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FSU's Andrews key part of Bowden legacy

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Corey Clark

Tallahassee Democrat

Published: November 3, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - He doesn't have his own statue.

Or a field named after him.

His name doesn't appear on any lists for all-time winningest coaches and there are no pictures of him hoisting a crystal football high in the air.

But he's a part of it all.

Without defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, it can be argued, Florida State never becomes Florida State. Bobby Bowden never reaches legendary status. No statues are built. No fields are re-named. No dynasties are declared. No national championships are celebrated.

"The dynasty does not happen without him," said Keith Jones, a defensive back in the pre-Andrews days who has been the color analyst for FSU games on Sunshine for more than two decades. "He's as integral a part of that as Coach Bowden."

Andrews has intimated more than once that this will be his final season in the garnet and gold. He could make an announcement as early as today.

In a bitter twist of irony, the veteran coordinator has the statistically worst defense since the year he joined Bowden, in 1984.

But Andrews, Jones says, shouldn't be judged by the two bookends to his Florida State career. Instead, judge the books in the middle.

That's how Andrews should be remembered - by the dynasty years, the first-round draft picks, and the vice-like pressure his defenses routinely imposed on opposing offenses and rattled quarterbacks.

"I hope and I think fans will look at Coach Andrews' body of work," Jones said. "We were just as fortunate to have him as we were to have Coach Bowden."

Bowden wasn't a legend in 1984. He was the head coach of a good, but not great, college football program. He had teams that were exciting to watch offensively in the early 1980s, but his defenses were routinely torched on Saturdays. It made for some exciting wins – such as a 47-46 win over East Carolina and 40-35 victory over LSU – and some embarrassing defeats – such as a 55-21 loss to LSU and 53-14 loss to Florida.

It was after that 39-point romp by the Gators in the 1983 regular-season finale Bowden began searching for a new defensive coordinator.

A few months later, the future legend made a legendary hire.

Nothing has been the same.

"You knew one thing when you lined up against the Seminoles," said Bill Curry, longtime college coach and ESPN analyst, "if you let them get a lead, get out to a lead, that defense would shut you down. You just had that expectation. Fourteen years inside the Top 5? You don't do that without great defense."

And great players. Andrews would be the first to admit he has been blessed throughout his career with terrific athletes. He's had 18 NFL first-round draft picks during his tenure in Tallahassee, 72 total draft picks and 59 All-Americans.

But those great players didn't just show up in Tallahassee as finished products. They were molded, sometimes in not-so-pleasant tones, by a coach who accepted nothing less than their absolute best effort. On every play. In every drill. Of every practice.

"It didn't take me long to realize I should heed his teaching," said one of those former first-round picks, Terrell Buckley, now an assistant strength coach on the FSU staff. "It became very clear what he wanted and what he didn't want and I tried my best to stay away from what he didn't want."

Buckley was immensely talented when he arrived at Florida State in the summer of 1989. But he wasn't a great cornerback. Not then. Not until Andrews, who also serves as the team's secondary coach, got a hold of him. Three years later he was the Thorpe Award winner. And a millionaire.

"You don't teach talent," Buckley said. "Coach Andrews says that, that he doesn't teach talent. But he refines it. He teaches angles, awareness, toughness. He's tough on guys, but as a teacher and a coach his goal is to bring (talent) out."

Which is what the Bear Bryant disciple has been doing for more than a quarter century in Tallahassee.

His ability to maximize talent - turn good players into great ones and great ones into superstars - might be Andrews' most important quality as a defensive coordinator.

"You can recruit great athletes, but you're not going to win if you're only getting 70 percent of what they can do," Jones said. "You win more games with that good athlete giving it his all.

"And those kids wanted to play for him. They didn't want to disappoint him."

They played as if they were shot out of cannons at the snap of the ball.

The calling card for all of the great FSU defenses of the dynasty era was speed. Pure, raw speed. At every position on the field.

But the card wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the attitude the defensive coordinator instilled in those speedsters.

"You knew they would flat get after you," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, whose teams have been facing Andrews-coached defenses for more than two decades now. "He always had good players and a lot of great players, but the one thing that's carried over all those years was how much they played with effort."

Said Curry: "They came at you so fast. And played so hard."

Because they didn't want to disappoint their coach.

It's pretty remarkable in this era of college football that an assistant as successful and well-respected as Andrews never left for a head coaching job. He stayed in Tallahassee. Stayed with Bowden. Stayed with the program he, truthfully, helped build.

"Mickey is and was so loyal to Florida State and to Bobby," Curry said. "I'm sure it crossed his mind. I'm sure he was approached. But I'm not surprised he would stay.

"It's heartwarming to see, especially for Florida State fans, I'm sure."

Said Jones: "It speaks to his integrity. He's got this sometimes well-deserved reputation of being gruff and ornery, but once you are around him, once you spend some quality times with him, his heart, his integrity and his love for the student-athlete are absolutely apparent.

"That's why the kids will go to war for him."

Twenty-six years later, Bowden is still reaping the rewards for his hire after the 1983 season. The living legend might have the statue, he might have the field, he might have all of those wins by his name, but he knows first-hand just how important it was to have his loyal lieutenant by his side for all of these years.

"I think Mickey is the spearhead behind our success," Bowden said. "Because if you don't play great defense, you don't win."

Said Buckley: "When people think of Florida State, they'll think of Coach Andrews. They are forever linked."

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