Bobby, Blue, Bland: The Effect of Bobby Bowden at Florida State

During the 1992 Democratic National Convention, then vice presidential candidate Al Gore repeated the line "it's time for them to go." In Tallahassee, the words from Gore's fateful July 1992 speech are becoming a bit more vocal as fans of the Florida State Seminoles are beginning to shout, "It's time for him to go."

Now, certainly it is not a unified voice among the Seminole fan base as many fans continue to stand by the university's decision to retain head coach Bobby Bowden. But dissent is beginning to grow and one has to wonder if the ax will finally fall on the legendary head coach.

Calls for Bowden to resign are not new. Concern began to surface once Florida State began to lose its dominance in the ACC. The re-emergence of Florida as a perennial power does not help the people in Tallahassee cope with the slide either.

The claim is that the game has passed Bowden by; he is no longer "hip" and up-to-date on the present game of college football. The same statements were made about Joe Paterno. Alumni and fans of Penn State began to think that the game had passed by Paterno. Even Paterno, after a dismal 2004 season, stated that maybe he should step down (if the Nittany Lions produced another sub-par season).

But 2005 was a revitalization in Happy Valley as Penn State went 11-1 and defeated Bowden's Seminoles in the Orange Bowl. While credit certainly goes to the 2004 hiring of current offensive coordinator Galen Hall and the subsequent changes he made to the offensive attack, the fact is that Paterno adjusted and proved that he can still put together a winning team. This is proven in his 45-12 record since his suggestion of "getting [his] rear end out of" Penn State.

So, why the trouble in Tallahassee? Why has one legendary coach been able to at least fight off "forced retirement" (although critics of Paterno still exist) while another only sees critics increase each week?

It all comes down to one thing—stubbornness. And Bowden's stubborn act is manifested in two different ways.

The first manifestation is seen in his coaching staff. The hiring of Jimbo Fisher as offensive coordinator was a smart move. But it is the person that Fisher is replacing that should be drawn into question.

After Mark Richt took the head coaching job at the University of Georgia, Bowden promoted then-wide receivers coach Jeff Bowden to the offensive coordinator position.  Yes, the "Bowden" name is no coincidence as Jeff is Bobby's son. And this act of nepotism was the first in a string of questionable personnel moves.

Florida State was able to circumvent any nepotism laws by having Jeff Bowden answer to the assistant head coach rather than to Bobby himself. That did not stop the offense from becoming inept. While the offense numbers appear solid in the ACC (typically top quarter of the conference since 2003), the numbers in all of the FBS are mediocre at best.

• 2003: 21st in points per game (PPG); 31st in yards per game (YPG)
  
• 2004: 66th in PPG; 70th in YPG
• 2005: 43rd in PPG; 51st in YPG
• 2006: 54th in PPG; 74th in YPG
• 2007: 91st in PPG; 83rd in YPG
• 2008: 28th in PPG; 56th in YPG
• 2009 (through Oct. 10): 44th in PPG; 25th in YPG

What this demonstrates is the offense became lackluster under Jeff Bowden. It was so awful that there was a residual effect in the first year under Jimbo Fisher (2007). This gets not only at poor game planning, but also recruiting.

Despite the bland style of play under Jeff, Bobby stood by his son even as the Seminoles were embarrassed in a 31-0 home loss to once-perennial doormat Wake Forest. Pressure finally boiled over and Jeff was forced to step down, complete with a nice pay day.

Now, despite what John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times thinks, it does appear that the offense has turned things around under Fisher. The improvement since 2007 is significant and the maturation of quarterback Christian Ponder is a testament to Fisher's success. So, the error of promoting Jeff Bowden seems to have corrected itself.

But, another hire in 2007 returns to the theme of questionable personnel decisions.  After a pathetic 3-9 season with North Carolina State in 2006, Chuck Amato was welcomed back to Florida State. That decision, along with the coaxing of Mickey Andrews to remain with the Seminoles, has turned a once-proud defensive tradition into something more deserving of a WAC team.

As with the offense, here are the numbers for the Florida State defense since the 2003 season.

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