Randall William Spetman (born December 30, 1952) is an American college

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

who was most recently athletic director at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

from 2008 to 2013. Spetman has also been the director of athletics at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

and the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

. He was a vice president of the

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 ins ...

during the 2009–10 academic year.

Early life, education, and military career

Spetman was born in

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

. He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1971 and the

in 1976. While at the Academy, he played at

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Air Force Falcons football The Air Force Falcons football program represents the United States Air Force Academy in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. Air Force has been a member of the Mountain West Conference s ...

team from 1973 to 1975. Spetman has

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s from

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

and from the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

. After graduation from the Academy, Spetman spent 28 years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

as a pilot. In addition to being an assistant coach for Air Force football, Spetman served in the Air Force in various capacities, including Chief of Bomber Planning in Operations

Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and Chief of the Command and Control Division, Operations Directorate of the

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russi ...

Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart (; Swabian German, Swabian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fe ...

. Spetman retired as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

in April 2004.

Athletics administration career

Beginning in August 1995, Spetman was associate athletic director at Air Force before being promoted to athletic director effective March 1, 1996. In 2000, Spetman hired Joe Scott to be

Air Force Falcons men's basketball The Air Force Falcons men's basketball team represents the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Clune Arena and are members of the Mou ...

coach and in 2002 signed Scott through 2008. On October 15, 2003, Spetman announced his retirement effective in December. In March 2004, three months after Spetman's retirement, Scott led Air Force to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 40 years.

president

Kermit Hall Kermit Lance Hall (August 31, 1944 – August 13, 2006) was a noted legal historian and university president. He served from 1994 to 1998 on the Assassination Records Review Board to review and release to the public documents related to the assa ...

hired Spetman on June 18, 2004 to be athletic director effective July 1. By 2007, Utah State had won four WAC championships and had a conference-best 78 percent graduation rate. Spetman became athletic director of

on February 4, 2008, hired by president

T. K. Wetherell Thomas Kent Wetherell (December 22, 1945 – December 16, 2018) was an American politician and educator. He served as member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1980 to 1992, and was president of Florida State University from 2003 thro ...

. In July 2008, Florida State hired

Lonni Alameda Alana Maree "Lonni" Alameda (born June 11, 1970) is an American softball coach who is the current head coach at Florida State. She has been head coach at Florida State since 2009, in addition to the USSSA Pride of National Pro Fastpitch from 2016 ...

as head softball coach, following the retirement of longtime head coach Joanne Graf. Alameda would go on to win five consecutive ACC Coach of the Year honors from 2013 to 2017 and the

2018 Women's College World Series The 2018 NCAA Division I softball tournament was held from May 18 through June 6, 2018 as the final part of the 2018 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining ...

title. After the resignation of longtime head coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

, Spetman promoted offensive coordinator

Jimbo Fisher John James "Jimbo" Fisher Jr. (born October 9, 1965) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies Football, Texas A&M Aggies. Previously, Fisher was the head coach at Florida State Seminol ...

as the new

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Colle ...

head coach in December 2009. The ''

Tallahassee Democrat The ''Tallahassee Democrat'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper. It covers the area centered on Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida, as well as adjacent Gadsden County, Jefferson County, and Wakulla County. The newspaper is owned by Gannett Co., ...

'' reported that Bowden made the decision to retire following a meeting with Wetherell and Spetman. Fisher would take Florida State to three straight bowl victories and two ACC Atlantic Division titles, with top-ten year-end rankings after the 2012 season. On June 5, 2013, new Florida State president

Eric Barron Eric James Barron (born October 26, 1951) is an American academic administrator who was the 18th president of the Pennsylvania State University from 2014 until 2022. Previously, he was the 14th president of Florida State University and director ...

reassigned Spetman to a special advisor role for the remainder of his contract that would expire in February 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spetman, Randy 1952 births Living people American football defensive ends Air Force Falcons athletic directors Air Force Falcons football players Florida State Seminoles athletic directors Utah State Aggies athletic directors Central Michigan University alumni Naval War College alumni United States Air Force colonels Sportspeople from Council Bluffs, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa Military personnel from Iowa