With current Seminole Booster CEO Andy Miller, who has voted president of the Boosters in 1975, set to retire, the organization has reportedly found its new CEO.
“The CEO Search Committee completed a six-month search process, and yesterday our Executive Committee approved Michael Alford as our next CEO,” said Bob Davis, chair of the Board of Directors of Seminole Boosters, Inc. “Michael has worked for some of the top sports programs in the country, both professional and collegiate. He is an incredibly successful fundraiser and brings experience as an athletic director, which will make our relationship with athletics through the FSUAA even stronger and will benefit both organizations.
“We are grateful to Andy Miller for over 45 years of leadership and vision that he has provided Seminole Boosters. The organization that he has built and led makes us unique in collegiate sports and is a big reason our position drew an incredible amount of interest from all over the country.
“We look forward to formally introducing Michael, Laura and their family in the very near future.”
The group announced in a release today that Central Michigan athletic director Mike Alford will become the new head of FSU’s athletic fundraising arm.
“We are excited to welcome Michael Alford to the FSU family,” said FSU President John Thrasher. “As a former student-athlete and a respected leader who has held positions in both Division I athletics and the NFL, Michael brings a unique perspective and a wealth of experience to the Seminole Boosters. He has a strong vision for fundraising and membership, and that will build on our culture of excellence and lead us into the future.”
“Though bittersweet because of the great leadership and relationships we have built here at Central Michigan, Laura and I could not be more enthusiastic about joining the FSU community,” said Alford. “To lead the premier fundraising organization in college sports was an opportunity that excited me professionally.“
— Michael Alford (@AlfordCMUAD) July 15, 2020
From the Florida State release:
Alford is credited with leading Central Michigan during the most successful fundraising period in its athletics history. He has been the driving force behind The Chippewa Champions Center that is under construction and will serve as the home to the Chippewa’s football operations, strength and conditioning, sports medicine and several other units. Other highlights from Alford’s time at CMU include renegotiating CMU Athletics’ apparel contract resulting in a 600 percent increase in revenue, spearheading an all-time high in Chippewa Athletic Fund memberships and overseeing the department’s all-time fundraising record in 2018-19 that eclipsed the mark set in 2017-18 by 50 percent.
From his Central Michigan bio:
Alford was the senior associate athletics director for administration and development at the University of Oklahoma, the senior director for corporate partnerships and sales for the Dallas Cowboys from 2008 to 2012, and he was the general manager of Crimson Tide Sports Marketing at the University of Alabama from 2004-2008. He also has worked for ESPN, the University of Southern California, the Cincinnati Bengals and the University of Cincinnati.
Alford played baseball at Mississippi State University and at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in communication arts in 1993. He completed his master’s degree in athletics administration at the University of Arkansas in 1995. Alford’s wife, Laura, played volleyball at Hawaii and coached at Cincinnati and UCI.