Sports Sense

Florida State’s loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday may be the defeat that effectively ends Bobby Bowden’s coaching career.

With the loss Florida State falls to 2 – 4. This is the school’s worst start in 30 years.

This loss, 49 – 44, comes in the midst of a brewing drama in Tallahassee about the coaching future of Bowden. Last week the president of the board of trustees called for this season to be Bowden’s last. Things got so bad that even Bowden’s wife publicly lashed out at her husband’s critics.

But let’s not kid ourselves, the 79 year old Bobby Bowden knows he’s in trouble, and he knows that this time its serious. These losses are a huge weight around his neck that will serve as justification for those who want to see an elderly Bowden step down.

It is really difficult for any coach past the age of 70 to have a real hold on the job. No aging coach is immune from that fact. But with that said the simple way for the aging coach to keep the wolves at bay is to keep winning. And even that only lasts so long. The cruel fact is once you get to a certain age, even winning isn’t enough.

In just a couple of years, believe it or not, we will be asking these very same questions about Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

Coach K is already the ultimate coaching icon, with three national championships to his credit, he is just a year removed from winning an Olympic gold medal coaching the U.S. men’s basketball team. But in time Coach K’s accomplishments will be forgotten by some and will be found irrelevant by others. This is what is happening to Bobby Bowden now.

Which beg the questions: How do you properly say goodbye to a legend? How do you force out the man who singlehandedly changed the fortunes of Florida State football? I guess you just do it and deal with the consequences later. The powers that be at Florida State are working on those questions now.

This is where things stand with Bobby Bowden, who has now given his critics all the ammunition they need to force his exit.

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The other day I wrote about Joe Paterno, one of the great coaching icons who is still getting it done at Penn State at age 82. But another senior citizen coach is not faring nearly as well.

Florida State’s Bobby Bowden is facing the inevitable end of his coaching career. Calls for his ouster are getting louder than ever.

Questions about Bowden’s tenure are happening during a season that started with great promise but is now quickly unraveling. Florida State has just two wins and three losses this season.

The losses have dampened enthusiasm for the team and have made the soon to be 80-year old Bowden especially vulnerable to calls that he step down.

On Monday the chairman of the university’s board of trustees made it clear that he wants to see Bowden gone at the end of this season. The school already has an agreement with a coach in waiting in offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, who is to be paid a reported penalty of 5 million dollars if he is not named Florida Sate’s head coach by the 2010 season.

But indications are Bowden wants to keep coaching. Which means it is looking more and more like it won’t end smoothly for either Bowden or Florida State.

There have been many great teams at Florida State. For years, from the seventies thru the nineties, Bowden’s Seminoles would finish no worse than the top ten. Florida State won national championships in 1993 and 1999. That defined success at Florida State. But now it seems those were many years ago.

The central figure in all of Florida State’s football success has always been Bobby Bowden. Bowden remains down home and syrupy, the epitome of “Aw shucks,” which only enhances his engaging personality.

But most importantly Bobby Bowden has been a big winner. He is number two on the all-time major college victory list behind Joe Paterno. And like Paterno did at Penn State, Bowden singlehandedly built Florida State into a national power.

The folks in Tallahassee want a winner again,. They look across the state at the University of Florida and wonder why they can’t do what the Gators are doing.

The University of Miami appears to be re-emerging. And it doesn’t help that upstart South Florida is also starting to make a name for itself. Which puts even more pressure on the historical expectations at Florida State.

I know age is a factor in pushing Bobby Bowden out. There aren’t too many coaches his age. Only one I can think of. But Florida State was a powerhouse. The Seminoles aren’t any longer. That’s as big a factor as anything.

So as much as I feel for Bobby Bowden and his desire to continue coaching, change sometimes has to be forced. Even if in some eyes it might be too soon or for the wrong reasons.

UPDATE

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DavidBurnett Coaches, College Football Bobby Bowden, Coaches, Florida State, Joe Paterno

Last week Florida State University safety Myron Rolle delayed a trip to Maryland with his teammates in order to interview for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. Myron’s decision to take the interview proved to be a wise one. He won both the scholarship and the game. Soon he will have to make another decision: whether to study at Oxford University for several years or study formations in the NFL.

Make no mistake, Myron Rolle is an elite athlete and will likely make an immediate impact as a pro player. But more importantly he is also a special scholar who after less than three years in college has already earned his bachelor’s degree and is working on a master’s. It is my hope that after this season he goes to England as one of those rare Rhodes Scholars on his way to becoming the physician he’s always dreamed of being.

Myron Rolle, the son of Caribbean immigrants, wants to be a medical doctor even more than he wants to play in the NFL. It is his lifelong ambition.

If Myron plays NFL football that will be a bonus. But I believe pro football can and should wait. Myron’s special gifts are his brain power, his will and his determination – attributes that other athletes should emulate and fans should take special note of and cheer for.

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David Burnett Academics, College Football Florida State, Myron Rolle, Oxford, Rhodes Scholarship