Would, could Stew Morrill follow his former AD?

Disclaimer: this is pure speculation, we repeat, pure speculation. Do not mistake the following as having any basis or foundation or written because of any sort of a tip or inside knowledge.

Okay, we have that squared away so read on if you wish:

Since the Utah State Athletic Director Randy Spetman recently accepted the same post at Florida State will he attempt to entice Stew Morrill to Tallahassee? Hat tip to our buddies at www.bleedcrimson.net for planting the question in our brain.

Spetman is a retired Air Force colonel who also was the AD at Air Force. We think his hire will get the A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N of the Seminole coaches and players, even including Bobby Bowden.

But first let's focus on FSU men's basketball.Leonard Hamilton's squad is currently 14-10 overall, 3-6 in the ACC and Hamilton has been reduced to a cipher visibly nationally, regionally and statewide by the gigantic shadow of Billy Donovan.

Not that it's Hamilton's fault or he deserves such status -- it's just reality.

The state of Florida and the surrounding states have numerous talented prospects annually but FSU is not even close to be a 'prime player' regionally, let alone nationally. Hamilton is 87-71 in six seasons at FSU and his previous tenure at Miami also wasn't tremendously successful either. Plus, Florida State loses most of its leading scorers after this season so the future doesn't bode well.

Maybe the focus on the troubles (on the field and off, plus in the classroom) primarily with the FSU football program will spare Hamilton. Who knows? Bobby Bowden's annointed successor is already assisting him -- Jimbo Fisher is the FSU offensive coordinator and next in line -- so there's not much for a new AD to do personnel-wise in order to put his respective stamp there.

A brand new AD usually wishes to have his own head football coach in place but Spetman won't be getting that chance. However, getting Bowden to retire will take quite the time and effort.

So where does that leave Spetman? His work is cut out for him in raising the public stature of FSU athletics out of the mud, keeping the police blotters clear of any name of FSU student-athletes and upgrading the levels of donations but how about the tangible that even the most casual of fan follows -- won-loss records?

Stew Morrill could make much more money in the FSU position if so inclined but is he at an age (55) where the financial doesn't concern him anymore?

He's also been a western kind of guy geographically his entire coaching career -- Big Sky, Big West, WAC, Gonzaga, Montana, Colorado State, Utah State -- this after being born in Provo.

There is also a question of how Morrill would 'play' as a recruiter for an ACC school. He's sort of a 'old school' kind of coach -- not sparing the feelings of his crew -- a trait that typically works well with less than stellar players. Such an approach doesn't always jibe with high-level talent and big potential guys -- the kind Morrill would need to land to get FSU more competitive in the ACC.

A Coach K, a Roy Williams, a Tom Izzo can 'get away' with that type of manner because of the stature they enjoy. A relative unknown to any sort of a national audience or awareness, Morrill would be at the very least a questionmark in that regard.

Could he also be 'sold' to the basketball boosters, the big donor crowd? It's easy to believe that most would be asking 'Stew who?' This despite Morrill's immense credibility in the college coaching ranks.

The guess here is that Morrill is also a member of the LDS faith and, who knows, but that could be an initial negative factor in ACC country.

Of course, winning cures most things and a sector of any group of boosters will dance with the devil or someone they perceive as such as long as he or she produces victories.

Now there's no doubt Morrill gets the most from his players and his kids develop. They also graduate. There's also no doubt he demands positive behavior and hands out disciplinary actions when lines are crossed. There's no muddying the water in this aspect -- Morrill keeps his expectations clear cut.

We think Morrill to FSU would be a grand experiment if indeed Leonard Hamilton is pink-slipped -- something not factual at this moment and an event that simply may not occur.

But ultimately, we see Morrill being a square peg for a round hole in Tallahassee -- FSU isn't a good fit for him.

Someone who seems a natural would be VCU's Anthony Grant. Grabbing the young coach who was going to take over for Billy Donovan -- well, that would be the ultimate touche to FSU's bitter rival.