Bobby Bowden has been the coach of Florida State since 1976. He has over 360 career wins. The man even has a statue outside of FSU’s Doak Campbell Stadium. But now it is clear his better days are behind him.
Early Reaction to Jim Smith’s Comment: It’s About Time
National titles and top-ranked recruiting classes have been replaced in Tallahassee with dysfunction and incompetence. Bowden’s “Decade of Decline” has resulted in an upset fan base, angry donors, rumors of coaches fighting each other, players and coaches seen arguing on the sidelines at the recent Boston College game, inane quotes, and a recent 4-6 record the last 10 games against FBS teams. And those are just some of the transgressions highlighted in the impassioned post at Tomahawk Nation, where news of Jim Smith’s “enough is enough” statement is being met with relief, and hope that change is soon to come.
It started eight years ago with Bobby Bowden hiring friends over the most qualified available coaches. It cast doubt in the mind’s of Florida State fans as Bowden strong-armed the ’Nole’s administration to skirt state nepotism laws and have his son hired as offensive coordinator.. It continued with poor recruiting evaluations and lazy, outdated recruiting practices. It snowballed with a general decline in passion for coaching and the corresponding drop in effort and accountability. A head coach’s public disdain for his university and its fans after Florida State finally forced out maligned recruiting coordinator Jeff Bowden didn’t help matters. Never accepting or even publicly acknowledging Offensive Coordinator’s Jimbo Fisher’s Head Coach in waiting (HCiW) succession plan, and allowing other lame duck but loyal assistants to undermine the future of the program set the Noles back too. Call it the “Nepotism Era” or if you prefer, the “Lost Decade.” But Florida State University Board of Trustee’s Chairman Jim Smith, one of the original six to bring Bowden to Florida State in 1976, is calling for its end.
But perhaps the clearest sign that it is time for a change at Florida State: Bowden has lost the team, to the point that even some of the players no longer “see him as the leader,” with one even saying, “You get used to it. He’s like a grandpa. You know you shouldn’t disrespect him.”
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