating area with catered food and a cash bar, will be located closer to the Legacy 56
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Team Walk this year. The Tailgate Zone will feature television screens to enjoy games from around the nation and access to restrooms. And for those wanting to get even closer, there will be VIP tailgate space available in close proximity. Both the Coca-Cola Tailgate Zone and the VIP Tailgate space will open five hours prior to kickoff. (see page 59) The Dunlap Champions Club, now entering its third year, is also open to club seat holders for pregame food, beverage and cash bar with field views to watch the team warm up. There are more than 180 television screens to watch games from around the country. (see pages 60-61) University Club Members, with game tickets, also have access to the UCC 3rd floor ballroom and patio on game days starting 1 hour prior to kickoff. Food and beverage, including beer, wine and mixed drinks (with proper identification) are available for purchase before and during the football game. The UCC ballroom is air-conditioned with restrooms and television broadcast of the FSU game. The UCC patio features views of the field and scoreboard, televisions and paddle fans. For membership information, a complementary lunch and tour, call 850.644.8528 or visit UniversityCenterClub.com. College Town, now celebrating its fifth anniversary, boasts numerous establishments serving a wide variety of food and beverage choices as well as games from around the country (see pages 64-66).
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PHOTOS BY MIKE OLIVELLA AND TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT
MEET FORMER PLAYERS AT SOD TALK Legendary former players meet fans at the Sod Cemetery to relive the greatest games in Seminole History each week one hour prior to kickoff. The Sod Cemetery is located between Dick Howser Baseball Stadium and Al Dunlap football practice fields. Marvin Jones and Peter Warrick will start the series followed by other legendary players at subsequent games. Come learn more about one of FSU’s most-enduring traditions, which was created by Dean Coyle Moore in 1964 to commemorate FSU’s road victory over Georgia. A piece of the Georgia sod was removed after the upset win and interred into the corner of the FSU practice field, commemorated with a headstone and bronze plaque. You will see dozens of headstones with plaques and learn why those games are commemorated. DJ IN THE SOUTH END ZONE FSU will be moving its in-game music operation from the ninth floor of the press box down to the field in the south end zone, closer to the Marching Chiefs and to the energy on field. “This move will allow for better coordination with the Marching Chiefs, who are a big part of the game day experience. We believe this move will make the coordination between the live music the Chiefs provide and the recorded music we use at points during the game much more seamless,” said Jason Dennard Associate Athletic Director.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY WEEKEND EXPERIENCE Start your football weekend with fellow Seminole fans for the traditional lighting of the Unconquered Statue in the south end of Doak Campbell Stadium. The spear is lit on Friday and burns until Sunday every game weekend and for special occasions. After the spear lighting, venture over to College Town for dinner, drinks and live entertainment at the Block Party, which draws hundreds of Seminole fans. For more information, call 850-644-2550 or go to facebook.com/FridayNightBlockParty/ for a listing of weekly artists. Dunlap Champions Club season ticket holders and University Center Club members are invited to the Terrace at Doak from 5-10 p.m. every night before home games. Enjoy dinner and drinks overlooking Bobby Bowden Field with live entertainment, panoramic views and amazing sunsets. Sunday Brunch is available in College Town and in the University Center Club for UCC and Dunlap Champions Club members ($28) or in College Town.
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E V E N T S
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR 2018 HOME GAMES Ticket availability for Virginia Tech and the 2018 season While the season opener against Virginia Tech is expected to sell out by game day — the first sellout since 2014 — there were still seats available in the bowl and Dunlap Champions at the time of publication of this issue of Unconquered. Tickets to the other six home games are also available in multiple sections and price ranges. Tickets can be purchased at Seminoles.com or by calling the Seminole Ticket Office at 850-644-1830. SEPT. 2-3 VS VIRGINIA TECH Kickoff 8 p.m. Garnet and Golden Celebration – Event Recognizes 50 Years of Women’s Athletics at Florida State University (Sunday, Sept. 2, 3-4:30 p.m. at Tully Gym) Tickets: SeminoleBoosters.com FSU Soccer vs USC (Friday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m.) FSU Soccer vs UCLA (Sunday, Sept. 2 at 5 p.m.) FSU Official Block Party at College Town featuring Walker Hayes (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.)
Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary)
Sod Talk with Seminole Legends (Legends TBD) Game day, 90 minutes prior to kickoff
Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open five hours prior to kickoff)
FSU Volleyball vs Wake Forest (Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m.)
FSU Volleyball vs Southern Mississippi (Saturday, Sept. 8, 11:30 a.m.) FSU Volleyball vs FAMU (Saturday, Sept. 8, 7 p.m.) Sod Talk with Seminole Legends (Legends TBD) (Game day, 90 minutes prior to kickoff) FSU Soccer vs South Alabama (Sunday, Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.)
Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary) Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open at noon for Virginia Tech) Sod Talk with Seminole Legends Marvin Jones and Peter Warrick (90 minutes prior to kickoff) SEPT. 8: VS SAMFORD Kickoff 7:20 p.m. FSU Volleyball vs Virginia Commonwealth (Friday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m.) FSU Soccer vs Florida (Friday, Sept. 7 at 7 pm) FSU Official Block Party at College Town Featuring Smithfield (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.) 58
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SEPT. 22: VS NORTHERN ILL. Kickoff TBD FSU Soccer vs Virginia Tech (Thursday, Sept. 20) FSU Volleyball vs Duke (Friday, Sept. 21, 6:30 p.m.) FSU Official Block Party at College Town featuring Yacht Rock Revue (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.) Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary) Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open 5 hours prior to kickoff)
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OCT. 20: VS. WAKE FOREST Kickoff TBD Homecoming Parade (Friday, Oct. 19) FSU Volleyball vs Georgia Tech (Friday, Oct. 19) FSU Official Block Party at College Town Mitchell Tenpenny (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.) Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open 5 hours prior to kickoff) Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary) Sod Talk with Seminole Legends (Legends TBD) (Game day, 90 minutes prior to kickoff) FSU Volleyball vs Clemson (Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m.) OCT. 26-27: VS CLEMSON Kickoff TBD FSU Official Block Party at College Town Featuring Riley Green (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.)
Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary)
Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open 5 hours prior to kickoff.)
Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open 5 hours prior to kickoff but no later than noon for Clemson.)
Sod Talk with Seminole Legends (Legends TBD) (Game day, 90 minutes prior to kickoff ) FSU Volleyball vs Virginia Tech (Sunday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.)
Sod Talk with Seminole Legends (Legends TBD) (Game day, 90 minutes prior to kickoff )
NOV. 24: VS FLORIDA Kickoff TBD
FSU Volleyball vs Virginia Tech (Sunday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.)
FSU Official Block Party at College Town Featuring Morgan Wallen (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.)
NOV. 17: VS BOSTON COLLEGE (MILITARY APPRECIATION) Kickoff TBD
Game Day Tailgating Seminole Booster (parking lots open 5 hours prior to kickoff but no later than noon for Florida.)
FSU Volleyball vs Pitt (Friday, Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m.) FSU Official Block Party at College Town Featuring Brown and Gray (Night before every home game 5 -10 p.m.)
Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary) Sod Talk with Seminole Legends (Legends TBD) (Game day, 90 minutes prior to kickoff)
Unconquered Statue Lighting Ceremony (Night before every home game — times vary)
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ant to create a personalized college football experience at Doak Campbell Stadium for your personal or business needs? Whether a single game or an entire season, our sales and customer service representatives are here to help you create an accessible and memorable experience. Doak offers premium seating opportunities for those who prefer elevators, shade and air conditioned spaces with wide, chair back club seats with arm rests in addition to economical stadium seating. We’ve also designed experiential packages for those who can only come to one game and want it to be extremely special. Whatever your interest, our reps can help you create something memorable, including: • Single game tickets in the main stands can be purchased for as little as $20 for select games or for $380 for all seven home games, including Virginia Tech, Clemson and Florida; • Single game tickets in the Dunlap Champions Club premium club seat sections can be purchased for as little as $175 per seat for select games with season tickets starting at $1,500 for all seven games. • A single game ticket purchase includes VIP elevator access to food and beverages starting two hours
prior to kickoff, access to cash bar and more than 180 television sets to keep up with games from around the nation; • Group tickets (10 or more) are available in the main stands for select games for as little as $15 per game; • Group tickets (10 or more) in the premium club seat section of the Dunlap Champions Club (Garnet Package) include food and beverage and can be packaged with two drinks each for as little as $165 per seat; • Purchase a table for eight inside the Dunlap Champions Club (Gold Package), with a window view of the field for as little as $2,000. These private tables include food and beverage, two drinks each, and a table attendant; • Package an outdoor stadium seat with membership in the University Center Club, for as little as $500 per family, and you can enjoy game day access to upscale food and beverage in the air-conditioned 3rd floor ballroom and covered concourse patio with a cash bar and television screens. Dunlap Champions Club The premium club welcomes guests three hours before kickoff with a private entrance to more than 70,000 square feet of air-conditioned club and covered rooftop terraces. Arrive early to
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enjoy games from around the country on more than 180 televisions, while watching Willie Taggart’s pregame warmup, and stay a while after the game as the traffic clears. The club makes FSU home games more accessible by featuring a private VIP entrance, high-speed elevators to the seats, comfortable, outdoor, chair-back seats with arm rests, coolmisting fans and luxurious rest rooms. Our massive covered terraces feature continuous breezes and cool-misting fans to give you a comfortable indooroutdoor experience. The club was designed to allow our patrons to move within the clubs and terraces so they can network with friends or enjoy the food, beverage and views from a variety of vantage points. The food is prepared by the University Center Club, which includes 4 Rivers Smokehouse. Great Seats Still Available While many of the best seats in Doak have been reserved by season ticket holders, there are great seats still available in the main stands and the Dunlap Champions Club. Call a representative at (850) 644-1830 to discuss single game and season ticket packages and locations along with other Friday to Sunday football weekend amenities. SB
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Unconquered BRONZE REPLICAS OF UNCONQUERED STATUE The same sculptor and foundry that produced the Unconquered Statue in front of Doak Campbell Stadium will produce three sizes of bronze replicas available for purchase. Each statue is individually numbered and attached to an oval walnut base with the word “UNCONQUERED” engraved on the front.
SMALL REPLICA: $1,800 15” to the top of the spear MEDIUM REPLICA: $5,000 28” to the top of the spear LARGE REPLICA: $10,000 44” to the top of the spear Contact Unconquered, LLC for more information or to place your order. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will be returned to Seminole Boosters to fund athletic scholarships at Florida State. UnconqueredLLC@gmail.com 850.893.8552 UnconqueredStatues.com
PHOTOS BY KAT’S PHOTOS
On Monday evenings, Seminole fans have the chance to hear from FSU head coach Willie Taggart and “The Voice of the Seminoles,” Gene Deckerhoff, during the Willie Taggart Talk Show live from the Four Points in downtown Tallahassee. Coach Taggart’s radio show is an hour-long broadcast beginning at 7 p.m. The show features coach Taggart and Deckerhoff reviewing the previous week’s game and looking forward to the next opponent while working to provide insights to the program and interacting with fans.
New in CollegeTown! Little Masa – Where East meets West On June 6th we celebrated the grand opening of our newest CollegeTown merchant — Little Masa! At Little Masa restaurant in CollegeTown, it is their passion to deliver an unmatched East meets West Asian fusion experience. Authentic flavors, techniques, and guest service coalesce into the local Masa brand that Tallahassee has come to love. This operation will be a fast, casual, counter service style restaurant serving all of your Asian favorites including: wok-classics, noodles of Asia, and sushi. Be sure to ask about our rewards program during your visit! “From day one, the CollegeTown team has been welcoming and supportive. Their management and marketing branches have helped us open efficiently and with superb initial success. Little Masa is looking forward to an exciting future as a part of this community”, says General Manager of Little Masa, Holden Giles. www.LittleMasa.com
Blink Beauty Studios Licensed Beauty Specialist in Tallahassee Coming this fall, Madison Street will not only be able to provide shopping and dining, but even your beauty needs. We are excited to announce the opening of Blink Beauty Studios. At Blink, you can experience all that they have to offer in one of their unique packages. Whether you are looking to pamper yourself, prepare for a big event or treat someone else, Blink has you covered. At Blink Beauty Studios they use the highest quality products in the industry to ensure the absolute best results. After researching and testing tons of companies and their products, Blink is 100% confident that you too will love their choices. Blink has proudly teamed up with industry leader Borboleta Beauty for all things lashes, Repechage for all things skin and in Tampa Bay Tan for all things Airbrush Tanning. www.BlinkBeautyStudiosf.com 64
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Cajun, Asian-Fusion and Italian are just a few of the new eclectic flavors offered on Madison Street in CollegeTown, allowing itself to be a melting-pot for some of the most desirable cuisine within a short distance. Madison Street now has 9 different restaurants to select from for your lunch needs. With complimentary, easily accessible parking in the designated parking garage on Lorene St., you are steps away from selections keeping your lunch rotation fresh and new. This free of cost parking is honored every Monday – Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first two levels of the parking garage located directly next to Madison Street, with the main entrance housed right off Lorene St. The majority of the merchants have the capability to accommodate large groups for staff lunches, and for those longer, working lunches, some also provide private dining rooms to offer a professional environment.
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Use Your Seminole Booster Membership Card on Madison Today! Saving is as easy as 1, 2, 3! 1. Drive over to Madison St. in CollegeTown and park in either our Lorene St. parking garage or the available spaces on Madison St. 2. Visit any of the participating merchants listed on the benefits page. 3. Show Booster membership card upon check-out and enjoy your discount! http://boosters.fsu.edu/benefits
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Kick-off Every Home-Game Weekend with our Friday Night Block Party FSU’s Friday Night Block Party is the official tailgate event for the Seminoles and features live music along with on-site vendors and appearances from special guests. Join us on Madison St. every Friday before a home football game and join thousands of Florida State fans as we shutdown the street and host the ultimate block party! With more than nine restaurants to choose from, additional dining on the street and top-notch artists performing, CollegeTown is the place to kick-off your game-day weekend!
COLLEGETOWN ON MADISON STREET IS
celebrating 5 years this fall! We look forward to continuing to serve as your year-round destination for all your dining, shopping and entertainment needs. And of course, your FSU game-day headquarters!
F S U C O L L E G E TOW N . N E T
Congratulations on celebrating 5 years with us!
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READY FOR SEASON NO. 40
GENE DECKERHOFF BY JIM CROSBY
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guys (actors) in football uniforms didn’t get there until after 10 a.m. They weren’t ready.” By the time Bowden got home it was after 8 p.m. Deckerhoff called just as he was driving into the garage. Needless to say, he was not happy about the day’s activities. It wasn’t the best time for Deckerhoff to be calling to ask a favor — his permission to do the Bucs games. Bowden asked why his permission was needed and Deckerhoff pointed out that having to fly out for Sunday games might mean they would be filming the TV show at 1 a.m. Sometimes maybe 4 or 5 a.m. In typical Bobby Bowden fashion the coach said: “Gene, you just wake me up after the commercials and I’ll do the show anytime you want.” For 21 years (1989-2009), Deckerhoff and his son Eric picked Bowden up in the wee hours of Sunday morning and drove 17.5 miles out to WCTV. Deckerhoff says: “I promise you this. There is not another football coach in America that would have said: ‘Yeah, radio guy, go ahead and do the games
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PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION AND ROSS OBLEY
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he Voice! You would know it anywhere. It is instantly recognizable: “TOUCHDOWN, FLORIDA STATE!” Not hard to guess that one since Gene Deckerhoff has animatedly announced the good news of another Seminole touchdown 2,029 times on the radio. Yes, Deckerhoff’s dulcet tones convey the news that all is well in Seminole territory. It’s almost as if it ain’t a touchdown until Gene the Touchdown Machine calls it one. Talk about an institution. Deckerhoff, himself, has become one. The 2018 football season will mark his 40th year of calling Seminoles football on the radio. But that’s not all. He has called a countless number of “nothing but nets” and “slam dunks” as he starts his 45th season as the basketball voice of Florida State. And that’s still not all. Beginning in 1989 he became the voice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well, so this marks his 30th season with the Bucs. He has broadcast more than 600 games, calling out — “TOUCHDOWN, TAMPA BAY!” — 915 times. And therein lies an interesting story. “In 1979, the Bucs laid it out for me how I could get from place to place and game to game to do the Buccaneers and Seminoles games,” he recalls. “I told them I had to get three people to say it is OK.” The three were Andy Miller, President/CEO of the Seminole Boosters, his employer with the Seminole Network; Hootie Ingram, Florida State Athletic Director and head football coach Bobby Bowden. “Andy said, ‘I think that will be great. We have a lot of alumni living in the Tampa area,’“ Deckerhoff said. “Hootie approved it although he was a little reluctant. He was somewhat concerned about the college vs. pro game angle.” Deckerhoff assured him that he wouldn’t bring up the Bucs games on the Seminole broadcasts and vice versa. Of course, without Bobby’s approval it wouldn’t fly because of the potential conflict of the Bobby Bowden television show that they worked on together. As it turned out, on the day Gene needed to get approval from Bobby, the coach had to fly in a small plane to Jacksonville to film a commercial for the area Ford dealers. He left at 6 a.m. and arrived for a 7 a.m. shoot. He was supposed to be back in Tallahassee by 2 p.m. Deckerhoff recalls: “I called his home at 3 p.m. and Ann said that he wasn’t back yet.” This was back in the day before cell phones. So as Deckerhoff says: “Long story short they weren’t ready to shoot the commercial. Didn’t have the cars there.The
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and we’ll do the TV show whenever you need to.’” It’s been a real adventure ever since then. In 2018 “Gene the dancing machine” as they called him when he first started broadcasting sports news on Gulf 104 (WGLF), will dance right on past 2,500 games broadcast on radio. Matching schedules has been interesting. For example, in 2016 he flew over 32,000 miles to broadcast games. In 30 years of broadcasting the games of both Florida State and Tampa Bay he has only missed two halves of football. Deckerhoff has worked with the Seminole Boosters in many different roles, going back to 1983, when Miller hired him to do the Bowden TV show. In that role, as well as his play-byplay responsibilities, he developed a relationship with another popular Seminole star, actor Burt Reynolds. Reynolds and former FSU quarterback Vic Prinzi (Deckerhoff’s broadcast partner) were teammates and friends in the 1950s. The connection led to 25 years of the “Great Moments in Seminole Football” segment on the Bowden TV show from 1984-2009 that Reynolds became a faithful part of each week. Deckerhoff remembers the reply Reynolds made to his request for him to join the Bowden TV show: “Gene, anything coach Bowden wants me to do you let me know and I’ll do it.” In 1979 and ’80, Deckerhoff also had the pleasure of working with another Seminole legend. When he came onto the FSU football broadcasts his first color analyst was coach Bill Peterson. Pete was a master of football strategy, a good story teller and fun to work with. Pete was also known to throw in a malapropism or two and occasionally mispronounce a name. “I remember it was Paul Piurowski’s last game and the All-American linebacker was just having a heck-of-a game,” Deckerhoff said. “Coach Pete turned to me and said, ‘Gene, that Perspakowski is pretty good.’ He never did get the pronunciation correct.” But Gene being the sponge that he is when it comes to absorbing useful information learned a lot of football from Coach Peterson as well. Another responsibility that Deckerhoff took on was emceeing the spring booster tour with the head football coach after 70
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the long-time M.C., Charlie Barnes, retired. “Jerry Kutz came to me and asked if I would travel with Jimbo Fisher on the tour. It was good for me because I had a chance to travel around the state and meet an awful lot of Seminole fans.” This year he continued in that role traveling with coach Willie Taggart. “It was good for me because I also learned a lot of football from the coaches,” said Deckerhoff, who didn’t play football in high school and added that he was happy that coach Taggart was “nice enough to let me come to some of the practices.” Like pretty much all the Seminoles fans to date, the play-by-play guy has been impressed with Taggart’s approach to solidifying the program. Particularly impressive is the way the new coach has blended together the old with the new. He has demonstrated a genuine respect for the traditions and accomplishments that preceded him in Seminole territory while adding new, improved strategies and tactics. “The football staff put together one of the most phenomenal things I have ever seen in my life,” Deckerhoff said. “Three hundred former players and coaches came to a reunion at the Champions Club (in April) and the place was packed. The Who’s Who of Seminole football was there.” Deckerhoff was also at the practice that coach Bowden addressed the team at coach Taggart’s invitation. “I swear standing there in the back, when coach Bowden spoke to the team, was Odell Haggins and Mario Edwards. And they were tearing up because it brought back memories of Bobby talking to the team when they played.” Deckerhoff’s first transition into the broadcast booth was a natural one when he became the Seminole basketball play-by-play announcer in 1974. With his fast-paced, smooth-flowing style of announcing he was a natural to call the fast-break basketball the Seminoles have often played. In addition, basketball was his natural sport growing up in Jacksonville. As a senior at Forrest High School he had a record-setting 32-point game against Lake City High. He also started on the state champion St. Johns River Junior College team.
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His segue from football to basketball season continues to be a smooth transition season-in-and-seasonout. He likes the product that he has been entrusted with: “What Leonard Hamilton has done in 16 years has been absolutely incredible. When he became head coach Florida State basketball had fallen on hard times. We weren’t recruiting successfully, and the facilities weren’t up to standard. We were in the toughest conference in America.” Deckerhoff points out that coach Ham has become the winningest coach in FSU basketball history and the most honored. He has been named ACC Coach of the Year twice and won an ACC Championship in 2012. “Don’t think anybody else could have done what he has done. He is a great fit for Florida State,” Deckerhoff said. There has been no shortage of recognition for the work of this 73-yearold Warren, Ohio, native who has been a Floridian since 1956. He has been voted Florida Sportscaster of the Year 15 times and was voted “Best Radio Play-by-Play” announcer for 18 seasons. Deckerhoff was honored by being voted into the Florida State University Hall of Fame in 2002 and had been honored to become a member of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. Perhaps if there was a “likeability scale,” Deckerhoff’s rating would go off the charts. Watching him at public functions it is easy to see that people are charmed by his outgoing personality. He has the knack for making the person he is talking with feel special and always seems to be able to find some connection to that person’s life and other interests. After completing the 2018 spring booster tour as Deckerhoff stands at the gateway to his 40th football season and surveys the landscape, this is what he sees: “Watching what coach Taggart has brought back to this program, I have not seen the Seminole family as excited about a coach as I have in 42 years,” Deckerhoff said. “That’s what I felt from the Seminole fans I met on the tour. Fired up family of Seminoles that want to see this family get back to where it has been and where it will be. I’m convinced that it will.” SB
SYRACUSE ON SEPT. 15 Where to eat: One of the longest travel destinations in the ACC for FSU fans, but well worth the trip. Two favorites for Tim Linafelt of Seminoles. com are Dinosaur BBQ and Funk ‘N Waffles. This may be New York state, but Dinosaur BBQ (dinosaurbarbque.com) is seriously good (grab a combo plate). Funk ‘N Waffles (funknwaffles.com) is fun and funky, serving up a dozen different types of “sweet” waffles as well as chicken and waffles, pork and waffles 72
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and more. There’s also Pastabilities (pastabilities.com), which features fresh, homemade pastas. What to do: Check out the zoo and aviary at Rosamond Gifford Zoo (rosamondgiffordzoo.org), Everson Museum of Art (everson.org) and look at antiques and handmade crafts at City Market (citymarketsyracuse.com). Another option outside the city is a visit to the “finger lakes,” a group of 11 lakes that are long and skinny. Baseball fans may want to plan ahead and make the 93-mile drive to Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame (baseballhall.org).
Funk ‘N Waffles in Syracuse, New York.
LOUISVILLE ON SEPT. 29 Where to eat: Go to Feast (feastbbq. com) for the barbecue, but don’t forget to try the loaded tots and grab a bourbon slushie, Henderson said. She also recommends Royals Hot Chicken (royalshotchicken.com),Mayan Café (themayancafe.com), Against the Grain (atgbrewery.com), Grind (grindburgerkitchen.com), Doc Crows (doccrows.com) and Mussel & Burger Bar (mussel-burger-bar.com). Breakfast
options include Please & Thank You (pleaseandthankyoulouisville.com) or Wild Eggs (wildeggs.com). What to do: Where to start? There’s Churchill Downs, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, the Muhammad Ali Center … and bourbon. “You can tour the Kentucky Derby Museum to learn the history of the race/sport, or you can attend live races which will be taking place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of game weekend,”
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othing beats watching Florida State play a game inside Doak Campbell Stadium. But there are also times where you want to get away and catch the Seminoles on the road. FSU will play five road games in 2018, including a rare November trip to South Bend, Indiana, to play Notre Dame. Arrive early enough on Friday to see the sights and enjoy some of the best restaurants before the game. Here’s where to eat and what to do on each of FSU’s road trips.
The Chicago Riverwalk.
said Michelle Henderson, who is president of the Kentucky Seminoles Club. General admission is only a few dollars, Henderson said. The Ali Center (alicenter.org) is downtown and focuses on his life, core principles and career, Henderson said. The Louisville Slugger Museum displays bats from MLB stars past and present. And no trip to Louisville is complete without bourbon, so consider Angel’s Envy Distillery, Old Forester Distillery and Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. At the Angel’s Envy Distillery, visitors can see the entire production process and enjoy samples in the tasting room. Make reservations in advance at angelsenvy.com/distillery. MIAMI GARDENS ON OCT. 6 Where to eat: The options are simply too numerous to list. But here are three that either you haven’t discovered or will soon become favorites. FSU’s Mr. Miami, Les Pantin, suggests Versailles Restaurant (versaillesrestaurant.com) on SW 8th Street, Garcia’s Seafood Grille and Fish Market (garciasmiami.com) on NW North River Drive and Zak The Baker Bakery (zakthebaker.com) in the Wynwood Arts District. What to do: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach … or a little of each city? South Florida offers up too much for one weekend (make it a long
Zak the Baker in Miami, Florida.
weekend). Pantin recommends heading to Little Havana’s Calle Ocho, where you can check out bars, cigar shops, restaurants, art galleries and more. There’s also South Beach, the Miami Zoo (zoomiami.org), Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (vizcaya.org) and Wynwood Walls (thewynwoodwalls.com). RALEIGH ON NOV. 3 Where to eat: Sean Kelley of the Triangle Seminole Club recommends The Pit (thepit-raleigh.com), as well as 42nd Street Oyster Bar (42ndstoysterbar. com), Angus Barn (angusbarn.com), Brewery Bhavana (brewerybhavana. com), Bida Manda (bidamanda.com), Bella Monica (bellamonica.com) and Glenwood Grill (glenwoodgrill.com). What to do: Raleigh is home to three North Carolina museums: natural sciences (naturalsciences.org), history (ncmuseumofhistory.org) and art (ncartmuseum.com). Kelley also says to check out Umstead State Park (hiking, running and biking), Duke Gardens (gardens.duke.edu) and WRAL Azalea Gardens (wral-gardens. com). And you can also cheer for the FSU women’s soccer team as the ACC championship will be played on Friday (Nov. 2) and Sunday (Nov. 4) in Raleigh. The Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon, 10k, 5k, and kids mile is also on Sunday.
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SOUTH BEND, IND. ON NOV. 10 Where to eat: Let’s presume that you’re flying into Chicago and plan to spend a few nights in the Windy City. Check out the Chicago Riverwalk (chicagoriverwalk.us), which is a 1.2-mile stretch that connects the lakefront to downtown. Trent Modglin of the Windy City Seminole Club suggests the City Winery, Chicago Brewhouse and O’Brien’s as places to check out at the Riverwalk. What to do: Even though it’s November, layer up or grab a jacket so you can check out Grant Park (319 acres in the central business district) or the Cubs’ Wrigley Field. Modglin also mentions four popular downtown breweries: Vice District Brewing (vicedistrictbrewing.com), Haymarket Pub and Brewery (haymarketbrewing. com), Moody Tongue Brewing (moodytongue.com) and Rock Bottom Brewery (rockbottom.com). On game day in South Bend, plan on a few hours strolling the picturesque campus and the famous “Touchdown Jesus” mural. Tailgate with ‘Noles: The Windy City Seminole Club will host a “Beat the Irish” Welcome Party on Friday at Bounce Sporting Club in the River North neighborhood from 6-9 p.m. Go to windycityseminoles.com for more information. SB
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WHY WILL YOU CHOOSE TALLAHASSEE?
Arts & Culture The city of Tallahassee is proud to offer a wide variety of vibrant cultural events and artistic attractions. The newly developed Gaines Street area, located near the Florida State University 74
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campus, is home to All Saints Cinema and Railroad Square Art Park to name a few. The Cinema, run by the Tallahassee Film Society, is known for showing noteworthy foreign and independent films. Railroad Square supplies a creative space for local artists and hosts a “First Friday” event each month showcasing a variety of galleries and studios. For cultural opportunities, Tallahassee’s Council on Culture & Arts works to serve the creative industries of the capital city by sharing information on all local happenings. Dining With an array of creative menu options, dining in Florida’s Capital City will make you want to return again and again, not just for the decadent food, but for the way they make you feel good. A popular pick for casual eating is Momo’s Pizza, famous for slices “as
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lorida State University’s campus may look a bit different since the last time you were lounging on Landis Green. You will notice extensive additions to Doak Campbell Stadium, modernized dining halls and refurbished classrooms featuring the latest technology. But FSU isn’t the only thing that’s been updated. Tallahassee has grown with it and Choose Tallahassee, a grassroots nonprofit, is dedicated to showing this area as a premier retirement destination. See some of our top picks and why there’s never been a better time to rediscover your love for the new Capital City.
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big as your head!” as well as El Cocinero, featuring Latin American cuisine and agave-based spirits. Formal dining options include Masa and Sakura, both offering exceptional Japanese-fusion and sushi dishes, and Blu Halo, with its new location at Bannerman Crossing serving seasonal, hearty dishes that are flavorful and redefined. If you prefer staying closer to campus, CollegeTown has become an extremely popular choice for both students and locals alike. The new and rapidly developing area offers gorgeous views of the stadium and has a range of restaurant options to fit a variety of dining preferences. Madison Social, a gastropub known for creative New American small plates, Township, serving street fare with 32 beers on tap, and Centrale, an Italian Parlour offering fresh takes on old school fare, are just a few favorites. When you’re looking for that perfect spot to celebrate the next FSU football win, take a short walk to experience the vibrant flavors and fun atmosphere of CollegeTown’s best restaurants for yourself! In combination with its delicious cuisine, Tallahassee has become wildly popular for its local breweries. Proof Brewing Co., Fermentation Lounge, and DEEP Brewing Co. are only a few of the city’s best options that impress even the toughest beer critics. Whether you’re just passing through after dinner or
headed down Gaines Street after a game, sampling some of the city’s craft beer is a must-do on your next visit. Outdoors With topography unlike any other in Florida, Tallahassee is known for its seasonal climate and beautiful outdoor opportunities. The refreshing waters of Wakulla Springs provide the perfect relief during hot summer months, with swimming, snorkeling, guided riverboat tours and so much more. Another popular destination is Cascades Park, a sprawling 24-acre downtown park, which is home to multi-use trails, and Capital City Amphitheater, a spectacular 3,500-seat outdoor venue that attracts varying artists from around the nation. Residents have also shared that they favor our city because of the variety of trails, pathways and recreational activities offered. If this touches your natureloving spirit, Trailahassee may be the perfect pick for you! This group connects outdoor enthusiasts with different trails in the area based on individual skills and preferences. A favorite of many is Lafayette Heritage Trail Park, where you can hike through picture perfect views of North Florida wildlife. Life is full of difficult choices, but choosing where to retire shouldn’t be one of them. Think you’re ready to make Tallahassee your retirement destination? SEMINOLE-BOOSTERS.COM
Visit www.choosetallahassee.com more information.
for
About Choose Tallahassee Choose Tallahassee is a grassroots nonprofit that was founded by local Tallahasseeans. As a group, we are dedicated to showing retirees all that our hometown has to offer. Tallahassee boasts beautiful outdoors, exceptional healthcare, an abundance of recreational offerings, and more. Choose Tallahassee is made up of over 60 local volunteers from both public and private entities. Deciding where to retire can be difficult, but Choose Tallahassee is dedicated to showcasing the clear answer. SB
UPCOMING EVENTS August 25..............Grape Harvest Festival September 27.................. Opening Nights Performances Begin September 28........... FSU Wind Orchestra October 6............ Experience Asia Festival November 2 & 3......... Greek Food Festival November 2 & 3................ The Florida Tap Invitational For a complete list of events, festivals and activities in Tallahassee, go to www.visittallahassee.com/events
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The Florida State women’s basketball team will play a pair of SEC opponents as part of a challenging nonconference schedule. FSU will face Florida on Nov. 11 and LSU on Nov. 18 at the Donald L. Tucker Center. “We’ve built a quality non-conference schedule that will test our team at every turn,” FSU coach Sue Semrau said. “I’m excited for the challenges that we will face, especially for a group like ours that has several new faces.” The Seminoles are looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in 15 seasons. They begin the 2018-19 schedule with five straight home games, including the Nov. 6 opener against Troy. Season tickets are on sale now at Noletickets.com or by calling 1-888-FSU-NOLE.
2018-19 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Oct. 28 Flagler College (preseason) Nov. 6 Troy Nov. 9 North Florida Nov. 11 Florida Nov. 15 Jacksonville Nov. 18 LSU Nov. 23 Eastern Kentucky (at The Bahamas) Nov. 24 West Virginia or Iowa (at The Bahamas) Nov. 29 Penn State Dec. 5 at Mercer Dec. 9 at St. John’s Dec. 16 Creighton Dec. 20 at Milwaukee Dec. 29 Georgia State
Florida State will have one of the toughest schedules in years — with many of college basketball’s best teams coming to Tallahassee. FSU tips off the season against rival Florida on Nov. 6 at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The Seminoles will also play ACC opponents Clemson, Duke, Miami, NC State, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech at home. Coming off a run to the Elite Eight in 2017-18, the Seminoles will feature seniors Terance Mann, Phil Cofer, P.J. Savoy and Christ Koumadje as well as junior Trent Forrest and sophomores M.J. Walker and Mfiondu Kabengele. “We feel very good about our team, our upper class leadership and where we are as a program on the national level, to be able to successfully attack the schedule we have put together,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Our non-conference, coupled with our always-demanding ACC schedule, will certainly put us in position and prepare us for where we want to be come March.” Season tickets are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased by visiting seminoles.com or by calling the Florida State Ticket office at (888) 378-6653.
2018-19 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Oct. 24 Preseason game vs. TBA Nov. 1 Preseason game vs. TBA Nov. 6 Florida Nov. 11 at Tulane Nov. 19 Canisius Nov. 22 UAB at Orlando Nov. 23 vs. LSU or College of Charleston (at Orlando) Nov. 25 vs. TBA at Orlando Nov. 28 Purdue Dec. 3 Troy Dec. 8 UConn (at Newark, N.J.) Dec. 17 Southeast Missouri State Dec. 19 North Florida Dec. 22 St. Louis (at Sunrise) Jan. 1 Winthrop
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SEMINOLES PREPARED FOR TOUGH TEST DIFFICULT 2018 SCHEDULE BECKONS FOR ELITE SEMINOLES BY SCOTT MORIAK
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The All-American already ranks 10th in FSU history in career goals scored (26) through just two years of competition. Senior defender and team captain Natalia Kuikka will anchor a backline that will see quite a few new faces after the graduation of four-year starters Emma Koivisto and Cassie Miller. Miller ended her career with 49 shutouts, which tied for the third most in NCAA history and held a GAA of 0.52, which ranked 21st all-time in the sport. Miller and Koivisto were instrumental to Florida State earning the 2014 national
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championship, recording a shutout in all six matches en route to the title. The future looks bright for the Seminoles as they welcome another highly touted freshman class. Redshirt freshman Brooke Bollinger will likely be in the goal for FSU after training for a year with Miller and goalkeeping coach Mike Bristol in 2017. She came to FSU after receiving accolades as the No. 1 recruit in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer. Admission is free for all home regular season games at the Seminole Soccer Complex. SB
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he Florida State soccer program enters its 24th season in 2018 and will also be a part of the 50th anniversary of women’s athletics at FSU. The Seminoles have been one of the elite teams in college soccer under coach Mark Krikorian, who begins his 14th season in the Garnet and Gold this fall. Krikorian has led FSU to five ACC Championships, eight appearances in the College Cup and the 2014 national championship. Fans will have plenty of opportunities to see the Seminoles in action this fall as they will host 12 regular-season matches at the Seminole Soccer Complex. FSU has been nearly unbeatable at home since 2011, holding a record of 77-3 (.963). That impressive home record will be tested in 2018 as the Seminoles will host four schools that have combined for 25 of the 35 all-time NCAA championships — North Carolina (21), USC (two), UCLA (one) and Florida (one). FSU will also play three-time national champion Notre Dame on the road this season. The 18-game regular season includes 11 teams that were ranked or receiving votes by coaches in the final 2017 poll, including four top-10 teams — No. 2 UCLA, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 9 Virginia. In total, 12 teams on the 2018 schedule played in the NCAA Tournament last season. “I think we have put together as competitive of a schedule as we have had during my time here at Florida State,” Krikorian said. “The non-conference part of our schedule is excellent and, of course, playing through the ACC will bring its fair share of challenges as well. We know that there is a lot of hard work in front of us if we want to have a successful season.” The Seminoles will be led offensively by junior Deyna Castellanos, who returns after recording 19 goals in 2017, which ranked second in FSU history.
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All-American junior Deyna Castellanos will lead the Noles offensively.
2018 WOMEN’S SOCCER SCHEDULE DATE Aug. 16 Aug. 19 Aug. 23 Aug. 26 Aug. 31 Sept. 2 Sept. 7 Sept. 9 Sept. 14 Sept. 20 Sept. 23
OPPONENT Vanderbilt Troy at Wisconsin Middle Tennessee Southern Cal UCLA Florida South Alabama North Carolina* Virginia Tech* at Boston College*
TIME (ET) 7 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m. Noon 7 p.m. 5 p.m. 7 p.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 1 p.m.
DATE Sept. 28 Oct. 4 Oct. 7 Oct. 12 Oct. 18 Oct. 21 Oct. 25
OPPONENT at Notre Dame* Clemson* Wake Forest* NC State* at Pittsburgh* at Virginia* at Miami*
TIME (ET) 5 p.m. 7 p.m. 1 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 1 p.m. 7 p.m.
Bold: Home Game *Conference Game
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VOLLEYBALL BUILDS UPON HISTORY OF SUCCESS SEMINOLES RELOAD WITH TALENTED INCOMING CLASS BY KELSEY BIBIK
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a strong freshman class and nine returners. Libero Kelsey Wicinski will look to fill the missing defensive position, Payton Caffrey will add strength on offense and Ashley Murray will bring experience to an already strong group of middles. Middle blocker Taryn Knuth returns for her sophomore year in 2018 after earning a team-high eight accolades in her freshman campaign. The AVCA East Region and ACC Freshman of the Year led the team in multiple statistical categories, and set the program record for most assisted blocks by a freshman with 140. Veteran setter Brianne Burkert
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heads into her senior season after establishing herself as one of the most efficient all-around players in program history. Her 16 double-doubles last season ranks 11th all-time, while her 29 career double-doubles in only three seasons ranks 15th all-time. She also became the first Seminole to ever record multiple kill-assist-dig triple-doubles. Fans can check out the 2018 team early this season in a pair of back-toback scrimmages held in Tully Gym. The Seminoles’ first match is at Minnesota on Aug. 24 and FSU’s home opener vs. Virginia Commonwealth is Sept. 7 at 6 p.m. SB
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n its 50th year as a varsity program, the Florida State volleyball team looks to both celebrate tradition and build on its successful legacy this fall. The Seminoles made their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament this past season and are looking to continue the team’s longstanding postseason tradition. After losing three seniors from the 2017 season, coach Chris Poole reloaded with an elite incoming class and put together a tough schedule that will challenge the Seminoles in preparation for another tournament run. FSU’s loaded preseason schedule includes matchups against five NCAA Tournament teams, three of which finished ranked in the AVCA Top 10 including No. 4 Minnesota, No. 7 Florida and No. 9 Wisconsin. The Seminoles start off the season in the Big 10/ACC Challenge against Minnesota and Wisconsin and round out the preseason against two SEC teams — 2017 national runner-up Florida and Auburn. FSU will host the Home2 Suites Tallahassee Seminole Volleyball Invitational and a midweek match against rival Florida. In conference play, the Seminoles will host a number of top ACC teams in Tully Gym, including NC State, UNC, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Poole hopes that a tough schedule will prepare the team for another ACC title and a postseason run. With a strong returning class and some talented additions, facing tough opponents in the preseason will help to challenge the team early in the season. “The players are working very hard physically and we built a schedule that will challenge them all season,” Poole said. “We hope that fans will take advantage of a lot of great matches at home this year.” The Seminoles will welcome three transfers this season, adding on to
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2018 VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE DATE OPPONENT TIME (ET) Aug. 24 at Minnesota* 8 p.m. Aug. 25 Wisconsin* 5:30 p.m. Aug. 31 TCU^ 4 p.m. Sept. 1 at Colorado State^ 8:30 p.m. Sept. 2 Cincinnati^ 11 a.m. Sept. 7 Virginia Commonwealth~ 6 p.m. Sept. 8 Southern Mississippi~ 11:30 a.m. Sept. 8 Florida A&M~ 7 p.m. Sept. 12 Florida 6 p.m. Sept. 16 at Auburn Noon Sept. 21 Duke 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23 Wake Forest 1 p.m. Sept. 28 at Virginia 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at Pittsburgh 1 p.m. Oct. 5 NC State 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 North Carolina 1 p.m. Oct. 12 at Boston College 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Syracuse 1 p.m. Oct. 19 Georgia Tech 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21 Clemson 1 p.m. Oct. 24 at Miami 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28 Virginia Tech 1 p.m. Nov. 2 at Notre Dame 7 p.m. Nov. 4 at Louisville 1 p.m. Nov. 11 Notre Dame 1 p.m. Nov. 16 Pittsburgh 6:30 p.m. Nov. 21 at North Carolina 2 p.m. Nov. 23 at NC State 2 p.m. Bold: Home Game * Big Ten/ACC Challenge ^ Colorado State Tournament ~ Home2 Suite Tallahassee Seminole Invitational Preseason All-ACC sophomore Taryn Knuth will lead the team as middle blocker.
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CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS EYE CHAMPIONSHIPS BY BOB THOMAS
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t’s impossible to ignore the stark contrast between the makeup of the 2018 Florida State men’s and women’s cross country teams. Fresh faces and inexperience dot the men’s roster, while the women return 12 of their top 14 from a year ago. Coaches Bob Braman and Kelly Phillips, however, share the same end-of-season objectives — advancing to the NCAA Championships — and that path runs smack through the Seminoles’ Apalachee Regional Park home course, which will host the NCAA South Region on Nov. 9. “Our goal is always to make the national meet and that won’t change this year due to inexperience,” said Braman, who begins his 19th season at the helm of the men’s program. “We need to be the best Seminole team that we can be and that should put us squarely on the (NCAA) bubble.” Phillips’ fourth season leading the women is filled with promise, thanks to a stabilized roster led by senior Militsa Mircheva, sophomore Jodie Judd and a host of solid returnees who were seasoned during a 2017 season of highs and lows. “I think our experience is really going to show and make a difference this year,” Phillips said. “The expectation level is much higher. The commitment is much higher. That’s something that has been missing.” MEN’S PREVIEW Junior Steven Cross and redshirt senior Istvan Szogi are the Seminoles’ most seasoned performers, combining for seven top five scoring positions in 11 starts last year, as FSU followed a fifth-place ACC Championships finish with a fourth-place showing at the NCAA South Region meet. “We only return four of 11 to the team, but we add another three who
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showed potential during track in Toby Hardwick, Caleb Pottorff and Tyler Dau,” Braman said. Hardwick, a redshirt senior transfer from Iowa State, finished seventh for All-Big 12 honors at the 2015 conference meet and was a member of the Cyclones’ NCAA Championships qualifying team a year later. Pottorff sat out last season as a redshirt, following an unbeaten 201617 senior season in cross country and track for Lincoln Park Academy, earning Gatorade Florida Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year honors. Dau was an Illinois high school regional cross country champion in 2015. All three showed promise on the track during the 2018 indoor season for the ‘Noles. A trio of incoming freshmen and sophomore transfer Chris Corcoran (UConn) will be thrust into action. Paul Stafford starred at Lake Wales High, was the Florida 2A runner-up in cross country and a state champion in the 1,600 this past season. New Zealander Jacob Holmes brings impressive track chops (8:26, 3000m) into the fold, while Tallahassee Chiles High grad Matthew Newland was fourth at the 3A state cross country meet and runner-up in the 3,200 on the track. “The value of running the young ones is we will be in a much better position next fall,” said Braman, who will also look to redshirt junior Tyson Murray and redshirt sophomore Bert Freire for contributions. WOMEN’S PREVIEW Hopes for a breakthrough by the women received a boost when Phillips won big on two recruiting fronts. First, she landed Colquitt (Georgia) County star Elizabeth Funderburk, who was the Georgia Gatorade Girls Cross Country Performer of the Year and is FSU’s finest signee from the Peach State since three-time All-American
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Amanda Winslow. Equally important, Mircheva was granted an additional year of eligibility after placing sixth at the ACC Cross Country Championships and qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters. “It’s certainly an exciting year,” said Phillips, who welcomes back 2017 freshman standout and All-Region performer Jodie Judd, junior Megan Mooney and sophomore Addi Coggins. “Last fall was up and down and it was still a really fun fall. It could have been better if we were more consistent.” Phillips saw her team rebound from a “catastrophe” at the ACC Championships, finishing ninth, with a “great” fourth-place effort at the NCAA South Region meet. FSU’s depth and experience behind the aforementioned five should help alleviate some of that inconsistency, while providing internal competition for precious spots on the travel roster. Althea Hewitt and Forever Young, last season’s two biggest surprise contributors, return for their final campaigns after consistently posting top seven finishes within the team ranks. Seniors Sarah Candiano and Fatema Jaffer, when at their best, have been contributors as well. Cross country sophomore Maudie Skyring has a year under her belt and some momentum from track PBs in the 1500 and 800 this past spring. So does junior Hailey Hendry, who has been in and out of FSU’s top seven for two seasons. Sophomore classmates Elizabeth Jenkins and Jenn Lima gained valuable experience and redshirt freshman Kayla Easterly, who missed last season due to injury, could be a surprise contributor if she returns to her North Fort Myers High senior season form. SB
PHOTOS BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION
BOTH MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TEAMS ANTICIPATE BREAKTHROUGH YEAR
C R O S S
C O U N T R Y
Senior Militsa Mircheva is a returning All-ACC performer.
2018 CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE DATE EVENT LOCATION Aug. 31 Covered Bridge Open at Boone, N.C. Sept. 14 Boston University at Boston, Mass. Sept. 22 Mt. Dew Invitational at Gainesville Sept. 28 Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational at South Bend, Ind. Oct. 12 FSU Invitational at Tallahassee Oct. 13 Wisconsin Pre-Nationals at Madison, Wis. Oct. 20 Bobcat Invitational at Milledgeville, Ga. Oct. 26 ACC Championships at Boston, Mass. Nov. 9 NCAA South Region Championships at Tallahassee Nov. 17 NCAA Championships at Madison, Wis. Senior Istvan Szogi
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NEWEST ’NOLES
“WE PROUDLY WELCOME THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF OUR SEMINOLE BOOSTER FAMILY” 1
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1). Javi and Abbie Garcia-Tunon, a son, Luke Jose Garcia-Tunon, born June 1, 2018. 2). Cody and Jodi Baker, a daughter, Taylor Paige Baker, born November 3, 2017. 3). Peyton and Laura Edwards, a son, Indiana William Edwards, born May 2, 2018. 4). Cesar and Sofia Alvarez, a daughter, Camila Sofia Alvarez, born May 20, 2018. 5). Roberto and Alicia Garcia-Tunon, a daughter, Adriana Maria Garcia-Tunon, born July 3, 2018. 6). Keith and Ginger Cottrell, twin daughters, Merritt Ashley and Grace Drew Cottrell, born March 23, 2018. 7). Kayce and Chris Crafton, a daughter, Charley Lynn Crafton, born February 28, 2018. 8). Alex and Lani Ferro, a son, Alejandro Jose Ferro, born April 4, 2018. 9). Luke and Stevi Loucks, a daughter, Charli Lennon Loucks, born December 12, 2017. 10). Wesley and Michele Baker, a daughter, Ava Annette Baker, born April 10, 2018. 11). Alex and Jessie Douglas, a daughter, Arie Lyn Douglas, born June 1, 2018. 12). TJ and Stephanie Woodard, a son, Jullian James Woodard, born January 15, 2018. 13). Kalen and Tiffany Rickard, a daughter, Presley Jolie Rickard, born June 12, 2018. 14): Dan and Jasmine Claiborne, a son, Porter Joseph (Camps) Claiborne, born March 16, 2018. If you know a Seminole Booster member who has welcomed a New ‘Nole into the world, please send their name and photo so we can welcome them to their Seminole family. Send to Kari Terezakis (kterezakis@fsu.edu).
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I N
M E M O R I A M
The
ETERNAL FLAME
REMEMBERING OUR
FELLOW SEMINOLES
Alumni and friends have contributed so much in so many ways to demonstrate their love for Florida State Athletics. Their contributions and dedication have helped create an elite athletic program that shines among the brightest in the nation. We are thankful for their generosity, dedication and Seminole spirit.
HUBERT GREEN In the late 1960s, Hubert Green helped power the Florida State Seminoles to several impressive golf victories over the Florida Gators. He came to FSU in 1965 as a native of Birmingham, Alabama and served as the captain for the golf team in 1968. In 1970 he turned professional and was named rookie of the year in 1971. He won 19 times on the PGA Tour as well as four more times on the Champions Tour, becoming the first Florida State golfer to achieve multiple major championships. In 1977 he was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame and later became a member of the PGA Hall of Fame in 2007. Hubert is a Seminole legend and will always be remembered.
J. W. AIKIN Pensacola, Florida
JAMES R. HANCOCK Tallahassee, Florida
JANICE G. ODOM Tallahassee, Florida
JOHN RUSH Tallahassee, Florida
CAROLYN H. BROWN Tallahassee, Florida
SCOTT HENTOSZ Douglasville, Georgia
CECIL L. OSWALT, SR. Tallahassee, Florida
PAUL A. SKELTON Tallahassee, Florida
EARL DENNARD Tallahassee, Florida
EARL K. HEROLD Tallahassee, Florida
LINDA A. PATE Tallahassee, Florida
GREGORY VENZ Tallahassee, Florida
HUBERT M. GREEN Mountain Brook, Alabama
GEORGE MORGAN Saint Augustine, Florida
JOSEPH A. REESE Tallahassee, Florida
BRIAN WILLIAMS Midway, Florida
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PHOTO BY FSU SPORTS INFORMATION
1977 Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame, 2007 PGA Hall of Fame
EMOTIONAL WRECKS ocCur evEry saturdAy
This season, don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Game day or any day, protect yourself from Mayhem with Allstate. © 2018 Allstate Insurance Co.
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M E M B E R S
PLATINUM GOLDEN CHIEF Roland Jones
GOLDEN CHIEF
Ericka and Joe Franz Mary Brewer Brenda Staton Keith and Myra Ellenburg Rob Piccione Mohit M. Ramani
SILVER CHIEF
Adrian Nathan Michael Carney, M.D. D.D.S. Gregory Fries Tarik and Brooks Dickens Mike Parker Craig Clouser Tammy Capman Salvador Diaz-Verson, Jr.
TOMAHAWK
Kevin & Lyn Stanfield December Baker Zac Campbell Al and Karen Borrero Andrew Schofield Robert Kennedy Corey Mackie Todd Outten Michael Domanski Timothy Johns Michael A. DeCarlo, Jr. Neil Kuehn Carl Punyko Gary Oates Brian S. Kaman Braxtin Strange Michael Tormeno Mr. Christopher Cyrille Priscilla Dunsford Wayne Cope Manuel Riera Bernard Corrigan Caroline Hix Audrey White Gregory J. Wood Richard F. Moore Victoria Baker James E. Pridgeon Martha J. Strzalka John Finley Phillip Thornton Susan DuBow January A. Littlejohn Kevin Kronmiller Chris & Karen Noel Wes Robinson Millicent Burns Jorge Chamizo Cindy Doolan Charles Bauer
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WARRIOR
Danielle McMahon John Richart Michelle Hill Alan Smith Eric and Lisa Forman Larry Darnell Ellen Deramo Mike Orange Robert and Carol Hancock Harlan M. Faircloth Kirk Granfors R. Shane Stokes Christopher D. Roberts Bennett S. Nelson, II C. Laurence Keesey James Coleman Dazi Lenoir Scherri Bryant Ty Williams Seamus O’Neill Donald Hill Jep & Lisa Dove Mike Hyder Luis Hernandez Page Pitman Nick Faircloth Tracy J. Phillips Joshua Hamm Grayson DeGraff Erin Dennard Shelby Story Marty Lister Sandra Dalton Victor Jubran Ms. Kimberly M. Pelham Will Ferguson Pamela Miner Louis R. Proietto Nicholas Bailey Sean and Tiffany Cox Eric Shane Kathleen Mirra Wayne M. Brockhum Michele R. Sullivan Walter Ardin, Jr. Dustin McGowan Jenna Roberts Carl Johnson Tanya Grannemann Joshua Noegel Thomas M. Fennel Stephen Orsillo Frederick Poole Skip and Sylvia Horack Crista Green Michael & Tina Karosas Anthony Burch David Koenig Ken Heba Nikki Austin-Shipp Johncameron Katz Xylka Molina
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SPECIAL RECOGNITION Florida State University and Seminole Boosters, Inc. recognize the following donors for their selfless generosity by contributing $50,000 or more to the athletic scholarships and facilities. It is because of these gifts that Florida State University Remains UNCONQUERED. Les and Ruth Akers Joe & Marion Camps Myron and Judy Hayden Nicholas Iarossi Gary Landrum Luis Machado John and Beth McCann Russ and Genie Morcom Greg and Judith Morris John and Janie Robinson Doug & Debbie Russell
Kirsten Myers Scott Nuttall Rance Fulks Gary Resh
RENEGADE
Kathy Sneads Matrell and Travasie Powell Karen Eisenbrei Todd Green Tony and Yvette Calobrisi Sarah Deutschmann Crown Harry J. Lennard Leah Glotzbach Roger L. Hurt Mr. Andrew M. Hakkarainen Brian Arlt Mart P. Hill Donna Jakulski Debbie Dellinger-Crep Christopher R. Brewer Omar Martin Courtney A. LaBelle Crystal A. Zuraff Christopher and Laura Jones Paul and Melissa DeCarlo Judith A Spiker Daniel Brinson Lee R. Riggs Brian R. Hadar Robert H. Mills
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Larry Sartin and Marilyn Lawrence Guy & Delores Spearman Jeffrey L. Stewart Sunshine Gasoline Distributors, Inc. The Thaxton Family Michael and Laura Thomas Brian and Cortney Williams As of Aug. 1, 2018 Doak S. Campbell, III Jennifer Owens Kadmiel Perez Russell H. Langstroth Julie Doring Vickye Vaughns Michael Taylor Donna James Mr. Anthony D. Thomas G. Christopher Poole Norman Keith William A. Glover, III Jill Chandler Louis Sloan Douglas & Martitia Beach Johaad Khan J. Craig Clampett Tiffany Duncan Frank and Janelle Norris Mrs. Ruth T. Sliger Tasha Carter Curtis Cannata Marjorie Bodin Serge Ceralde Dennis Woodham Michael Z. Scott Reuben P. Woodall Kayla M. Hill Douglass M. Tatum Alexander James O. Earl Black, Jr.
Beverly Peery Peter Howard Nicholas Moylan Terry T. Morgan Michael Gillis Daniel and Megan Fogel Amarius Reed Susan Stephens Michael Oring Curtis Dotson Reginald Coachman Benjamin C. Schladenhauffen William Yount Amy Johnson Stefanie Boyd Cameron Yeckley Tonya L. Cherry Andrew N. Palmer
BRAVE
Carrie Starr Crystal C. Jurado Mrs. Marsha C. Roth Taylor R. Kelley Randy Kupper William Pienias David Adcock Patrick B. Vickers Michon Jackson Robert Jakubik William J. Anderson Jramier Lawson Lynn M. Machleit Brian R. Wolfe Diane Patchen Sterling Watson D. David Hood Emerson Bell Thomas M. Deardorff Wanda Irwin Laurence L. Adkison Sr. Harry & Betty Anne Watkins Otto and Lee Knowles Tommie and Renata Pearson Kirsten A. Carver Joe A. Wild Julie Baker David J. Liston William A. Kozlowski Timothy W. Reynolds John Cavallo Paul Borreson David Bailey Rebecca Klein Chris and Stephanie Gibson Anthony J. Falsetta Butch & Bob Post Eugene A. Reiff, III Gregory Venz Sarah Sampson Bill Runkle David Erlich Cheryl Strickland Daniel and Michelle Wilkie Viet Le David A. Hughes, M.D. Peter L. Wechsler Richard H. Ziegler John M. Klopp James B. Tippin, Jr. Amy C. Root James O’Neal G. Hugh Pennell, Jr. Andrew W. Hoskins Mary Anne Huck Elizabeth Brown Salvador Gonzalez
Survey America Kay and Rick Howell Benjamin McKay Raymond Spinelli Tom G. Gump Seth and Shannon Schreiber, Jr. Alex Hammerschmidt Donald Olmsted Stephen and Carolyn Coleman H. David Mitchell Joe S. Brannen Jill and Tracy Hester
IRON ARROW
Brad Cosby Lawrence W. Evans, II Michael Competiello David Campbell Gregory Reills Mrs. Krista R. Flannigan Arden K. Young John & Kendall Holysz Christopher C. Stuart Robert T. Edwards, Jr. Hunter & Susan Smith Howard Lichtman Craig & Carol Winger Kevin R. Martin Carlos L. Cribeiromatos, Jr. Mike and Sandra Durant Marlene W. Middleton Col. & Mrs. George Peacock Larry Coble Judge Cory J. Ciklin Susan White Pete S. Brown, Jr. Michelle Pletch Lisa Scribano Mr. Ryan S. Teschner Neal Goldman Eric Molares Elliott Flynn Donna Disbennett Tiffane Liverman Tracie Srbovan Alyse J. Gossman Mabry Edwards, Jr. Brian Flynn Mark and Susan Wilson Samuel Bruno Dennis Wirth J. Dan McLean Philip Caminiti Kimberly Hill Robert Dewar Angela Chandler James Dahmer Domenick Cammarata Andrew Hartshorne Gaby Gramling Jared Shapiro Rena Doniger Shawn Parker Travis Thornton Jack Williams Tom J. Flanagan Divinne B. Smith Laurie M. Merwarth Todd Breslin Steven Hall Toni N. Hamilton Brian C. Wood Mr. Duane R. Lacy William Sterritt Kathryn and Robert Hawkanson Stephanie Bostic
Tiffani McCombs Christina and Kenneth Scigulinsky Dustin A. Collier Linda Kirk Roy Eric Campbell Robert Castagna, Jr. Jim and Amy McNeil Michael Farrier Ellen Jacobs Jacquelyn Smith Earl Lewis Candace C. Heiss Ramon R. Cruz Haley Gummelt Steve Wilson Daniel Golightly Arthur and Arlene Young Joy Lynn Leonard Juan E. Estrada Milton Parris, Jr. Cathy Walsh Wayne Deason Diana Price Troy Sacco Robert F. MacLeish, Jr. Alfred Haines Kenneth and Cynthia Castellani Tom Neider Kenny Morton Dave O’Shea Victor Moore Mark J. Horne Patricia Sandercock Brian Kennedy William and Candis Landers, III Jeffrey A. York Jay Hebbar Louis Fegan Lynda Steimer Marc Nadel Matthew J. Bannantine Tena Pate Marlene E. Teitler Harlyner St. Fleur Renee Sutton Erika B. Donalds Cindy L. Bethune Helen Tyler Jeannie Cerra William Gramling Greg Shugrue Keshara D. Cowans K. Suzanne Davidson Justin Kester Brian Patla Alberto De Rojas Gary Guzzo Kat Thompson Philip Peterson Angelia Whitted Georgia D. Martin Kit Lee Derek M. Oxford Matthew and Megan Bell Paul Melton Phyllis Watt Robin Weiss Christopher M. Klinect Leonard A. Koeth Chris D. Adams Teresa R. Dioquino Jess Collister Paul Rossi William Betancourt Mark Taylor
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Howard Kanner Thomas R. Chastain Kenton and Diane Linn Kathryn A. Charpentier Patrick McCarthy Anthony J. Petriccione, Jr. Mary J. Arnason-Paz Noel W. Gilliland Debra Lanphear Elizabeth Bryan Cole W. Calhoun Karmen Blue Michael Bernstein Patrick L. Alderman Alan Friedland Ron Wieczorek Richard I. Machin Randall Call Dawn Trenary Tiffany Veltz Ann Briggle Frank Raike Larry P. Cohen Jill M. Short Daniel Tawzer Ken Schneider Delena McCarley Lisa Ith Tamara Carreira Richie and Michelle Doletina Carrie Payne Hegel Laurent Ginny D’Antonio-Nervina Greg Shelton Anthony Perez-Cubas Pamela Burns Chris & Marty Wright Katie E. Klutz Christopher Whittaker Wendy Harpp Kevin Potts Jane Dueease Paulette A. Riedel Ken and Sydonna Bland Christine Hoblick Alisia M. Adamson Ryan LeRoy William Crawford Ellen S. Lloyd Tim Hutcheson Thomas McDaniel Emily Goguen Kay Caster Olivia Carter Fran Wright Ryan J. Brown Leroy Smith Ryan T. Carson Kristy I. Carter Christopher Coleman Clayton Ellis Kai Thompson Sara R. Levine Myron Sanders Sean Mahoney David Forbis Charles Friedrich Robert Covington Katelyn O’Connor Kwamena Goodin Michael Snyder Elizabeth M. Scott Paul George Nathan Tasso William Bowen Marisa Davies Jeffrey A. Diaz
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S P O N S O R S
2018 SPRING TOUR SPONSORS — THANK YOU! JACKSONVILLE Gold Sponsors Florida Blue - Jon Urbanek Southern Oak Insurance Ron Natherson Garnet Sponsors BCM Services - Denise Wallace & Michael Coleman CSI Companies - Andrew Cihlar St. John & Partners - Dan St. John Vaughn Motorgroup Barry Vaughn Benefactors Brown & Brown Insurance Josh Becksmith Fogday Solutions - Scott Noe Hartley Press - Mike Hartley Human People Solutions Dwight Cooper Jim Kane Josh Rogers - Merrill Lynch Marsh Landing Title LLC. Bryan Goode III Marketmasters of the SouthEast - Phillip Parsons Pinch A Penny of Mandarin David Allen Russ Vorhis State Farm Insurance Saafield Shad - Geoff Sessions State Farm - Craig Dewhurst Steve Bethea Taylor, Day, Grimm & Boyd Chris Mueller To the Glory of God T. S. Roberts Weeks Utility Services Rich Weeks Patrons Alex Lamm-Corporate Concepts Ben & Marty Walker GHG Insurance - Tim Gaskin Hard Exercise Works Mark & Liz Jankovich Jax Sports Council - Rick Catlett Jim Edmiston Kim Miller L & L Supply - Larry Ward
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Mark Roberts Marty Blue Nat Cole Seminole Boosters, Inc. Max Zahn Shane Hodinott - ACP Interiors State Farm - Chris Bedford The Prism Group Bert Costa, CFP Par 3 Sponsors Atlantic Infiniti Bob Harrington Fionn McCools - Patty Trousdell ServPro - Bryce Clark
PANAMA CITY Presenting Sponsor - $5,000 Counts Real Estate – Steve Counts Jim Owens Patron Table - $2,000 Commander21 Realty – Charles Commander Jimmy & Annette Williams PCB Leasing Group – Mark Register Seltzer Management – Ben Seltzer Wonderworks – Mike Walsingham Patron Table - $1,000 Ann Percival Coastal Community Insurance Agency – Janice Hanks Community Bank – Jason Crowe Curiosity Marketing Group – Chris Josten Edgewater Golf & Beach Resort Frank Hall Merchant Managemetn Group – Rodney Friend Michael Donahue Mike & Stephanie Hobbs Peoples 1st Insurance – Kristian Chapman Tim Brock
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Patron Table - $750 Alamo Money Mart – Scott Pippin Donalson Contracting – Alan Donalson Pamela Smith Paradise Adventures – Donnie Coker Sharkey’s Beachfront Restaurant The Eye Center of North Florida
TALLAHASSEE Title Sponsors Corner Pocket Kraft Nissan Seminole Boosters Thielen Tax Consultant Visual Solutions Spear Sponsors 97.9 ESPN Radio AAA Tree Service Allied Doors of North Florida Alumni Association Brian Barnard Flooring America Brown and Brown Insurance Coldwell Banker Cone Distributing D&M Lawn Care Elite Sporting Goods Four Points GTWO Properties JMC Mobility Lewis Longman Walker Madison Social Metal Fabrication Nationwide Transmission Stanley Steemer Superior Painting Tri Eagle
OCALA Gold Sponsor Albert J & Judith Dunlap BMW of Ocala and Porsche of Ocala Landscaping Sod & Beyond Mark Shelnutt, Attorney at Law PA Matt & Danielle Leeds
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Nylah Thompson & H.L. Hartford Patrick M. Hill, Independent Financial Partners, Inc. Verteks Consulting Garnet Sponsor Advanced Holding Real Estate LLC Banquet Sponsor American Panel Bedford Greene Bill & Elaine Trice Center State Bank Duncan Family Duncan’s Heating & Air Conditioning Florida Metal Building Services LLC Furce Pest Control Kyle Futch Family Mike & Kathy Bennetch – Bennetch Farrier Service Needham Plumbing & Electric Service Papa John’s Pizza Robert Salat, Acentria Insurance Veterinary Allergy & Skin Center at the Institute of Veterinary Specialists
ORLANDO City Beverage FedPlan Advisors – Michael Wakefield Lynch Oil – Craig Lynch Nylah Thompson & H.L. Hartford JC&F Attorney at Law – Andrew Chmelir Allied Marketing Insurance Group, Inc. – Rob Piccione Harry Buffalo Downtown Orlando
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Avid Insurance Brad & Hilary Crenshaw Byron Bailey CenterState Bank Charles McPherson Citizen’s Bank CPS Investment Curtis & Jennifer Wright Folsom Construction Jones/Tedder Family Nylah Thompson Payne Air Conditioning Phillips Enterprises Publix Charities Staff Builders Strickland Construction S & S Design Steve Saterbo Valenti, Campbell, Trohn, Tamayo & Aranda
Gold Sponsor Frontier Communications
BEAR’S CLUB Gold Foursome Sponsors The Nicklaus & O’Leary Families Ace Hardware – Scott Osteen Chick-fil-A Okeechobee & Turnpike/Palm Beach Lakes Blvd Merril Lynch – The Lansat Wealth Management Group Orthopedix MD Quail Creek Plantation Ron Sellers & Associates South Florida Ford Dealers State Farm – Kelly V. Hagar Templeton & Company Tolliver Powder Coating Tsamoutales Strategies World Event Promotions Zuni Transportation Golf Gift Bag Sponsor Gadinsky Real Estate, LLC. Comfort Station Sponsor Luxury Day Charters Hole In One Sponsor South Florida Ford Dealers
Renegade Sponsor Edinger Group
QB CLASSIC Tournament Host Bob Basham
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Tournament Partners Glory Days Grill Old Memorial PDQ Spear It Quarterback Sponsor Stahl & Associates Insurance Gold Sponsor Bouchard Insurance Central Florida Environmental Services, Inc. – Allen Brackner Duke Energy Lance Barton Power Design Inc. Professional Insurance Center, Inc. – John & Debra Madiedo, Jr. Rowlson & Company, PA Scott Saterbo Tallahassee Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Ram Golf Cart Sponsor Holcomb & Leung P.A. Driving Range Sponsor Ken Marks / Tallahassee Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram
SARASOTA/MANATEE Gold Sponsor Frank Maggio Leland Taylor Esq., PL Rice’s Garnet Sponsor Boyd Insurance & Investment Services Morton’s Gourmet Market Renegade Sponsor Allegiant Private Advisors Ben Brown Insurance The Ernie Garcia Group at Morgan Stanley Ken Christy Insurance McPherson 5 WaterBoy
Putting Green Sponsor The Ernie Garcia Group at Morgan Stanley
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Cigar Sponsor John Holcomb Nylah Thompson & H.L. Hartford
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Quarterback Draw Party Sponsor Mike & Lori Kosloske
Gold Sponsor Pelican Larry’s Raw Bar
1 Source International Buckhead Spine Specialists
Renegade Sponsor Chris Lee DM Dean Custom Homes Dr. Grady Scott Bonita Beach Dental Dr. Todd Burmeister - Foot and Ankle Management Group Eric Edwards - SVN Commercial Real Estate Firm Jaeger Properties, LLC Kim and Gary Price Michelle Thomas - Premier Sotheby’s International Realty Mike Durant-Conroy, Conroy and Durant Tammie Burdette - Nu U Life
MIAMI
Platinum Sponsor Bill Hatcher Mark Adamczyk
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Garnet Sponsor DeVoe Cadillac Stock Development Seminole Tribe-Big Cypress Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida
Desnoyers CPA Linq
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QUICK TIPS FOR ALL SEMINOLE FANS Greetings, As you and your family and friends prepare to cheer on the ‘Noles during the upcoming year, our compliance team would like to remind you of 10 quick tips that are important for all of our Seminole Fans to know. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our office using the contact information listed below. We greatly appreciate your continued support of Florida State Athletics. Go ‘Noles!
1. FSU is responsible for the actions of all boosters, season ticket holders and fans — including great supporters like you! 2. Free or discounted items/services to student-athletes are not permitted unless available to the general public. 3. Never perform a favor for a student-athlete or recruit before calling FSU Compliance. 4. Don’t call, tweet, meet or greet recruits. 5. Never arrange to give or give money to recruits, student-athletes or their friend(s)/family. 6. Never loan your car or provide transportation to recruits, student-athletes or their friend(s)/family. 7. Never buy tickets, clothing, equipment or awards from student-athletes. 8. Don’t sell items with the name, image or signature of a student-athlete. 9. Breaking NCAA rules can render recruits and student-athletes ineligible to compete. 10. To help protect our student-athletes and the integrity of FSU — Always ask before you act! 96
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