Q&A with David Coburn

Q&A

Athletic Director David Coburn

SEMINOLE BOOSTERS: What factors did FSU consider in its decision to play this fall rather than the spring? DAVID COBURN: The Conference made the decision to play this fall, and we agreed with that decision. We felt we had the appropriate testing capacity and medical protocols to protect the student-athletes and the staff. We continue to believe they are safer – mentally and physically – here playing and practicing than they would be otherwise. We also believe the loss of the sports they love could be damaging to them in so many other ways. There is the distinct possibility we might lose some of them and never get them back.

SB: What can fans expect on gameday? DC: We will probably have 20 to 25 percent of the seats in

Doak available. There will be no Marching Chiefs band on the field, nor cheer teams. A subset of the band will be in the stands, as will a subset of the students who might normally attend. We did get permission to have Osceola and

Renegade lead the team onto the field.

Obviously, entering and leaving the stadium will be very different. Tailgating will be different. The entire experience will change, hopefully for this one season only.

SB: What has life been like around the athletic department since March? DC: There was a long period back in March, April and early May when there wasn’t anybody here. The University gradually allowed more staff to come in to the office. Most of the staff continued to work remotely. It has taken some getting used to, but we are functioning fairly well.

SB: How did your staff, the Boosters, coaches, players respond? DC: I continue to be amazed at how well the coaches have responded. They have been organized, and have worked hard to continue to communicate with their student-athletes, who have been very receptive. They did a very good job academically both in the spring semester and in the first summer semester. I couldn’t be prouder of this group of coaches. The staff have been extremely cooperative. Even though they are working remotely, they’ve worked very hard. The media staff have worked hard on our social media presence. The facility and grounds crews had to work in shifts and we’ve had to freeze positions Everyone has had to pick up the slack, and they’ve all responded. I’m very, very proud of all of them.

SB: Covid has affected the lives of many Seminole Booster members and season ticket holders. What would you say to these families? DC: I really appreciate the way they’ve responded. I know many of them are having a very, very hard time. Certainly, they saw that we’re going through much of what they’re going through in their businesses and in their personal lives. It’s not an easy time for anyone and we certainly understand it. But we’ve been thrilled with the way they’ve responded and we very much appreciate their support because we need to have an athletic program when we come out the other end of this.

SB: What highlights has the department enjoyed the past six months? DC: Academically, the spring and the first summer semester have been really good, especially considering the transition to virtual classes. It’s really been remarkable. One of the highlights was certainly the condition the football team came back in. The strength and conditioning staff are very pleased with how they came back. Obviously, Leonard Hamilton and his staff’s recruiting has been a highlight. He’s sitting on the number one class in the country right now.

SB: How have your fall sports teams, not named football, fared? DC: There’s a lot of talent on the soccer and volleyball teams.

They’ve begun workouts and the coaches are very optimistic about the potential of those teams. Both coaches have continued to recruit at very high levels. Volleyball’s got four of the top 100 recruits committed and Mark Krikorian just keeps finding soccer talent. Men’s and women’s cross country will be improved.

SB: You have cut 20 percent out of the athletic budget, including individual sports budgets and coaches’ salaries.

How have coaches received those budget cuts? DC: They’ve stepped up. They’ve been supportive. They’ve been willing to do it. We are very fortunate to be working with a group of folks who understand the meaning of the word “team.” As Mark Krikorian said, ‘We are a team.’

They’re doing what they need to do to help the team. I’ve been very, very proud of them, and I am very appreciative of what they’ve been willing to do personally and professionally.

SB: Will the cuts you’ve made be enough or will you have to cut more to balance the budget? DC: We’ve cut everything we believe we can cut without actually damaging performance; without directly impacting the student-athletes.

SB: Does Athletics or the Boosters have a reserve fund to draw upon? DC: Not anymore.

SB: There are real estate assets, could they be sold? DC: There is real estate, but most of that belongs to the endowment, which helps fund scholarship costs. Some of our real estate could be sold, but you still have to sell it, so it is not exactly liquid. Most of our real estate comes from restricted donor gifts, so the proceeds from the sale would be restricted to the purpose the donor intended and not available for general operations.

SB: Does the university have any ability to help athletics with funding? DC: No. By law, the general funds of the university may not be used to support athletics and to my knowledge, none of the federal relief money associated with Covid-19 has been made available for athletics by the federal government.

SB: Can you explain a furlough? DC: A furlough is placing an employee on a temporary unpaid leave from work for a specified number of hours, days or weeks.

SB: Can you do that with any employee? DC: Yes, with very few exceptions.

SB: Would that include coaches? DC: Yeah, the challenge there, if you are going to play in the spring, is there are certain positions that are still essential to get to the spring. It’s tough to furlough a lot of people related to the sport, which is the real budget challenge.

SB: FSU is giving Booster members an option of a refund, rolling their ticket purchase and donation or make their

2020 donation and season ticket purchase an outright contribution to provide athletics with the revenue needed to sustain the program this year. What effect will their choice have on the budget? DC: Well, it’ll affect us both now and in the future. If they choose a refund, obviously, it impacts us immediately. If they choose to roll it forward, the good news is that revenue is available now. But that means next year the money won’t be there, because that revenue will have already been brought in and spent but the good news is we will still have them as ticket holders.

If they make it an outright gift, it would obviously be the most helpful because it gives us the revenue right now and still leaves us the opportunity to earn more revenue (next year).

SB: What are the long-term effects if a lot of people choose to ask for a refund? DC: The entire program will be seriously damaged. Recruiting budgets will be impacted. We’re going to lose good staff. We already have. And it certainly affects morale and momentum. You lose all your flexibility to do anything.

It’s just hard in many ways.

SB: What would you ask readers to consider in order to sustain the program? DC: The most important thing I need them to do is just stay with us and contribute to the extent they can financially, emotionally. I’m looking out the window at these student-athletes working as hard as they can to get better, and they really want to play. We need our fans and supporters to stay with us, and keep giving and keep buying tickets, to the extent they can, so we can continue to give these young people that opportunity. I know everyone is going through tough times. There’s no question about that. And all our folks need to know that we know that.

They saw last month, with our budget cuts, that we did the same kind of things they’re doing in their lives.

SB: If we lose football related revenue in the fall, is there any funding options other than the generosity of individual

Seminole Booster members? DC: We could look at a line of credit, or a loan, but we would need the resources to pay that back in the future, so that is not a very appealing option.

The options are going be reducing expenditures and relying on the generosity of our donors who know we work very, very hard to maximize our revenue streams. As most of our readers know, we’ve been doing things in the last couple of years to generate revenue from our facilities when not using them for our purposes. We’ve done everything we can think of to generate revenue.