President Dr. Richard McCullough turned to a longtime NFL director of operations and trusted Florida State football staff member to be the school’s interim athletics director.

Bruce Warwick has worn a number of hats in off-field roles with the St. Louis Rams (2009-15), LA Rams (2016-19) and in the last seven years at FSU as football chief of staff / senior associate athletics director. Coach Mike Norvell hired Warwick in December 2019, bringing him to Tallahassee ahead of his first season.

"I think Bruce is an incredible professional," Norvell said. "He's been in the game for a long time, he's been in a variety of different roles in the National Football League. Your management, your areas of having to operate, been part of moving, helping move an entire organization. His day to day within our building, obviously, is extensive and there's going to be some adaptation that we're gonna have to have in the time being."

McCullough made the decision to elevate Warwick following the dismissal of athletics director Michael Alford on Monday.

Warwick's experiences with the Rams began in St. Louis, leading logistical operations for players, coaches and front office staff. He was the point person for the Rams' move from St. Louis to Los Angeles in 2016, helping build four operational team facilities and two business operation sites.

At FSU, Warwick was brought in first as the chief of staff and then was promoted to senior associate AD for football in January 2022.

Through the years, FSU's presidents have assigned interim ADs to fill the role for an undefined number of months ahead of a national search. FSU elevated a longtime senior women's administrator, Vanessa Fuchs, prior to the hiring of Stan Wilcox in 2013. And in 2018, David Coburn moved over from his role on President John Thrasher's staff to his job at Moore. Thrasher later removed the interim tag on Coburn, who held the job until he retired and Alford moved from the boosters to athletics in 2022.

Warwick has long had a seat at the table among FSU's athletics administrators, so he's not an unfamiliar face to Olympics sports coaches and administrators. In his interim AD role, he will be expected to strengthen those relationships.

“It is important that we remain dedicated to providing continuity and support to our student-athletes, coaches and staff, who remain our top priority,” Warwick said.

Regardless of how long Warwick is FSU's interim AD, his extensive football knowledge will help support the program this fall. Warwick has long been a sounding board for Norvell, and that previous relationship should help as the Seminoles (1-1) play deeper into the fall.

"Bruce is a wonderful person, extremely hard worker,” Norvell said. “He does look at things with a great, big-picture perspective. He's been involved a lot with kind of our upper management within the athletic department, just as things have been over the last few years. I think Bruce will do a great job in that role. I know he'll put everything he has to the tasks that are in front of him, but also for us within the day to day operation."

Norvell said a number of Warwick's responsibilities will be delegated to current support staffers like director of player development and operations Jeff Kupper and associate director of strategic football operations and player engagement Isaiah Phillip.

"Everybody's going to pick up slack a little bit in certain areas,” Norvell said. “But we're going to move forward with all focus into this week and make sure we're getting the job done.”

Thanks for reading the Osceola. Subscribe now for 40 percent off to enjoy a full year of coverage of FSU athletics. You’ll also earn a $20 gift card at Alumni Hall.