’Noles still miss administrator
TALLAHASSEE — Before longtime Florida State athletics administrator Monk Bonasorte died last year, Seminoles softball coach Lonni Alameda sent him an email one last time just to chat.
After all, it was one of their primary methods of communication. And she knows he read her message.
A year later, Alameda is still holding onto a folder of emails exchanged with Bonasorte in the past six years with no intention of deleting the memories.
Alameda has even kept a cardboard cutout of a young Bonasorte from his football days posing with his helmet given to her by his wife, Beverly, displayed in her office.
“The moment I start talking to him, I’ll really be in trouble,” Alameda said with a laugh this week. “As time goes on, you want to keep a very inspiring person’s motives alive. He was always motivating the kids to do the best they could on and off the field.”
Sunday marked a year since Bonasorte a former FSU All-American safety, president and executive director of FSU’s Varsity Club and senior associate athletics director overseeing internal operations died following a battle with brain cancer at the age of 59.
Bonasorte’s presence and impact around the FSU athletic program has been sorely missed.
“The players love him and the people love him. His life was for Florida State,” Seminoles football coach Jimbo Fisher said. “They all loved him and once you meet him, you always love him. He meant so many things to so many different people.”
TJ Bonasorte, Monk’s son and recruiting assistant for the football team, said the first few months without his father were rough on his family after his passing in hospice care last November.
While the Florida and Orange Bowl games last year provided a helpful distraction, the Bonasortes have really gotten back into the swing of things during this football season, he said.
“It’s been different, you know? Not good, not bad,” he said. “It’s just been different.”
TJ Bonasorte misses having his father around to simply talk football on a personal level, especially in his new role with the team, a request his father had for Fisher before his passing.
While TJ Bonasorte enjoys his new role assisting FSU coaches recruiting potential Seminoles, the position also brings frequent conversations with people who kindly share words of sympathy and old stories of his father. He appreciates reminiscing about the past.
“It hasn’t really hit me as hard as I thought it would,” TJ Bonasorte said. “He’s always going to be a part of my life even if he’s not here. He’s always around. Even though he’s not physically here, he’s in my heart.
“And even with the people here, you see a lot of my dad in them because he’s helped bring this family atmosphere. A lot of this family atmosphere at Florida State really does help a lot with the coping. Anything you need, all of these people will take care of it.”
Like Alameda, Fisher was also in constant communication with Monk Bonasorte to bring improvements to the football program, developing a close friendship since Fisher joined the program in 2007.
They were never afraid to go toe to toe on issues they had differing opinions on, but Fisher always appreciated Bonasorte’s insight and support.
“We were really good friends, and he meant a lot and did a lot for us,” Fisher said. “Just bouncing ideas off of, and you could know he would carry the ball for you in getting things done in the administration.
“It’s been a huge loss not having him. I loved him so much. He and I became really great friends, and I have a lot of respect for him.”