Florida State interim AD Vanessa Fuchs has "hit the ground running," and her main goal is to "emphasize that the coaches have the support of administration, but to also let them know that 'we’re not in a holding pattern here,'" according to Bob Ferrante of FOXSPORTSFLORIDA.com. Fuchs has "built a good working relationship with many administrators in the Moore Athletic building, and she plans to lean on them." Fuchs is leading an athletics program "just 12 years after she last stepped off the basketball court as a Seminole." She is the "first woman to be leading Florida State athletics and is one of seven female athletics directors among the 124 schools that competed at the FBS level this year." It is "clearly a bittersweet time for Fuchs, who emphasized her respect and admiration for the man she replaces, Randy Spetman." Fuchs has "enjoyed a relatively quick rise in athletics administration since graduating magna cum laude from Florida State in 2001." FSU President Eric Barron has "not given a timeline for hiring a permanent athletics director, and the process is still in the early stages." A hiring committee has "not yet been established, so it’s clear that Fuchs is running the program at least into the fall sports season." She will be "given a chance to earn the full-time job." Being an AD, "even on an interim basis, will also help Fuchs achieve her ultimate goal: to become a Division I conference commissioner" (FOXSPORTSFLORIDA.com, 6/20).
