Michael Alford - Florida State University Athletic Director On Decision Making, Measure Everything, & Constant Improvement

Building Excellence

#201: Michael Alford is the Florida State University Director of Athletics.

Alford has helped position Seminole athletics among the nation’s elite both in terms of competitive excellence and as influential in the critical issues of the day. He has truly emerged as one of collegiate athletics’ leaders while remaining true to his primary objective – an unwavering commitment to student-athlete welfare.

That commitment has produced measurable results by every metric within a solution-oriented, positive culture that places the student-athlete first in all pursuits. It’s evidenced, in part, by his direction of more than $400 million for projects to improve athletic facilities and fields in just the last three years.

It is clear to anyone that comes to campus as construction on the 150,000 square foot Dunlap Football Center and state-of-the-art improvements to historic Doak Campbell Stadium are fully in progress entering the 2025 football season.

Alford is equally committed to the success of the student in the classroom resulting in the strongest consistent academic performance in athletics department history. FSU student-athletes established an all-time best cumulative grade-point average of 3.250 as a department. Not only that but numerous teams have excelled in their respective sports from football, baseball, softball, volleyball, and many others.

Over three decades in intercollegiate athletics and professional sports, he has held positions with the Dallas Cowboys, the University of Alabama, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Southern California, the Cincinnati Bengals and was Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at Central Michigan University.

For more info on Michael check out social media and seminoles.com This is a great conversation with an incredible leader. Enjoy the show!