With former Florida State University Athletic Director Dave Hart and his wife, Pam, seated in the crowd at the NACDA convention in Orlando in June, current FSU AD Michael Alford took the stage to present the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award to former Seminole Boosters President and CEO Andy Miller.

A video of the innovations and achievements highlighting Miller’s tenure played to the eager audience as Miller climbed the steps to accept the award. Those achievements included:

·      The Seminole Boosters Scholarship Endowment (now valued over $70 million)

·      The University Center Complex, the largest brick structure in the United States

·      College Town

·      Champions Hall and Burt Reynolds Hall

·      More than $1 billion raised for athletics

·      FSU Licensing and affinity programs

·      Planned Giving Programs

·      The Seminole Club network (now managed by the Alumni Association)

·      The Club Suites (more than 100)

·      The Varsity Club Suites

“I never thought I would be recognized on a national level, ever,” Miller said. “And then after they notified me and it sunk in, I really appreciate the honor. And it was really nice to have Dave and Pam Hart there to share that honor.”

Miller built it from the ground up

To put this award into context, one needs to travel back to the beginning of Miller’s 45-year career, that began after the Boosters re-incorporated and George Langford hired Miller as the Boosters’ first full-time Executive Director.

Florida State football had suffered through an 0-11 season in 1973 and a 1-10 season in 1974. Interest and ticket sales were at an all-time low and the need to generate revenue was never higher.

“I remember a time when ‘The General’ (Langford) and I went to a local bank and borrowed a half million dollars to be able to make the payroll,” Miller recalled. “We had no cash flow and had spent all our ticket revenue and Booster contributions. We didn’t have a nickel.”

Grim stories like these, which Alford has heard, may be why he showed so much emotion when presenting Miller with the award.  

“It was such an honor just to be there for Andy and to hand that trophy over to him,” Alford said. “Like I said in Orlando, especially to all the young development officers in that packed ballroom, ‘If you don't understand who Andy Miller is and what he's about, you need to read up on it because he was so innovative, so far ahead of his time.’ ”

Hart, who worked with Miller from 1995 to 2007, called the presentation overdue.  

“There’s only one Andy Miller. He’s just a terrific person,” Hart said. “He has enthusiasm to burn, and he is all about Florida State Athletics and Florida State University. We had a great relationship during my tenure there at Florida State University and that relationship has remained a priority for me.”

The relationship fostered innovation and achievement

While innovations at Florida State had already begun, Miller credits Hart with fostering a relationship for more. “Dave understood and respected the role of a fundraising organization, which allowed us to align our priorities,” Miller said.

Right after landing in Tallahassee in 1995, Hart met with the Seminole Booster Board to share his assessment of Florida State’s priority needs. FSU was decades behind its peer institutions in terms of athletics facilities, he told them. And to prove it he flew the executive committee to tour rival facilities.

Convinced, the board agreed to a capital campaign. A wealth screen of FSU alumni and supporters by a national firm determined there was only enough donor capacity to fund a $25 million campaign, far short of the $60 million needed. Undeterred, Miller launched the campaign and FSU’s fans responded by pledging $70 million.

The cash and pledges were enough to secure a bond issue to address needs in baseball golf, track, swimming and basketball (upper deck, skyboxes and practice facility), which were part of the original master plan.

“Dave was very much a partner in the development of all of our facilities,” Miller said. “Whereas other ADs thought we were better served if we spent our time just going out raising funds rather than pursuing projects like the University Center Complex, which many worried would never happen.”

Miller’s plan to build academic office buildings to enhance the appearance and function of Doak Campbell Stadium was a shocking vision, one that neither of the previous ADs, nor the Faculty Senate, believed would receive funding. Daily newspaper editorial boards panned the project, mocking it as “The Jock Palace.”

And yet, the stars aligned and in 1992 ground was broken on the University Center Complex, which years later inspired a similar project around Notre Dame’s football stadium. A few years later the Irish built a mixed-use complex that looks very much like another Miller innovation, College Town.

Miller says the University Center was a defining moment in his career, when his vision grew large scale.

“People thought the UCC was something beyond our ability to pull off and I thought, ‘I can be just a regular fundraiser, or I can go all in on this wild, crazy, big idea,’ ” Miller recalled.

Miller said he was inspired by architect Daniel Burnham’s quote: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood.”

“And ever since then I thought to myself, ‘Don’t be scared.’ You have a source of financing, a growing market. Any big idea with merit, go for it,” Miller said. “So much of the success was the result of us all getting together: Boosters, Athletics, the University and importantly the supporters. We put good people in good positions. Our organizations had a lot of credibility with our supporters, and we were able to get things done.”

Ahead of the Innovation curve

“We were doing things way before anyone else was and I think that’s one of the reasons I was recognized,” Miller said. “We had LSU come in to see what we were doing. Bear Bryant’s son, Paul Jr., brought an Alabama group in to meet with us. Schools would come to see the stadium and then they’d see a project going up on their way over to see College Town. I had a guy from Clemson say, ‘We’re just trying to hang on. Please don’t do any more stuff.’ For a while, we were setting the bar.”

“We accomplished a lot,” Hart agreed. “We had a lot of good people, a good staff. They were all on the same page and we made a lot of progress because of the people we had. Same with coaches. We were blessed to have hired some championship-level coaches and Andy played a big role in that from a financial perspective. We always included Andy in those conversations, and we became good friends.”

“When you look back at those coaches, it’s like walking through a Hall of Fame,” Hart said. “We exceeded our own expectations relative to competing in the conference and having championship-level coaches and that is something I will always cherish.”

“Back then it was the Sears Cup, and you couldn’t find us initially,” Hart said. “Our goal was to be a top 10 team in all sports, and because of the people we hired, we were able to accomplish that. Facilities were absolutely critical. We did the same thing; we drew up a plan. Here’s what we need. And that’s ongoing. It’s happening at Florida State still and happens everywhere across the country. You have to have all the facilities to get where you want to go.”

While Miller was thrilled to see Hart attend the presentation, he was also pleased to receive the award from Alford, who was his successor as Seminole Booster CEO before being hired as the athletic director.

“He’s been very good from day 1,” said Miller, who was not on the search committee for his successor. “The search committee did give me an opportunity to interview the finalists, and Alford made a good impression on me. I thought, ‘This guy is going to be our next AD.’ I thought he may have seen the CEO at Seminole Boosters as a stepping stone and it led to a nice transition.”

Lessons from Miller’s career

Alford spoke passionately about what the future leaders of athletics might glean from Miller’s career.

“He was not just thinking about the impact of today's actions, but how that was going to impact a month from now, a year from now, and that's where we lose vision sometimes is understanding we live day to day, and you've got to look into the future and understand the impacts,” Alford said. “Sometimes, (an administrator) has to make decisions that are not popular at the time, but they know it's going to work out for the long term. That’s what is so impressive about Andy and his time here, and how he built Florida State, along with Coach Bowden and Dave Hart, and all the other people who built the brand here at Florida State.

“If the young people within our business don't understand who he is and how ahead of the game he was at all times, they need to read up, because it's something that I modeled,” Alford said. “I knew who Andy Miller was. I watched every action that was taken at Florida State for the 20 years ahead of me getting here, because I wanted to see what they were up to, and how I could implement some of (their) concepts and ideas into whatever institution I was at the time. He just means so much to this industry. It was a true honor to be able to hand him that award.”

Hart said that while the landscape of the profession has changed with NIL and revenue sharing, some things never change and agrees Miller’s care is a case study.

“Andy was the best of the best,” Hart said. “He was a tireless worker. He immediately connected with alumni and donors. He quietly but quickly gained a level of respect that enabled us to move fast. If you want to talk about people who changed athletics programs at Florida State for the better, you must pronounce Andy Miller’s name immediately, because he was very key to everything that was happening collectively. Everybody got along and were respectful of one another. But respect is not mandated, and a lot of programs never get to that finish line. It was good.”

While Alford and Hart explain their reasons for Miller’s success, and why young development officers should pay attention, the ‘General’ George Langford might put it this way for them: “People who create value have a fire in the belly. Andy was never satisfied with what is; he was always imagining what could be.”