Bobby Bowden & Other Coaching Elite Past Prime? No.

Great coaches don't come around every day. Coaches who can consistently recruit, overcome obstacles, build a program and keep it in good standing is something to cherish. Understanding this fact, why is there all the fuss about getting rid of Bobby Bowden, one of the best if not the best college football coach of all time? Throughout the 1980s – 1990s there were three coaches who had such long tenure with their respective schools that there was some debate on who was going to outlast the longest. Through the 2000 season, Penn State's Joe Paterno had the longest tenure with one school with 34 years. Brigham Young's Lavell Edwards was next with 28 years & Florida State's Bobby Bowden had 34 years coaching but only 24 consecutive with FSU. After the 2000 season BYU's Lavell Edwards retired & this past decade has received many accolades for his accomplishments including being honored with the Stadium being renamed to Lavelle Edwards Stadium. Whereas, Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden have seemingly had to convince people, or remind them, that the job is theirs to keep or let go.

That being said, before Lavelle Edwards retired, he too had to meet the grumblings of fans that he was too old, past his prime, didn't understand today's game, was getting out recruited, and could no longer compete. When he finally did retire, fans, alumni, boosters and everyone alike felt like
this was going to be a new beginning, a chance for BYU to compete on the National level year in a year out. So how are you going to replace a guy that's been there for 30 years? BYU went with an offensive coordinator from the NFL, Gary Crowton and right out of the box he guided the team a 12-2 record, their best in 4 years. Fans felt they had received confirmation that it was time for Lavelle Edwards to go. However, that team was full of seniors, a future NFL quarterback, running back and middle linebacker. The following season BYU fell to 5-7, which ended the current longest steak without a losing season at that time. He followed that with two more losing seasons & finally got the boot. Oh, how the fans longed for Lavelle Edwards. There was even talk amongst fans about convincing him to un-retire! Lavelle Edwards has stated that he didn't retire because of any other reason than "it was time", but there was talk for years before he retired of a need to push him out the door.

Interestingly enough, the long standing record of consecutive winning seasons broken by Gary Crowton was previously held by Penn State until the 2000 season, in which the Nittany Lions went 5-7. This is what great coaching is: winning. Lavelle Edwards had 1 losing season his entire career and it was in his second season in 1973. Bobby Bowden has had 1 losing season, in his 1^st year in 1976 & previous to the 2000 season Joe Paterno NEVER had a losing season, the worst season he ever had was a 5-5 record in his 1^st season in 1966! With all of the talk about Bobby Bowden to retire, some have stated, as they did with Lavelle Edwards, that he is too old, past his prime, doesn't understand today's game, getting out recruited and can no longer compete. When comparing Bobby Bowden to Joe Paterno many have said, "Well, Joe Paterno's winning so it's not the same situation." Wow! How soon we forget! Just a few years ago, these same things being said about Bobby Bowden were being said about Joe Paterno, but frankly for better reasons. He wasn't winning, and there were signs of decline. As stated, JoPa never had a losing season until 2000, then followed that with three more losing seasons. Even back then I still thought that JoPa should be able to retire when he wanted to, not because someone forced him out. As it turns out he has gone on to two top-10 finishes and has his team ranked in the top 10 again. Consider the win/loss records the past few years from FSU and PSU…

YEAR        FSU        PSU

2001        8-4        5-7

2002        9-5        9-4

2003        10-3        3-9

2004        9-3        4-7

2005        8-5        9-4

2006        7-6        9-4

2007        7-6        9-4

2008        9-4        11-2

Seriously, have fans lost their minds, or in this case impatient trustees? Over the same period Bobby Bowden's slump was two back to back 7-6 seasons, not 3 losing seasons, two of which were back to back. Now let's take a look back to Lavelle Edwards last few seasons.

YEAR    JoPaterno    BoBowden    LaEdwards

1995    9-3        10-2        7-4

1996    11-2        11-1        14-1

1997    9-3        11-1        6-5

1998    9-3        11-2        9-5

1999    10-3        12-0        8-4

2000    5-7        11-2        6-6

Sometimes it's hard to imagine greatness until it's gone, but considering how the BYU fans regretted after the fact when Lavelle Edwards was gone, I think it's a mistake to push out any great Head Coach. Let them leave whenever they're ready, especially those who have coached for decades. It's not thinking clearly for someone to think that these coaches couldn't change with the game when they were/are able to have such coaching records for that long. So when it comes to pushing out coaches, particularly Bobby Bowden, how much more is the pressure to get rid of him when you have a "Coach-in-waiting"? The coach-in-waiting idea is absurd. I don't blame the coach who's doing the waiting, he's got job security for quite some time, he gets a little bit more authority & respect, and if he doesn't like something the current coach is doing he can go complain to the "higher ups". The thing I don't like the most about this, is what if the great coach he's supposed to replace, changes his mind and wants to coach for another 10 years! For all of you who are thinking, "No way, he could really start losing. You would probably have to fire him eventually." I remind you of Joe Paterno. Who would keep any other coach around who out of 5 seasons, 4 of them were losing seasons? Well from 2000 through 2004 that's what Joe Paterno had. The following year he was in place to compete for a National Championship, and is priming his team to compete again this year!

Another prime example of this coach-in-waiting thing being a bad situation is going to be with the University of Texas and Mack Brown. Now granted it's been reported that Mack Brown instigated this himself, but "what-if"? What if he decides to change his mind? There are actually fans already excited about the Will Muschamp era & Mack's could just be getting started, at least if he decides to go Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno or Lavelle Edwards on the University. Bobby Bowden will be 80 years old this year, he started coaching at FSU at age 47. Joe Paterno will be 83 & started coaching at PSU at age 40, & Lavelle Edwards retired at 70 and started coaching BYU at age 42. Mack Brown started coaching the Longhorns at the same age Bobby Bowden started with the Seminole; 47, and he's only 58 years old. Even if he retired "early" like Lavelle Edwards did, he's still got 12 years to go! Is Will Muschamp planning on sticking around that long? Well, if so, then maybe he's already set in place that he won't have to look for a job as BYU's Norm Chow did when Lavelle Edwards left. He didn't have a "coach-in-waiting" contract but many thought he was set to be the next Head Coach after 17 years as the Offensive Coordinator…once again, I don't have a problem with Will Muschamp doing what he's doing, it's smart on his part. I just don't want the University to feel like they have to kick out Mack Brown some point as the Jimbo Fisher situation may be complicating the Florida State scenario.

The old phrase "You don't know what you've got till it's gone" definitely applies to these tried and true coaches. You do know what you have with Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden & Mack Brown: you have coaches who know how to win and consistently recruit top talent, graduate players and build a good reputation for the school. Leave them be.