Florida State athletics director Michael Alford joined this week’s Front Row Noles / Seminole Sidelines to discuss a wide range of topics.

We have some time stamps below for topics, but one of the hot topics this offseason and previously has been the investment in the football team’s roster budget (revenue sharing / NIL). Alford hasn’t given specific numbers, but in the interview with us he discussed where he feels FSU stands compared to other programs across the nation.

“That’s something we’ve grown throughout the years,” Alford said, comparing the budget to previous teams. “Knowing college football, there’s a group that’s up there. There just is. I would love to be in that group. If I had the money we would spend in that group. There’s a group that’s up there, I’m talking seven schools, eight schools that are different.

“Then underneath that there’s another group of peers. I know that’s where we are, being competitive within that field. And able to compete. When I go through our schedule, in my mind, I’m kind of looking, ‘We’re more than them, we’re more than them, we’re more than them. We’re right with them.’ And then go through the list.”

Concrete data on football roster spending is tough to come by. There’s no public-facing database as in Major League Baseball or the NFL. But Alford said he and FSU administrators have tried to track down roster budgets.

“That’s something I talk to various ADs across the country, talking to agents, just getting a real idea of where people are and sharing that information,” Alford said. “We’re supporting as much as we can. When I get a dollar, I’m going to go to support the team and put the best team on the field that we can. We have been spending amongst some peers of ours that we play against and more than a lot of people that we play against.”

Alford reiterated, without naming reporters or rumors on social media, that often the data on a player’s salary or team’s budget is inaccurate.

Time stamps for Alford’s interview

0:40 - New stadium operations for Doak in 2026
2:35 - Thoughts on the new FSU football building
4:33 - An intangible value of the football building
6:15 - Tweaks to the game day locker room?
8:25 - A close team, what else stands out in practice?
11:15 - Desire for a salary cap database, FSU’s roster spend
14:40 - Viability of the PCSA legislation in Washington
16:50 - FSU basketball jersey patch deal, football jersey patch?
19:05 - Thursday weekly meetings with Mike Norvell

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