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Bowden era faces ugly end, but it's time to get on with it

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Bowden has done nothing wrong – unless you consider getting old to be a crime – but the consequences of FSU's slide into mediocrity are undeniable.

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By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2009

Updated: 10/05/2009 11:24 pm

I guess we always knew it would come to this for Bobby Bowden. Even with boosters howling and his friends openly saying it's time for him to move on as Florida State slips toward another mediocre season, Bowden makes it clear he plans to keep on coaching.

He's a stubborn man, always has been. That was a lot more charming when the Seminoles were winning a lot, but now it's just one more obstacle that has to be overcome by people demanding change in Tallahassee.

It's sad to know they probably will succeed.

Even worse, I don't think it's wrong.

The great ones - and Bowden surely is that - tell you when they're ready to go, not vice versa. That's especially true in bad times, and these are surely those for the Florida State football program he built from the ashes into one of the great ones of its era.

The Seminoles are 2-3, their worst record at this point since 1976 - Bowden's first season in Tallahassee. They were physically dominated by USF at home. They are 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. And what once was merely whispered has now become a thundering chorus demanding change at the top.

Steve Ellis of The Tallahassee Democrat reported that FSU trustee chairman Jim Smith said boosters are "not paying to support an average or mediocre program. We're paying for a quality program and we're not getting that right now."

Smith told the newspaper that negotiations are under way to turn the program over to "coach-in-waiting" Jimbo Fisher after this season.

Smith is not some goober upset at a couple of losses. He is a rational professional who served Florida as secretary of state, attorney general and chief of staff for the governor. If he is speaking out this way, you know it's probably beyond the point of salvage for Bowden.

This sounds like a done deal to me.

I can't imagine what the meeting will be like if FSU President T.K. Wetherell has to tell Bowden his time is up, nor can I imagine why Bowden would want to put himself in the position of having to hear that message. Bowden's departure from the sideline that bears his name should come complete with well-meaning speeches, thank-you gifts, balloons and tributes.

Even now, though, Bowden insists he will leave when he's darn good and ready - not before. His contract gives him the option to return in 2010, but it's not that simple. FSU's defensive staff is headed by longtime coordinator Mickey Andrews and is loyal to Bowden. Fisher's influence is over the offensive staff.

The mixed marriage isn't working.

But how do you, in essence, fire a man who built this program from nothing? Bobby Bowden's name is on the stadium. His statue overlooks the program. Everything that FSU football has, it owes to Bobby Bowden.

Ah, but that works two ways now, doesn't it?

Bowden's loyalty to FSU runs just as deep and right now the best thing for the program is to reach a resolution that looks to the future. Since the Seminoles have cast their lot with Jimbo Fisher, putting FSU through another dysfunctional year should not be an option - for the school or for its legendary coach.

I really hope Bowden's persistence is a simple case of pig-head and not some refusal to concede the all-time victory race to Joe Paterno. Even if Bowden finishes with more wins - he currently had 384 victories, three less than JoePa - so what? Bowden's legacy is secure no matter what his victory total might be.

But FSU is living in the past, to the 1980s and '90s when the Seminoles finished in the Top 5 for 14 consecutive years and were automatic national title contenders. Did you see the way South Florida just beat up the Seminoles up in Tallahassee? That's a shocking measure of how far FSU has slipped.

The idea of Bowden being chased from the sidelines by angry boosters is repulsive, but the notion of an out-of-touch icon staying on well past closing time is equally sad. The only one who can stop this is Bobby Bowden.

I hope he does.

I also don't think there's a chance in the world he will.

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