Stan Wilcox – Seminole Post

Florida State AD Stan Wilcox updates Doak Campbell Stadium renovations

Florida State athletic director Stan Wilcox is pleased with the progress of the renovations to Doak Campbell Stadium and already is looking toward the next round of upgrades.

“Once this is completed then we move onto the next phase and that is figuring out how we do the rest of the bowl and possibly looking into doing club seating on both east and west sides of the bowl,” Wilcox said last week from the ACC meetings in Amelia Island.

Wilcox said everything is “on track” for the completion of the new Champions Club, an $80 million renovation on the south end of the stadium that is expected to be completed for the Sept. 10 home opener against Charleston Southern.

The Champions Club includes more the 5,000 outdoor seats, 70,000 square feet of air conditioned space and 34,000 square feet of covered rooftop terraces.

The opener also will be the day fans get their first look at new state-of-the-art, LED videoboards. The new main board in the north end zone will be about 78.4-feet tall and almost 120-feet wide, about three-times larger and two-times higher than the old system.

Additionally, FSU will upgrade, replace and expand more than 320 linear feet of LED ribbon boards throughout the newly constructed canopy and south end zone.

The work also includes the removal of all the bleacher seats to be cleaned and a lot of other upgrades throughout the stadium.

Florida State’s Wilson Bell, Katherine Plessy representing athletes at ACC spring meetings

Florida State athletes Katherine Plessy and Wilson Bell at ACC spring meetings.

AMELIA ISLAND – Two Florida State athletes – football player Wilson Bell and beach volleyball player Katherine Plessy – were among the five athletes on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee who attended the ACC meetings.

Bell, the Seminoles starting right offensive guard, is one of three ACC athletes on the Autonomy Committee. They hold voting power on proposed NCAA rule changes under the Division I autonomy process. They are invited to attend various ACC governance meetings and participate as members of the voting delegation at the 2017 NCAA Convention.

Bell and Plessy participated in meetings this week to fight for athletes rights.

“It’s a great opportunity to get our voice out there and let them understand we have needs and wants,” Bell said. “Sometimes a coach’s idea, what’s best, is not similar to ours.”

Bell is a rising redshirt junior from Mobile, Ala. He is majoring in communications/English. He is on schedule to graduate next spring.

Plessy, from Marietta, Ga., will be a fifth-year senior in the fall. She is four-time member of the President’s List (4.0 GPA) and three-time member of the Dean’s List. Plessy is the acting president of SAAC at FSU and the ACC.

“They have strong opinions,” FSU athletic director Stan Wilcox said. “They’re both very good advocates and they speak their minds.”

Bell, who started every game last season, called it a “Godsend” when he was recommended to join the committee.

“I always wanted to help implement rules,” he said. “I felt this is the best opportunity to do so. When I got in SAAC I really liked we were trying to make a difference for my fellow student-athletes.”

Coach Jimbo Fisher is not surprised Bell is part of a leadership committee.

“Tremendous human being,” Fisher said. “You hope you raise your kids just like him. He has the right values, principal core values of everything he does.”

Plessy is preparing for an internship this summer with the NCAA.

“SAAC is the reason I met as many people as I did, it’s the reason I’ve been able to develop as a leader,” she said. “SAAC is really what’s made me stand out. It’s taught me how to do so many things that I’m going to have to do in the real world.”

Florida State installing LED video boards at Doak Campbell Stadium

Florida State will be unveiling 9,368 feet of state-of-the-art LED video boards this season at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Athletic Director Stan Wilcox made the announcement, saying the screens have been approved and should be ready for the Sept. 10 home opener against Charleston Southern.

FSU opens the season five days earlier (Labor Day) against Mississippi in Orlando.

The entire structure in the stadium’s north end will be over 78.4-feet tall and almost 120-feet wide. The system is three-times larger and more than two-times higher than the old system. It will boast a true high-definition image (1080p) which represents more than a 250 percent increase in overall resolution.

The new 35-foot high by 74-foot south end zone board will also include a true high-definition image (660p), 300 percent larger and a 250 percent improvement over the previous board. The new LED screens represent some of the largest and highest resolution screen systems in any college football stadium.

Additionally, FSU will upgrade, replace and expand more than 320 linear feet of LED ribbon boards throughout the newly constructed canopy and south end zone.

“We are pleased to be taking another step in making the football game day experience for our fans, season ticket holders, student body and student-athletes the best that it can be,” Wilcox said . “While our former video boards were state-of-the-art when installed, the image quality of the new boards will be second to none.

“The addition of these new boards, along with the new Champions Club, the new sound system, and other planned improvements, will make the Doak Campbell experience as exciting as it has ever been.”

Florida State donated its old south end zone scoreboard to FAMU.

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