TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -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.
After Saturday’s 28-21 loss at Boston College, two Florida newspapers, including the hometown Tallahassee Democrat, 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.”
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, the coach-in-waiting, 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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