Florida State president Richard McCullough and interim athletic director Bruce Warrick chose director of scouting Rick Stockstill as the interim head coach Sunday.
“Coach Stockstill was obviously a great player here at Florida State,” Warwick began. “We looked at our entire staff. We have four head coaches on our staff (Chris Thomsen, Tom Herman, Rick Stockstill and Odell Haggins, who was previously interim head coach).
“Rick Stockstill has coached 224 games (as a head coach) in college football. He understands this institution. He has great love for this area. He's from the Jacksonville area (Fernandina Beach). He understands the recruiting areas that we're in and out of. He's got a good pulse on our team. He's in scouting right now, which is not a true indication of his skill set. He has great relationships with guys on defense and offense. He's just an incredible people person, and so we consulted him on a lot of different things. And, moving forward, he gives us the best chance for the last four games.”
“Stock” has 41 years of experience, 18 as a head coach
Stockstill has coached college football for 41 years, including 18 years as a head coach at Middle Tennessee (113-111), where his teams reached bowl games 10 times and won the Sun Belt Championship (2006 and Conference USA Division Championship (2018). Stockstill was named Coach of the Year in the Sun Belt (2006, 2009) and Conference USA (2018).
The Road Warrior led FSU to epic, early wins
The 2019 FSU Hall of Fame inductee was the quarterback for those early Bobby Bowden teams that wrote the lore, including the shocking 18-14 win over No. 3 Nebraska in Lincoln and a week later over No. 3 Pittsburgh in Doak. That Pitt team was quarterbacked by Dan Marino and featured a dozen NFL draft picks. The Seminoles finished that 1980 season 10-2, which was the highest finish in school history.
In 1981, he helped to establish FSU’s reputation as the “Road Warriors,” leading FSU into five opposing stadiums and claiming wins over #7 Ohio State (36-27), Notre Dame (19-13) and LSU (38-14).
His first two games as FSU’s interim head coach will come on the road at Boston College on Saturday at noon (ACC Network) and Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, where he’ll have a chance to snap the Seminoles’ three-year road losing streak.
Stock served impressive list of coaches
The son of a longtime high school coach, Stockstill played under Bowden, then served under former Pro Football Hall of Fame guard Larry Little (Bethune Cookman ’83 and ’84) and former FSU Hall of Fame linebacker Gene McDowell (’85-’88). Stock served 14 years at Clemson under Danny Ford (1989-92), Ken Hatfield (1993), Tommy West (1994-99), Tommy Bowden (1999-02), Lou Holtz (2004) and Steve Spurrier (2005) at South Carolina, before becoming the head coach at Middle Tennessee (2006-2023).
Broad coaching roles, including OC, HC and recruiting coordinator
Stockstill has coached quarterbacks, tight ends, wide receivers and been an offensive coordinator, assistant head coach, and recruiting coordinator at Clemson and South Carolina.
Stock developed a reputation for being an imposing presence on the recruiting trails, constantly crossing paths with FSU coaches for prospects in North Florida and throughout the south.
What former coaches have to say
George Henshaw, FSU offensive coordinator 1980 and 1981: “As a player Rick was a guy who was a tough, smart, quarterback who wanted to do whatever it took to win the game. The only stat he cared about was the win. As a coach, what you are looking at is a young Coach Bowden. That’s how he treats people. He is always thinking of others first. He is a quiet leader. Never a bragger. All of those are the qualities Coach Bowden had. He has been around some really-good coaches including Coach Bowden, Tommy Bowden, Lou Holtz, Steve Spurrier and more.
“Stock and Mack Brown are the only two former FSU players to have won more than 100 games as head coaches at the collegiate level.
“If he is given the authority to play who he thinks are the best players, I promise you they will give you 100 percent effort and play with toughness or he won’t put them out there.”
Jim Gladden, defensive ends coach during Bowden years: “He knows the culture here. He’s a proven coach who won. He’s a logical choice.”
Kez McCorvey, former Stockstill assistant at MTSU and FSU receiver: “He’s a player’s coach. He’s always active with all aspects of the team. He’s not a position coach anymore, he moved past that and was more involved in the admin aspects of it. He doesn’t want to get immersed in the details of the offense or the defense, he wants to observe it all from a high-level view. He knows what the intensity needs to look like at practice.”
Anonymous opposing coach: “I do think Stock might be able to make these kids have some fun down the stretch and win a few. He is very relatable and players will love his leadership style.”
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