JONESBORO -- The setting for Monday afternoon's news conference could not have been lost on Jeff Purinton.
Arkansas State's 13th athletic director stepped onto the stage inside the Red Wolves' football team meeting room, gazing out on a nearly packed house.
Football had brought him to this moment.
Purinton, 46, had spent nearly three decades immersed in the sport, working under two Hall of Fame coaches -- Bobby Bowden and Nick Saban -- and for a pair of programs -- Florida State and Alabama -- elevated because of those men.
ASU didn't solely hire Purinton because of football.