By Ira Schoffel, Tallahassee Democrat
In the final days before they nailed down their 2011 recruiting class, which eventually would be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the country by a variety of recruiting services, Florida State's football coaches were frantically trying to tie up loose ends.
Through the extensive use of chartered planes and jets, Jimbo Fisher and his assistant coaches scurried back and forth across the Southeast and into Texas, Oklahoma and New Jersey.
In those crucial two weeks before signing day, from Jan. 14 through Jan. 29, Fisher and his staff chartered 13 flights. They all were for just one day — simple in-home visits to make sure the prospects' commitments were solid — but they came at a price.
According to documents obtained by the Democrat through a public records request, nearly one-quarter of Florida State's annual football recruiting budget — roughly $115,000 — was spent on those private flights. That's four times what the Seminoles' annual recruiting budget is for sports like baseball, golf and volleyball.
According to athletic department policy, three Florida State coaches — Fisher, men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and women's basketball coach Sue Semrau— can ask athletic director Randy Spetman for permission to fly via chartered plane for recruiting purposes, so long as it fits within their overall budget.
Because basketball coaches sign only a handful of players each year, it stands to reason they have far fewer requests. Hamilton took advantage of that privilege just three times in 2010-11, and Semrau abstained completely. Fisher and his staff, meanwhile, took 30 chartered flights at a total cost of more than $200,000.
"We don't like to charter," Spetman said. "But sometimes you have to because he (Fisher) has requirements for practice — and he's got to get there and get back."
The flights have not been limited to Fisher, however. The Seminoles also have chartered planes to ferry multiple assistant coaches around the state at the same time.
In mid-December 2010, during the height of recruiting season, four assistant coaches hopped on a chartered plane from Tallahassee to St. Augustine. One assistant stayed there while the other three headed south to West Palm Beach. Then two of the assistants stayed in West Palm while the remaining assistant made a quick trip down to Miami and back. Then those three returned from West Palm to Tallahassee.
The total trip cost $6,985 for less than five hours of actual flying time, but Fisher says the convenience of getting several coaches to different parts of the state in one day is worth the expense.
One day later, assistant coaches D.J. Eliot, Odell Haggins, Mark Stoops and James Coley took a chartered flight to West Palm Beach at a rate of $4,895. And on the very same day, quarterbacks coach Dameyune Craig was on a separate chartered flight to Mobile, Ala.; that trip cost $3,413.
Those were among the least expensive trips during the time in question. In mid-January 2011, Fisher and offensive line coach Rick Trickett flew together on a chartered jet, a Cessna CJ2, to Pensacola and Mobile, Ala. The entire trip took 1.9 hours of flight time — it might have taken eight hours round trip by car — but it cost the athletic department $13,016.34.
Fisher, who has overseen a total makeover of Florida State's recruiting efforts in his three years as head coach, makes no apologies for relying so heavily on the expensive, private flights. Because they provide flexibility with schedules and destinations, Fisher said they are invaluable during the six-week winter contact period, when he and other head coaches are allowed to make in-home visits with prospects and their families.
"With the time constraints, you physically can't do them (without chartered flights)," Fisher said.
While it might not seem all that cumbersome to either fly commercial or drive occasionally, he said neither is a viable option in most cases. Because the NCAA allows a head coach only one opportunity to visit any particular recruit and his family, Fisher said the entire trip has to be built around the recruit's family members' schedules.
"First, you have to find out when can the kid meet with you," Fisher said. "Now, when does the mom get off work? When's the dad get off work? And what if it's a split family, which a lot of them are. … And if I make contact with any one of them, I'm done with that group. I can never go back (per NCAA rules). So I have to have them all at one time."
What that means is Fisher's schedule typically is dictated by the requests and demands of the recruits' families and coaches. When he can knock out two or three of those visits in one day, he said, that's his goal.
"I've got to be at Miami at 8, I've got to be in Naples at 12, and I may have to be in Tampa at 4," Fisher said. "And I go, 'Boom. Boom. Boom.' "
But there are instances when that's not feasible. And while Fisher understands why people might question his need to fly on a chartered plane to nearby destinations like Lake City or Mobile, Ala., he said it's necessary to keep up with his hectic schedule.
If he were to drive to visit a prospect in Mobile and begin his trip home at about 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., for example, he wouldn't arrive in Tallahassee until the early morning hours.
"You say, 'Well, it's three hours away,' " Fisher said, "but the next morning, I'm leaving at 5. Do that (by driving) about four days and you can't function."
Spetman said the situation is compounded by the fact that there are few cities that offer direct commercial flights to and from Tallahassee.
"Everywhere you go, you've got to go through Atlanta," Spetman said. "If you get him (Fisher) stuck there, what do we then? When your football coach has got to be at practice the next day and break down the film, and he's stuck in Atlanta overnight?"
Still, there is no denying the tremendous cost associated with chartered trips — many of which end up costing even more because of incidentals.
When Fisher flew to Jacksonville in early January, the flight should have been about $2,500. But an additional $600 was added because the plane's two pilots needed day rooms to rest because Fisher spent more than 10 hours on the ground. That fee is determined by FAA rules.
FSU had to pay the same charge on a $5,252 trip to Fort Lauderdale and Miami in mid-January. And when he flew to Lake City in January, he was billed an extra $100 because the airport had to be kept open later than normal.
Through the extensive use of chartered planes and jets, Jimbo Fisher and his assistant coaches scurried back and forth across the Southeast and into Texas, Oklahoma and New Jersey.
In those crucial two weeks before signing day, from Jan. 14 through Jan. 29, Fisher and his staff chartered 13 flights. They all were for just one day — simple in-home visits to make sure the prospects' commitments were solid — but they came at a price.
According to documents obtained by the Democrat through a public records request, nearly one-quarter of Florida State's annual football recruiting budget — roughly $115,000 — was spent on those private flights. That's four times what the Seminoles' annual recruiting budget is for sports like baseball, golf and volleyball.
According to athletic department policy, three Florida State coaches — Fisher, men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton and women's basketball coach Sue Semrau— can ask athletic director Randy Spetman for permission to fly via chartered plane for recruiting purposes, so long as it fits within their overall budget.
Because basketball coaches sign only a handful of players each year, it stands to reason they have far fewer requests. Hamilton took advantage of that privilege just three times in 2010-11, and Semrau abstained completely. Fisher and his staff, meanwhile, took 30 chartered flights at a total cost of more than $200,000.
"We don't like to charter," Spetman said. "But sometimes you have to because he (Fisher) has requirements for practice — and he's got to get there and get back."
The flights have not been limited to Fisher, however. The Seminoles also have chartered planes to ferry multiple assistant coaches around the state at the same time.
In mid-December 2010, during the height of recruiting season, four assistant coaches hopped on a chartered plane from Tallahassee to St. Augustine. One assistant stayed there while the other three headed south to West Palm Beach. Then two of the assistants stayed in West Palm while the remaining assistant made a quick trip down to Miami and back. Then those three returned from West Palm to Tallahassee.
The total trip cost $6,985 for less than five hours of actual flying time, but Fisher says the convenience of getting several coaches to different parts of the state in one day is worth the expense.
One day later, assistant coaches D.J. Eliot, Odell Haggins, Mark Stoops and James Coley took a chartered flight to West Palm Beach at a rate of $4,895. And on the very same day, quarterbacks coach Dameyune Craig was on a separate chartered flight to Mobile, Ala.; that trip cost $3,413.
Those were among the least expensive trips during the time in question. In mid-January 2011, Fisher and offensive line coach Rick Trickett flew together on a chartered jet, a Cessna CJ2, to Pensacola and Mobile, Ala. The entire trip took 1.9 hours of flight time — it might have taken eight hours round trip by car — but it cost the athletic department $13,016.34.
Fisher, who has overseen a total makeover of Florida State's recruiting efforts in his three years as head coach, makes no apologies for relying so heavily on the expensive, private flights. Because they provide flexibility with schedules and destinations, Fisher said they are invaluable during the six-week winter contact period, when he and other head coaches are allowed to make in-home visits with prospects and their families.
"With the time constraints, you physically can't do them (without chartered flights)," Fisher said.
While it might not seem all that cumbersome to either fly commercial or drive occasionally, he said neither is a viable option in most cases. Because the NCAA allows a head coach only one opportunity to visit any particular recruit and his family, Fisher said the entire trip has to be built around the recruit's family members' schedules.
"First, you have to find out when can the kid meet with you," Fisher said. "Now, when does the mom get off work? When's the dad get off work? And what if it's a split family, which a lot of them are. … And if I make contact with any one of them, I'm done with that group. I can never go back (per NCAA rules). So I have to have them all at one time."
What that means is Fisher's schedule typically is dictated by the requests and demands of the recruits' families and coaches. When he can knock out two or three of those visits in one day, he said, that's his goal.
"I've got to be at Miami at 8, I've got to be in Naples at 12, and I may have to be in Tampa at 4," Fisher said. "And I go, 'Boom. Boom. Boom.' "
But there are instances when that's not feasible. And while Fisher understands why people might question his need to fly on a chartered plane to nearby destinations like Lake City or Mobile, Ala., he said it's necessary to keep up with his hectic schedule.
If he were to drive to visit a prospect in Mobile and begin his trip home at about 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., for example, he wouldn't arrive in Tallahassee until the early morning hours.
"You say, 'Well, it's three hours away,' " Fisher said, "but the next morning, I'm leaving at 5. Do that (by driving) about four days and you can't function."
Spetman said the situation is compounded by the fact that there are few cities that offer direct commercial flights to and from Tallahassee.
"Everywhere you go, you've got to go through Atlanta," Spetman said. "If you get him (Fisher) stuck there, what do we then? When your football coach has got to be at practice the next day and break down the film, and he's stuck in Atlanta overnight?"
Still, there is no denying the tremendous cost associated with chartered trips — many of which end up costing even more because of incidentals.
When Fisher flew to Jacksonville in early January, the flight should have been about $2,500. But an additional $600 was added because the plane's two pilots needed day rooms to rest because Fisher spent more than 10 hours on the ground. That fee is determined by FAA rules.
FSU had to pay the same charge on a $5,252 trip to Fort Lauderdale and Miami in mid-January. And when he flew to Lake City in January, he was billed an extra $100 because the airport had to be kept open later than normal.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com
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