The FSU alum and former Arkansas State AD now faces the job of finding Mike Norvell's replacement at football coach.
Florida State has its new athletic director. The Seminoles are set to hire Jeff Purinton, a former Arkansas State AD and FSU alum, ending a search that had dragged on while the football program sat without direction at the top.
Purinton's first order of business arrives immediately: finding a replacement for Mike Norvell, whose exit leaves the Seminoles needing a new football coach. That search was effectively on hold until the school settled on its athletic director, and now the real work starts.
For FSU, getting the AD hire done is a formality compared to what comes next. The football coaching search carries far more weight for a program that has leaned on its football identity for decades, and Purinton inherits that pressure on day one.
No timeline has been given for how quickly the coaching search will move, but the expectation is that it becomes the immediate focus now that the administrative piece is in place.