FSU trustee: Bowden era should end this season

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Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Sunday he isn't planning on quitting anytime soon.

That could leave school officials in a difficult situation.

Florida State is 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 questions about his future at a program he transformed into a collegiate powerhouse.

On Sunday, Jim Smith, the chair of the university's Board of Trustees, told the Tallahassee Democrat it's time for a change.

"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," said Smith, according to the newspaper. "... 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.

"But 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."

Smith confirmed to the newspaper that Florida State president T.K. Wetherell and legal counsel Betty Steffens have been working with Bowden's successor, Jimbo Fisher, to finalize a head coaching contract.

Fisher was named head coach in waiting in 2007. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper reported that the deal would be for at least five years.

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

It was not clear if that deal would start next season.

After Saturday's 28-21 loss at Boston College, two Florida newspapers, including the hometown Democrat, also said Bowden should call it a career at the end of this season.

"The love and admiration we all have for Bobby doesn't put fans in the seats, money in the coffers or national championships in the trophy case," Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi wrote. "Bobby used to be able to do all those things, but clearly he cannot anymore."

Steve Ellis, the Democrat's beat writer who frequently doubles up with opinion pieces, wrote that Florida State must make a tough decision while Bowden's successor, Jimbo Fisher, calls the plays for the offense.

"It is time," Ellis wrote in Sunday's edition. "This should be Bowden's last season."

Bowden's 384 wins are three fewer than Penn State coach Joe Paterno, the career leader in victories among major college coaches. Bowden turns 80 in just over a month, and has a contract that gives him the option to return in 2010 -- but no later, or the school will have to pay Fisher a $5 million bonus.

Bowden, known for his glib, affable personality, said Sunday that he'd make the decision on his future in conjunction with the university president when the time is right.

"We are the ones who will determine what we do and what kind of progress we make," Bowden said. "I will determine my situation. I won't let some guys' speculation tell me when to move."

Thousands of Florida State fans on Internet sites share the opinion of Ellis and Bianchi, that the strange two-headed coaching arrangement isn't resulting in wins.

And Florida State's season doesn't get any easier when No. 22 Georgia Tech comes calling Saturday night, in a game that will be televised nationally. Suddenly, avoiding the Seminoles' first losing season since 1976 could become the only goal left.

"We've still got a lot of games to play," Bowden said. "We've got to stay the course and try to get better in the areas we're getting beat."

Still, Bowden realizes that another loss in the league would make it nearly impossible to get back to the ACC title game for the first time since 2005.

"You simply can't give up," he said. "I refuse to."

 

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FSU won't ask Bowden to step down

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will not be asked to step down this season.

Bowden's contract runs through the 2010 season.

A succession plan for coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher to assume greater responsibility before next season has been discussed, though, according to the source.

If Bowden stays for the 2010 season, the source said, Florida State officials want a plan in place in which Fisher would have control over the Seminoles' football operations -- for example, recruiting, coaching and practice.

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. FSU has begun working on the structure of a five-year pact that would settle how much Fisher is to be paid when he takes over, a person familiar with those discussions told ESPN's Joe Schad on Monday.

Bowden said Sunday he isn't planning on quitting anytime soon, but the chair of the university's board of trustees said Monday that the arrangement with Bowden as head coach and Fisher as offensive coordinator isn't working.

"We've got too many bosses out there," chairman Jim Smith told The Associated Press. "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."

 

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Florida State: Bowden still the coach

Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said Wednesday that football coach Bobby Bowden's job is safe for now.

In a release Wednesday from the university, Wetherell said the football coaching situation will be re-evaluated at the end of the season. Wetherell reiterated that offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher will be the next head coach when Bowden leaves and that the university will begin work with Fisher on an agreement to that end.

"FSU does not make coaching changes in the middle of the season," Wetherell said. "What message would it send to anyone -- friend or foe -- to do that at this time?"

Although many boosters and fans have become disgruntled with the slide of the program, Wetherell made it clear he is sticking by the 79-year-old Bowden. The Seminoles are off to their slowest start since Bowden's first year at the helm in 1976.

"His character and commitment to excellence has always been the signature of his career," said Wetherell, a receiver at Florida State when Bowden was an assistant at the school in the mid-1960s.

"Two years ago coach Bowden and I, and others, stood together and announced that we were beginning a period of transition for the football program," Wetherell said. "That plan is in place and will produce results, given the opportunity and support."

Wetherell's statement, however, left the door open for Bowden to retire at the end of the season.

"Any coach can choose to retire at any time," Wetherell said. "However, it is the athletics director's responsibility to determine which coaches are hired and which contracts are extended."

Speaking on the ACC's teleconference Wednesday, Bowden said he appreciated the president's support.

"I think he's wise and I'm very thankful," Bowden said. "Our players, we tell them don't pay any attention to that stuff, just concentrate on your next opponent, and I'm sure that's what they'll do."

Florida State hosts No. 22 Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Bowden said he would let his boss know when the season is over if he wants to return for the 2010 season, the last year on his contract.

"If I was 40 years old I'd be shakin' in my boots," Bowden said, "but I'm 79. I've been through it. Most of my coaching is behind me. It don't bother me that much. The only thing I worry about or am concerned about is it a distraction for my team? And it isn't. I tell them what to listen to, what not to."

Bowden's future at the school came under scrutiny this week when the chairman of the university's trustees, Jim Smith, said the coach who once made the Seminoles a national powerhouse should leave after this season and that the Bowden-Fisher arrangement is not working.

The coach's 384 coaching victories are second all-time only to Penn State's Joe Paterno among major college coaches. Bowden has repeatedly indicated he plans to coach through the 2010 season. Fisher's present contract calls for the school to pay him $5 million if he is not the head coach by January of 2011.

Bowden briefly met with Wetherell on Monday, a person close to the coach told ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach, but the two did not discuss Bowden leaving after this season.

One of their discussion points was Smith's remarks that a coaching change needed to be made.

"I don't think they're going to make him quit and I don't think he wants to," a person close to Bowden told Schlabach. "If the season ends on a down [note], I think he'll do exactly what he's always said he'll do -- he'll leave on his own terms. He's going to retire soon, but nobody wants to make it an ugly departure."

According to the source, Bowden remains convinced the Seminoles can turn their season around.

"He told TK, 'Don't you quit. We have a season to save. We have some games to win,' " the person close to Bowden said.

One person who is close to Bowden told ESPN's Joe Schad: "This has the feel of a painful corporate squeezeout. I think they're going to take Bobby's authority away to the point where it's nearly impossible for him to come back next season." Another Florida State trustee, Leslie Pantin, does not agree with Smith's statements and issued a statement of his own to ESPN on Wednesday.

"I think we should strengthen Jimbo Fisher's position as the next head coach," Pantin said. "However, I do believe we should honor FSU's agreement with Coach [Bobby] Bowden through the end of the 2010 season."

Fisher, Bowden's offensive coordinator, was designated the head coach-in-waiting in 2007. If he does not succeed Bowden at the end of the 2010 season, Florida State -- under the terms of its agreement with Fisher -- would have to pay him $5 million. FSU has begun working on the parameters of a five-year deal with Fisher, Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat recently.

"It's all about them not winning enough games. Everybody thought they'd be over the hump and playing better. But nobody has said, 'Bobby, it's over at the end of the season.' He has told them, 'I'll talk about it at the end of the year,' " the person close to Bowden told Schlabach.

Anxiety in Seminole Nation has reached a crescendo recently.

"It's just really sad because he has propelled FSU into a national power and we just haven't been there for really eight years now," Ron Sellers, a record-setting wide receiver from 1966 to '68, told Schlabach. "I really don't know what's compounding the problem.

"It's just a sad time. I guess that people want Bobby to step down gracefully, and I want what's best for Florida State University. I'm just really saddened by where we are. I'm hurting as much as all the Seminole Nation. It's bad. The last two Saturdays have been bad. Something is amiss, and I'm not sure what it is. But we can't keep going in the direction it's going."

Sellers, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988, still attends FSU football games regularly. He was at the Seminoles' 19-9 victory over FCS opponent Jacksonville State on Sept. 12, when FSU had to score two touchdowns in the final 35 seconds to avoid the worst loss in Bowden's tenure.

"I saw too many dropped passes, too many fumbles, too many guys dropping punts and too many people missing tackles," Sellers said. "We're just a team in disarray."

Redshirt junior defensive back Ochuko Jenije told ESPN.com's Heather Dinich that the team is trying to put its attention into preparation for the Tech game.

"[The coaching situation] hasn't really been a distraction," Jenije said. "We know how things are in the college football world. It hasn't really been a distraction. We just let them do their talking. We're just going to focus on getting better and getting the man some wins."