Dadgummit!

Slow start amplifies Bowden criticism
ESPN.com news services

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Sunday he isn't planning on quitting anytime soon, but the chair of the university's board of trustees has seen enough of the man who transformed the program into a collegiate powerhouse.

"My hope is frankly that we'll go ahead, and if we have to, let the world know that this year will be the end of the Bowden era," chairman Jim Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat on Sunday. " ... I do appreciate what he's done for us, what he's done for the program, what he's done really for the state of Florida.



"I think the record will show that the Seminole Nation has been more than patient. We have been in a decline not for a year or two or three but I think we're coming up on seven or eight. I think enough is enough."

Bowden will not be asked to step down this season, a source told ESPN's Shaun King on Tuesday.

Bowden's contract runs through the 2010 season. Bowden had no comment Monday night.

Interviewed by The Associated Press on Monday, Smith said the arrangement with Bowden as head coach and his successor, Jimbo Fisher, as offensive coordinator isn't working.

"We've got too many bosses out there," Smith said. "Jimbo is in a very, very tough situation where people assume he has a whole lot more authority than he really has. He's getting blamed for a lot of things that's just not his fault."

The Seminoles are 2-3 for the first time since Bowden's inaugural season at the school 33 years ago, and 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time, prompting commentary about his future.

Smith confirmed to the Democrat that Florida State president T.K. Wetherell and legal counsel Betty Steffens have been working with Fisher to finalize a contract for him as head coach.

"The president intends to announce we've negotiated a contract with coach Fisher," Smith said, according to the newspaper.

Fisher was deemed the head coach-in-waiting in 2007. If he does not succeed Bowden at the conclusion of the 2010 season, Florida State -- under the terms of its agreement with Fisher -- would have to pay him $5 million.

It is expected that the plan, when formalized, would also give Fisher the authority to make staff decisions as early as the end of this season -- such as choosing the replacement for retiring defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews.

With the pressure mounting on her husband, Ann Bowden told the Orlando Sentinel that Bobby has been betrayed by Smith and other boosters.

"I am angry," Ann Bowden told the newspaper on Monday. "I'm angry at some of our boosters that Bobby has worked for and supported, raised money for. And he's been such a top quality person, such great character and everything for this university. And for them to turn their back on him like that -- I don't care if he is 80 years old ... ."

Is it just me or are people starting to treat Bowden like a completely senile old guy? Making quotes about Bowden's future and making back room deals with Jimbo Fisher is sort of the equivalent of talking about Grandpa's persnickity nature while he's still in the room. We live in such a throwaway culture.

Far be it for me to tell any fan how he should feel about his favorite program. I'd like to think they would have more loyalty to a guy who is single handedly responsible for the success of the program, but I'm also the guy who called for a coach with a 9-3 record to be run out of town on a rail. But if the fortunes of my Huskers and the Seminoles were reversed, I can't imagine Tom Osborne being treated this way. But of course Osborne knew when to walk away. I hope this works out for Bowden because there is no other active coach I respect more than him. Good luck Coach Bowden!

P.S. - This is the kind of guy Bowden is. Watch it.