Bye-Bye Bobby (Daggummit!)

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Bobby Bowden announced yesterday that he will retire at season's end. That doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the pressure he was receiving from FSU president T.K. Wetherell, and athletic director Randy Spetman. I am one of those people who said he has earned the right to retire whenever he wanted. How could you not extend that courtesy to the man who built the FSU football program into what it is today?

Imagine this scenario: The year is 1975, you are the athletic director of a school whose football program has won four games in the previous three years combined. You are looking to hire a new football coach to take over next season. In walks Bobby Bowden, a coach who had 9 winning seasons out of his 10 as a head coach. He makes the following offer: "Listen here. If y'all hire me, this is what I'll do for ya. I will coach for 34 years, and only the first will have more losses than wins. Within two years, I'll get this team to win 10 games and a bowl game. 'Fore long, I'll get my boys to win 11 straight bowl games. This program will become one of the elite programs in the whole daggum country. We will win two National Championships, and spend a 14 year stretch finishing in the top 5 of the AP poll. And by golly, this program will be infinitely stronger than when I walked in here today. There is one catch though: three of my last four seasons here will end with FSU unranked in the AP poll. Whadda ya say?"

Do you take it? Damn right you do. Anyone with half a brain would take it. That is why I find it so mind-boggling (and frankly, disappointing) that the powers-that-be at FSU have so quickly forgotten that Bowden did more for the entire university than any other man before him. If you think his impact was only on the field you are clueless. His football success brought the national visibility and income to help FSU grow by leaps and bounds as an educational institution.

Here is some perspective on how great Bobby Bowden actually was at FSU. 1987-2000 was his best stretch, and arguably the most dominant in college football history, here is a quick comparison against the 10 other most prestigious programs in college football:

Total Domination

We will NEVER see a stretch like that again in college football. EVER. One thing that is particularly telling is the bowl streak. Give Bowden a few weeks to prepare, and the opposition doesn't stand a chance. His overall bowl record was 21-10-1.

Coaching Accomplishments:

~ 2nd most coaching victories in Division 1-A with 388 (Joe Paterno 392) .

~ One of three active coaches elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

~ National Coach of the Year award winner in '79, '80, '91, '96, '99.

~ Coached the Seminoles to 2 national titles ('93, '99).

~ 1999 Seminoles were the only team to spend every week of the season at #1 on the AP poll.

~ Set NCAA record with 11 consecutive bowl victories (14 consecutive without a loss).

~ Led Seminoles to 28 consecutive bowl games (Longest streak in NCAA).

~ Played for a National Title 5 times since 1993.

~ Led Seminoles to 6 BCS bowl games (2nd most).

~ 41 winning seasons out of 43 years as a head coach.

After 33 years of such success, people associated with Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles have become spoiled. After getting to the pinnacle of collegiate football success, how do you stomach three seasons of less than 8 wins? Why would you settle for anything less than the delicious taste of contending for a national title every year? It's simple. You do it for the same reason you wear that goofy-looking reindeer sweater that Mima crocheted for you for Christmas when you were 17. You do it because no matter how many times Pop-Pop called you John-Roby-John, it can never come close to being as important as all the things he did for you growing up. You do it because without him, there is no way you would have become the man you are today.

Now that he is gone, you are still getting called by the wrong name. But now it is by your asshole boss who is calling you "Rodney"; only, he never even knew your name in the first place.