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Recruiting Trail Is Closer To Home

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 21, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Bobby Bowden did something Friday he said he hasn't done in "probably 10 or 15 years." The Florida State coach spent the evening under Friday night lights at a couple of Tallahassee-area high schools.

Bowden started at Tallahassee Lincoln, a school the Noles have always recruited heavily, and then traveled south to Wakulla High, approximately 25 miles away on mostly two-lane roads. Still, Bowden and assistants Mickey Andrews and Chuck Amato somehow made the trip in half an hour.

"We had a little highway patrol - in front of us, not in back of us," Bowden quipped.

Why was Bowden out recruiting the night before FSU's 24-16 win against Maryland on Saturday? Well, if the 78-year-old is going to get that final shot at another national title, he knows the journey must start on the recruiting trail. But more specifically, Bowden is determined to refocus FSU's recruiting efforts closer to home.

In recent years, some of FSU's most prized recruits have come from far away, including QB Chris Rix and RB Lorenzo Booker from California, and DB Myron Rolle from New Jersey. During the past two decades, Bowden said FSU has branched out to find players far from home the way other national programs have done in the past, such as Alabama under Bear Bryant.

"We've done what a lot of schools do, which I'd like to get back away from," Bowden said. "You start getting good, and the first thing you know, a kid up in New York wants to come here. And then there's a kid in California that wants to come here. And then there's a kid in Denver that wants to come here.

"You end up going and get those guys. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We've talked to our coaches. Let's concentrate more on Florida. Let's concentrate more on Georgia. I'd like to get all our kids out of Florida."

BOWL PROJECTIONS: Win or lose Saturday at Florida, the Noles are bowl-bound for the 26th consecutive season. Where are they going?

Most projections have them going to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn. - Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina are potential opponents - or the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. Rutgers and USF are possible opponents there, but FSU officials appear to favor playing an SEC team in Nashville if an offer is extended. Stay tuned, because the projections change from week to week.

NOLE NUGGETS: Men's basketball coach Leonard Hamilton received his sixth commitment for the 2008 recruiting class Tuesday when former Jacksonville Raines and current Iowa Western Community College point guard Derwin Kitchen verbally committed, according to Iowa Western coach Jim Morris. ... Bowden told the audience at his Monday luncheon that redshirt freshman QB De'Vontrey Richardson is now the third-string QB behind Drew Weatherford and Christian Ponder. What does that mean for Xavier Lee? Most likely goodbye very soon unless Lee improves his academic status and is willing to change positions. ... Duncan (S.C.) DE Everett Dawkins has verbally committed, making him the 19th commitment for next year's class.

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