Goodbye and Good Luck Papa Bowden

One of my favorite coaches will say goodbye on New Year's Day, a little earlier than he wanted but too late for many who once wanted him to never leave.

Bobby Bowden, who led Florida State's football program to unprecedented success and trails only Penn State's Joe Paterno in career victories among major college football coaches, announced his retirement several weeks ago. To say he was pushed off the sidelines would be an understatement; as the Seminoles prepared for Friday's Gator Bowl against West Virginia, Bowden was too eager to note that he wanted to coach in 2010 before handing the job over to offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher.

Problem is that Bowden, 80, should have retired several seasons ago when things started going south for FSU. A program that won two national championships and landed in the Top 5 of the final national rankings like a birthright has become extremely average and no threat for a BCS bowl in recent seasons.

Still, you have to give Bowden credit for making FSU an elite football program and keeping the Seminoles on top for so long with a gambling offense and a defense that took its cue from fiery coordinator Mickey Andrews (who's also stepping down).  Bowden even gets credit for his incredible relationship with the fans and media. No matter whether he was talking about upsetting a giant on the road, or one of the Seminoles' many off-the-field indiscretions, Bowden could spin a quote with the best of them and everyone ate it up. Just this week, as the city of Jacksonville rolled out the red carpet, Bowden said he was OK with all the fuss, "As long as it don't lead to the cemetery."

This is a coach who used to allow a pool reporter to come down to the sideline during the fourth quarter of a night game to get quotes for all those in the press box who were facing deadlines. This is a coach whose presence was so strong that I once had an SID from an unnamed school ask that his coach go before Bowden at the annual Florida Sports Writers Association Football Media Day so he would not be upstaged. This is a coach who had his home telephone number in the Tallahassee phone book.

Then there was "Breakfast with Bobby," a Sunday morning tradition where Bowden met with the media and, over eggs, bacon and coffee, reviewed the previous night's game, usually with more one-liners than Letterman or Leno.

Here's when I knew the feast was over for Papa Bowden. More than 30 years ago, Florida owned FSU and had won 9 consecutive games against its state rival. When Florida State crushed Florida 37-9 in Gainesville in 1977 for Bowden's first win in the series, the Gators were still kicking field goals late in the second half, leading Bowden to quip, "I thought they were going to field-goal us to death."

Last month, Florida crushed FSU 37-10 in Gainesville. This time, it was Bowden going for a field goal - rather  than a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the Gators' 2-yard line late in the third quarter - just to put  points on the board.

Farewell Bobby. Congratulations on a great career and enjoy retirement.