WHAT’S NEXT FOR SEMINOLE BOOSTERS By JERRY KUTZ, RETIRED SR. VICE PRESIDENT SEMINOLE BOOSTERS AND CURRENT OWNER, PUBLISHER OF THEOSCEOLA.COM Read all the quotes about Andy Miller in this tribute issue and you could become convinced it can’t be done; you’ll never replace the Seminole Boosters President and CEO, who has been in the job for 46 years. But a national search committee did find a candidate who looks up to the task of taking Seminole Boosters into the next era. Meet Michael Alford, who brings a successful track record of sales and fundraising from iconic brands Alabama, Oklahoma, the University of Southern California, the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals. The 51-year old most recently served as the athletic director at Central Michigan. In addition to an impressive resume, Alford flashed a sense of humor when the selection committee asked him why he would leave an athletic director’s job for the lead job at Seminole Boosters. “The opportunity only comes along once every 46 years,” he teased, before explaining his why. “The opportunity. It is the premier fundraising organization in the nation. It is Florida State University, one of the most iconic brands in our industry or within collegiate athletics. The People. The Region. You can probably tell I’m from the south, and have a little twang to my voice. Just the opportunity to go in and make a difference within this organization is something I’m really excited about getting there and establish my processes, my vision to grow Seminole Boosters.” The personable Tennessee native is the son of a college football coach. An all-state baseball player (Louisiana), Alford was offered by LSU and Mississippi State, and was part of a Bulldog team that defeated his dream school – Florida State – to advance to the College World Series in 1990. Alford’s wife Laura, a Southern California native, also signed a collegiate volleyball scholarship with the University of Hawaii, where she played for a national championship and later coached collegiate volleyball at the Division I level. Alford remembers the 1990 Regional Final well. I do too as I was seated in the legendary “Left Field Lounge” covering the game for the Osceola when dreams of Omaha abruptly ended. “Burke Masters (Now the Chicago Cubs team chaplain) hit a walk-off homerun,” Alford said as if it happened yesterday. “I got to play for a legendary coach, Ron Polk, who to this day influences me. We talk every month or two still and I still run things by him and ask his opinion. The relationships you establish with your
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