Florida State Fans Calling for Bowden to Retire Are Out of Line

If I had a vote for the worst fans in college football this season, I'd give it to the Florida State boosters who want Bobby Bowden out as Seminoles coach.

Recently, some booster members wrote a letter to Florida State president T. K. Wetherell demanding that the 76-old Bowden "should retire or be forced to retire." Bowden, the all-time winningest coach in Division I-A history with 364 victories, indicated he has no intentions to step down, and the school has said it won't address the issue until the end of the season.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach attorney Peter Mettler wrote the following comments to Wetherell: "I am convinced and frankly have been for the last two seasons that coach Bowden should retire or be forced to retire. Someone has to stand up and make this difficult decision. As our president I urge you to be the leader I know you are, and do what has to be done."

That is a polite way of saying they want Bowden fired, which is another example why coaching a big-time college sports program is a tough business - spoiled fans with unrealistic expectations, namely win every game. It is inconceivable to me that these Florida State boosters want to throw Bowden under the bus. Talk about living in a what-have-you-done-for-me lately world.

There is no doubt the Florida State program has struggled in recent years, at least by the Seminoles' standards, and the criticism directed toward Bowden has grown louder. The basic gripe among Florida State fans is that the game has passed Bowden by, that he is too old to be on the sidelines. Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who is three years Bowden's senior, heard the same comments two years ago, but he silenced the critics by going 11-1 last season and winning the Sugar Bowl.

Florida State's program is a shadow of what it once was, but Bowden may be a victim of his own success. From 1987-2000, the Seminoles strung together an astonishing run of consistency unmatched in the history of college football. They finished ranked in the top five for 14 consecutive seasons and their record during that span was 142-19-1. Florida State simply wasn't going to maintain that kind of dominance forever but even so, it's not like the Seminoles have turned into Temple (which recently snapped the nation's longest losing streak of 20 games).

Might there be some validity to the criticism directed toward Bowden and Paterno? Perhaps. After all, they are a combined 155 years old.. If I was a Florida State fan, I probably also would want Bowden to retire. But you can't fire Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, who is the second-winningest Division I-A coach with 360 victories. You just can't, even if they went 0-12. They are iconic figures in the history of college football who deserve to go out on their own terms. That is the reward for all they have done for their universities. What they have given their schools is immeasurable. It's more than just national championships. In Paterno's case, he has donated millions of dollars to Penn State.

Is it time for Florida State and Penn State to bring some younger blood into their programs, to bring their offenses into the 21st Century? Probably, so maybe their wives can talk Bowden and Paterno into retirement (not likely). But again, it has to be their decisions and their decisions alone. Call it a lifetime achievement award.

As far as Paterno is concerned, you begin to wonder if he might literally die on the sidelines. The man turns 80 next month, and this hasn't been a great season health-wise for the legendary coach. During a September 23 game at Ohio State, he left the sidelines for the first time in his career due to lingering affects from the flu. New York Daily News columnist Dick Weiss reported that during a practice the following week, Paterno was bowled over by two of his players who were going out for a pass and was unable to run out with the team for that Saturday's game against Northwestern.

But the most recent incident was the scariest. Paterno suffered a broken tibia and ligament damage to his left knee in a November 4 game against Wisconsin, when Penn State wide receiver Andrew Quarless and Wisconsin linebacker Andre Levy plowed into the coach after Quarless was knocked out of bounds while making a reception.

For most of the following week, there was absurd talk that "JoePa" would coach against Temple from the press box (actually the Nittany Lions didn't need a coach against the hapless Owls) before Penn State doctors came to their senses and ordered Paterno quaranteed. Paterno is nothing if not tough but he also is 79 years old and is not supposed to put any weight on the leg for six weeks.

It is hard to imagine there will come a day when these two coaching giants aren't on the sidelines. I'll miss both a lot. Every college football fan will. I'll miss Paterno, the grouchy but still lovable curmudgeon chasing after referees, and I'll miss Bowden, the good 'ole boy, the guy with the straw hat and "aw shucks" manner

Dang gummit!