Noles try belatedly to pull the knife out of Bowden’s back
The dumped-on Bobby Bowden now sees "Seminole Nation" as a house divided.
In an attempt to defuse the backlash over the clumsiest and ugliest forced retirement in college football history, Florida State president T.K. Wetherell released the following statement just moments ago: “Coach Bobby Bowden is a friend of mine, as a mentor and coach since my freshman year at FSU in 1963. His character and commitment to excellence has always been the signature of his career. Two years . . .”
You know what? Forget the statement.
If you want to read it, here’s the link. In short, it’s a 477-word stall that basically says, “Please stop making jokes about us. Go Noles! We gladly accept cash, checks or credit cards, and in exchange we’ll give you a foam tomahawk. Go Noles! We’ll tell you the rest in January. Go Noles! Did we mention how much we love Bobby?”
Deion Sanders had several moments as a "me" guy when he played, but he came through for Bowden.
Georgia Tech plays Florida State Saturday. I figure the Jackets have a good chance to win because the Seminoles’ home field advantage disappeared about the time some chump from the Board of Trustees duct-taped Bowden to a desk chair and pushed him down the stairs. That’s also about the time a student — maybe related to the chump from the Board of Trustees — asked fans to wear black shirts at Saturday’s game and created a Facebook page called, “Black Out Doak for Change.”
As of this morning, the page had 4,742 members.
I guess everybody else is going to class.
FSU has botched this whole thing. Now it’s trying to undo the damage and it’s too late. The Tallahassee Democrat reports the school is working on a new contract with failed-coach-in-waiting, Jimbo Fisher. And here’s the really fun part. Assuming Bowden coaches in 2010, Fisher might still basically be calling all the shots in the program, be it how the coaching staff is structured, game plans, recruiting and what color tape is used to tape ankles.
Bowden? I think he still gets a whistle. But the little ball will be taken out, so it won’t make a sound.
I’ve got to hand it to former Falcons, Braves and Noles star Deion Sanders. He showed he can still perform in the clutch with these comments to the Democrat: “It just angers me that you are going to kill a man while he’s alive. At least have a proper funeral for him. He’s still living. He can see how you are treating him. It angers me because I know what he means to me and the generation before me, and the generation after me. To disrespect him in this manner and place the blame on him for the football program, that’s ignorant.”
It’s a divided school, a divided fan base and possibly a divided team. This is well-timed for Tech.
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87 comments Add your comment
MattyB
October 7th, 2009
12:24 pm
Dollars to dimes, Fisher’s gone by the end of the week.
DamYankee
October 7th, 2009
12:25 pm
Now I see how you get to be first – waste time at work! Ooops, here comes da boss!
College Sports Nut
October 7th, 2009
12:28 pm
Perhaps FSU shoulc change Coach Bowden’s title to Head Football Coach Emeritus.
JZNole
October 7th, 2009
12:29 pm
At what point does actually winning football games become important. Excluding the Jax State near disaster, FSU has lost 4 straight home games against Div I schools. That’s just not acceptable for anywhere but Duke. Bowden has said that if he’s not winning he doesn’t want to be coaching anymore. Bobby, I love ya, but, follow your own advice!
From the Orlando Sentinel – “Throughout the years, Bobby has said that if his program ever fell into a state of disrepair and mediocrity, he would hang it up. He has said in the past that when his program started going downhill, he would “get out and let some young guy do it.” He said when a “pattern of losing” developed, it would be time for him to step down. After going 8-4 way back in 2001, Bobby cracked that if the Seminoles suffered another such subpar season, “It might be time for ol’ Robert to step down.”
collegeballfan
October 7th, 2009
12:34 pm
You have to know when to fold ‘em. Like many in many professions Bobby Bowden did not know. Me? I knew & did so.
Damn shame. When he went to FSU, the ‘Noles became the most exciting thing in college football for years.
Jeff Schultz
October 7th, 2009
12:45 pm
College Sports Nut — I like that. I mean, if colleges are going to hire coaches-in-waiting like FSU, they might as well name incumbent “Emeritus.”
JZNole — Nobody said winning games wasn’t important. But that doesn’t justify this. As far as the program falling into disrepair and mediocrity, I’m not sure PennSt was in any better shape a few years ago under Paterno when they were trying to run him out.
woody
October 7th, 2009
12:51 pm
Bowden is a classless redneck. He makes FSU look really bad.
His name should never be mentioned in the same sentence as Joe Paterno’s. Especially since some of his wins with with Samford.
Retire Bobby you scum.
midnite
October 7th, 2009
12:51 pm
Truer words of wisdom from Deion have never been spoken.
wooley
October 7th, 2009
12:53 pm
Schultz
I see you’re jumping on the Bradley bandwagon. What’s the deal with the paper’s obviously slanted bias towards Georgia Tech. I’m so sick of this crap. There is only one school in the state of Georgia and it’s THE University of Georgia. Revenge is heII boys.
Monty
October 7th, 2009
12:56 pm
Enter your comments here
By Bobby’s own standards, he needs to go. He is only in it for himself at this point. That has been evident for years-case in point is the miserable experiment with Jeffie as OC. If Bobby hadn’t been forced on that issue, Jeffie would still be mucking it up for the ‘Noles.
leland
October 7th, 2009
12:59 pm
I agree with Deion: it’s an awful thing to kill a man while he’s still alive.
Paddy
October 7th, 2009
1:03 pm
Woody, would you have the guts to say those same words to Bobby’s face? My guess is not a chance. You can not be more wrong about this man. But yes, he needs to retire.
Chris
October 7th, 2009
1:03 pm
The big 10 ain’t the acc and playing fla every year. plus 8 years ago was 8 years ago. bowden is what? 80? good grief that is too old. and when you lose 4 games in a row at home excluding the near disaster to jax, how is that not mediocre jeff? splain that? gt is going to destroy this team. what a great time to play them.
Metal Jacket
October 7th, 2009
1:08 pm
Bowden is a great man. FSU should have offered him another position, like UGA did Dooley, in order to get him away from the side line.
Burdell in WPB
October 7th, 2009
1:08 pm
Sorry Jeff, FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Jim Smith is not a chump. They’ve been tiptoeing around the issue for years and it was about time somebody started the ball rolling to get Bobby to move on. Going back to the prolonged problems with Jeff Bowden as OC, and the mediocre results of the 2000’s, I’m glad somebody in a position of authority finally quit walking on eggshells around the whole situation.
Chad
October 7th, 2009
1:08 pm
All i have to say about st bobby is
Free shoes
peter warrick and dillards
hundreds of arrests by players some despicable acts
trying to take out danny weurffeul’s knees
the on campus player brawl a few years ago
players cheating in an online sports class???
this ath dept is a joke. show me anywhere where one of these student athletes has done anything outside of pro sports. i can show lots of ga tech and ga athletes who went on to the next level. there’s a reason why they are called crimiNOLES
GatorNation
October 7th, 2009
1:11 pm
Bowden is in a no win situation. His name and dignity is all but tarnished. This program is too far gone for him to bring it back, unlike Paterno. It is aweful that it’s come to this but he has stayed way too long. This program has almost hit rock bottom. I don’t know how much further it could go. Jimbo doesn’t look like the answer but who is?
Chad
October 7th, 2009
1:12 pm
All i have to say about st bobby is
Free shoes
peter warrick and dillards
hundreds of arrests by players some despicable acts
trying to take out danny weurffeul’s knees
the on campus player brawl a few years ago
players cheating in an online sports class???
this athletic dept is a joke. show me anywhere where one of these student athletes has done anything outside of pro sports. i can show lots of ga tech and ga athletes who went on to the next level. there’s a reason why they are called crimiNOLES
Phinfan
October 7th, 2009
1:13 pm
Without Bobby you seminholes would just be another Duke and this column wouldn’t exist. Thanks for the memories…..drifting into ones golden years. It’s a GAME…what happened to appreciation and honor.
kim
October 7th, 2009
1:14 pm
Mark Richt come back home to FSU and clean up this mess. Ga doesnt want you. We do!
Chan
October 7th, 2009
1:15 pm
There’s a reason they’re called crimiNOLES
BoKnows
October 7th, 2009
1:15 pm
So is this the same Deion Sanders that mentored Noel Divine and steered him away from FSU because Deion felt that FSU wasn’t a good place for the young man to play? Sanders is an idiot and if you agree with “Primetime”, that must mean… FSU isn’t producing on the field. They haven’t been since 2000. Thats long before Fisher ever got there. $2.5 million is a lot to pay someone who is neither coaching or winning much. Its not Bowden’s program, since it belongs to the fans and students who invest money into it.
reebok
October 7th, 2009
1:16 pm
Wait – you can kill a man when he’d dead? Who knew?
Tech will hang 450 yards ON THE GROUND on FSU Saturday night. Plus Josh will go 2-for 11. Both completions will go to Bay-Bay. Tech 38-21. GO JACKETS!!!
Tech75
October 7th, 2009
1:18 pm
Great non-sequitur from Deion, although he probably doesn’t realize it. LOL
Pi$$onaDawg
October 7th, 2009
1:28 pm
JEFF what game are you looking at for this week? UGA, GT, UF, OU, ND, and Boise St. would make a good pick 6 college.
Ted Striker
October 7th, 2009
1:37 pm
Wetherell’s statement was wide-right.
I hope Bobby goes undefeated the rest of the year and then refuses to coach in a bowl game.
J Dub
October 7th, 2009
1:43 pm
Great decision Greg Reid!!
TechCrybaby
October 7th, 2009
1:44 pm
While poor old Bobby Bowden is getting kicked around, does any one recall all those kind words he spoke about the opponents after each and every game? I appreciated that.
John
October 7th, 2009
1:46 pm
Enter your comments here And tell me why Jimbo Fisher is failed coach in waiting? Mr. Schultz was this an instance of you having to be serious or were you making some kind of existential, nihilistic joke?
Father of 5
October 7th, 2009
1:50 pm
This situation is different from every single other school except PSU. Bobby cannot be fired. He has a statue, stained glass, and a field named after him. He will not leave until he decides to leave, and he has never cared what others think — that’s part of what makes him the greatest coach ever. He beat the Evil Genius Spurrier two thirds of their games, including the last game of the season when Spurrier had the best QB in the country. Bobby will not be influenced by sportswriters — he is not Saban or Meyer. He is way out of their league. Other coaches get run out of town when they lose; Bobby’s contribution means way more than wins or losses. I would never trade Bobby for a souless snake-oil salesman like Saban or Meyer, no matter what it means to the win column. Seminoles stand for something different.
Blue
October 7th, 2009
2:03 pm
The Big 10 ain’t the ACC? Yeah…the ACC has won SO many national championships in the last 20 years. You guys are a power house!
mcdaviddawg
October 7th, 2009
2:21 pm
This whole mess is because Bowden won’t go gracefully, he’s had a good five years to make an exit and he’s still here. This is Bowden’s problem not the school’s. This is much like Dooley staying around too long while he picked up everything that wasn’t nailed down. These guys don’t own the program and now we show if they won’t quit gracefully there is no good exit for the school.
Toe Meets Leather
October 7th, 2009
2:22 pm
Florida State will have no choice to “let go” of Bowden once his ‘Noles get stung Saturday night by the Jackets.
“Toe Meets Leather” – the first sports art of Tech’s 1990 win over then-#1 Virginia – is NOW AVAILABLE at http://www.stinGTess.com!
Chris
October 7th, 2009
2:47 pm
And what does your pathetic big 10 do? Lose to an sec team only because you play no one in your conf and some crap ohio st team gets in because the media portrays them as good. they couldn’;t even beat a weak lsu team 3 years ago. the big 10 is a joke from top to bottom. if you played the acc or sec in top to bottom head to head matces you would get crushed just like in hoops. my point was also fsu plays fla every year you dope.
it’s easy to go 7-1 in the big 10. what a crap conference. ooh purdue. ooh indiana almost beats michigan. oooh minnesota. ooh mich state. oooh wisconsin barely beats fresno at home. ooh iowa. barely beats n iowa. what a joke of a conference.
Willy MUSCHAMP
October 7th, 2009
2:47 pm
What is a coach in waiting, kind of like vice-president?
GO Yellow Jackets, the only ranked team in the state.
JOSTENS
October 7th, 2009
2:53 pm
Hello, this message is for the Georgia Tech athletic dept. Your order for the “We beat FSU 45-0″ “October 10th, 2009″ Rings are ready for pick-up. As we mentioned, the last time when we delivered the “We beat the Tar Heels” victory rings our delivery truck driver got mugged and your status has been changed to a high crime zone. If not picked up by this Friday 5:00 PM the rings will be recycled just like the “We beat Miami” rings.
ben
October 7th, 2009
2:55 pm
OK, FSU, I watched Alabama, Texas and now Notre Dame wander into the football wilderness thinking that they could replace a legend with the snap of their fingers. After 10 years of being a mediocre program, maybe the loudmouths will appreciate Bobby a little more.
gdawginkalamazoo
October 7th, 2009
2:59 pm
Let the man finish this season.
Hillbilly Deluxe
October 7th, 2009
3:07 pm
The man put FSU on the map. True he’s seen his better days but what would be the harm in letting him finish the season. And whatever happened to not airing your dirty laundry in public. To the member of the Board of Trustees who started all this, it could well be that some day it’ll be your back somebody is slipping the knife into. You meet the same people on the way down that you did on the way up.
Ga boy
October 7th, 2009
3:08 pm
Schultz- you don’t have a clue what you are talking about pal. You have no idea what has happened over the last 8 years. By all means please continue to sniff his jock and bow at the shrine of himself that he has created- with the help of all of you in the media by the way. It comes down to whether Bowden is a tenured (FOR LIFE) head coach. I don’t think he is- neither is anyone else. But he thinks he is. That is the whole issue in a nutshell. Your ignorant comments about FSU say much more about you than they do about the University.
Ga boy
October 7th, 2009
3:10 pm
PS I love the victim comments on here about Bobby- oh lordy if you people only had a clue.
Otto
October 7th, 2009
3:27 pm
Bowden is taking the heat, but what if it turns out that Jimbo is the problem? which, I bet it is. Bobby can still recruit and given an OC that he can work with win games. The Jimbo coach in waiting experiment has clearly failed. Paterno won their competion on that move alone. It has created a division in leadership at FSU.
BnB
October 7th, 2009
3:29 pm
Poor Bobby Bowden who has probably benched a million kids in his day due to lack of performance. Why, shouldn’t the entire college football be delighted to continue pouring millions of dollars into the bank accounts of he and his children until he and his children tell them when they are ready for them to stop? sorry…it’s a frosty business and Bobby’s aw shucks routine was transparent fifteen years ago. A state funded university has to answer to someone other than its highest paid employees and their lackeys.
Ga boy
October 7th, 2009
3:37 pm
Otto said
Bowden is taking the heat, but what if it turns out that Jimbo is the problem? which, I bet it is. Bobby can still recruit and given an OC that he can work with win games. The Jimbo coach in waiting experiment has clearly failed. Paterno won their competion on that move alone. It has created a division in leadership at FSU.
Bowden has not recruited in years(except occasionally) Paterno hired new good coaches and replaced his son as OC, unlike Bowden who held the University up to pay his son Jeff a half a million to finally leave and has not replaced poor coaches and even brought back Chuck Amato(fill in your favorite name here). Sorry, but thanks for playing.
booger
October 7th, 2009
3:49 pm
so we’re going to go pee on the statue of Bobby outside Doak? Some football fans are without class. It will be interesting to see how many wear black Saturday night.
TK has spoken, deal with it, miserable unhappy nole fans who adored him not too long ago. No instant grats here for the rabid.
It will be interesting to see if the players have pride Saturday night – they have the ability, but will they have the motivation.
Suggest that the bees don’t pile on and get them angry.
chad's an idiot
October 7th, 2009
3:56 pm
Chad –
You poor, pathetic soul! I honestly feel bad for you that you’re so ignorant! Do you realize that MOST college players get gifts, deals, etc. Everyone just likes giving the seminoles a hard time (btw…criminoles… i’m so impressed with the originality. it must have taken a long time for some idiot to come up with that one!). I’m not saying any of it’s right, I’m just so sick of hearing everyone pretend like they’re team can do no wrong! Your players are just as guilty sweetheart; they’re just not on the front page. Hate to break the news to ya! But you can continue to be ignorant and believe the things you’re preaching.
To every true Bobby/FSU supporter out there… I’m loving the comments. I’m so disappointed in the people who are just abandoning the dedication that should go to a legend! I’m a true nole (seen the good and the bad), and I still support Bobby 100%! Yes… it sucks to lose the games we’ve lost this season, but I would never place all the blame on Bobby for that.
And for those of you who question his character… have you ever seen We Are Marshall? Get a pen and a pad of paper and take some notes on Bowden’s actions and figure out how to be a generous and caring human being. Some of you idiotic men out there seem to have forgotten what a great man looks like.
You’re welcome for the lesson!
Otto
October 7th, 2009
3:56 pm
Actually Bowden has recruited. Bobby fired his son and Jimbo came in as coach in waiting. I am sure he would love to replace Jimbo but the contracts are rather stiff.
DC
October 7th, 2009
3:58 pm
Chad…with those comments you must be a gator fan. Speaking of arrests how many has there been since Meyers took over? 26 is it? People in glass houses you know.
Tech alum
October 7th, 2009
4:01 pm
Schultz- how is all of this “well timed” for Georgia Tech? I beg to differ.. Despite their woes over the last many years, I don’t think I can remember a situation where FSU lost 3 straight games. That is what they are facing Saturday and 2 losses in a row at home. Check some statistics and tell me the last time that happened to an FSU team. They also own us in recent history even though we finally beat them last year.
I believe my jackets win this game. But I think the timing here is awful.. the team will rally around their coach, they have PRIDE to play for, they rarely if ever lose 3 games in a row or 2 in a row at home, and they’ve got plenty of speed and athletes on both sides of the ball. You make it seem as though this game will be a cakewalk for GT.
chad's an idiot
October 7th, 2009
4:02 pm
thank you DC! I was trying to find the email my mom sent me with the link to the article so we could educate poor, pathetic chad!