Coach Bowden Needs To Be Forced Out

I no longer see why there should be much debate on this. When you are almost 80 years old, coaching college football is not where you need to be. 

I have been willing to try and not be too critical for years but lately I can't shake the feeling that I have just had enough of coach Bobby Bowden. I instinctively realized something was wrong when Jeff Bowden was hired as offensive coordinator. In my mind history shows my instincts were correct. 

Let us skip the debate on what coach Bowden has done for FSU and consider what he is going to do for FSU the next two years. He is going to be a further drag on the football program and the University itself. It is really that simple. To cut through the chafe I believe coach Bowden is operating on ego only at this point. I also believe two and one half millions dollars is hard to walk away from whether it is in the interests of the university or not. 

Now many people will say coach Bowden is an icon. Yes he is but let us look at a similar situation. At UF coach Steve Spurrier was also an icon. He made UF relevant in football really for the first time in it's history. When he left and was considering a return, University of Florida President Bernie Machen stepped in and drew the line. He wanted Meyer and that was it. There was no talk of what Steve had done for the program or icons. The bottom line was what will make UF a better football program. 

If you look around now, he was right. Steve Spurrier would not have won two national titles in three years. It simply would not have happened. What FSU has needed for some time is the same sort of decision making at the higher echelons of Florida State University. Some serious thought by the boosters should help. It is their money. 

I would hope they look at this carefully. Coach Bowden is not going to make the right decisions on his own. His contract is coming up for renewal. In the meantime we have not extended coach Trickett's contract. It is my opinion that reductions in salary should be considered for coach Bowden in order to keep coaches who are coaching at Florida State. 

If coach Fisher or Trickett bolted FSU at this point it would set the program back years. I really feel the ball is in the court of T. K. Wetherell and and boosters at this point. Give it some thought and do what is right.