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Bowden had an amazing run at FSU

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Pete Fiutak

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Updated Dec 1, 2009 6:26 PM ET
     
 
Bobby Bowden has officially stepped down as the Florida State head coach, thus ending one of the greatest careers in the history of college football.
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Joe Paterno should go down as the most revered and best all-around head coach in college football history. Bear Bryant might be the most respected and most iconic coach, Knute Rockne might be the most legendary, and Woody Hayes might known as the most demanding and intimidating. Bowden will be remembered as the most personable and most well-liked, all while making his program one of the most consistent high-level winners in college football history. Florida State became the cool team. Miami, during the same time that Bowden's program was hitting its stride, was the big bad boy on the block with attitude and swagger. But FSU was the hip team that was fresh, new, and arrived as not just a new national title contender, but as a superpower seemingly overnight. Under Bowden, the players were flashy and fast (Deion, Buckley, Ward, Dunn, and on and on), the defenses were terrifying, the offenses broke the wishbone mold occupied by the Oklahomas and Nebraskas of the world, and the games were fun with trick plays, innovative ideas, and a pedal-to-the-metal, always go for the win type of approach highlighted by the fake punt to Leroy Butler to help pull off a classic 24-21 win over a juggernaut of a Clemson team in 1989, and the missed two-point conversion when going for the win, rather than the tie, in the 26-25 loss to Miami in 1987. Bowden's teams never ducked anyone, always played the big boys tough, and were always, always good thanks to his charm, his humor, and his character. In a time when ESPN became bigger and polls, bowl slots, and recruiting were influenced more and more by TV time and sound bytes, the stars wanted to play for Bowden. Personality matters in college coaching. Just ask Notre Dame fans who had to live through the Ty Willingham era only to be followed up by the Charlie Weis experience. Bowden had the perfect mix of gracious disappointment after losses and genuine humility after wins, even while his teams were bold and brash and dynamic and perfect for rooting against. But Bowden was always easy to root for. In a profession occupied by so many insufferable blowhards who really and truly believe they're curing cancer by creating a winning football team, Bowden got it, at least as much as any legendary football coach can. He suffered some of the most soul-crushing, heart-ripping defeats (thank you, Miami) on some of the biggest stages in college football, and for a while he was defined by the big losses more than he was by the wins. Still he always handled himself, and represented the school, with the utmost class. He set the bar so high that his recent teams have been seen as failures by comparison, and that's not fair. The last few years really haven't been that bad. Florida State will go to a bowl this season, just like it has in 29 of the previous 30 years, and if Bowden can pull off a win in his final game, under his reign, Florida State will have finished with a winning record in every year since 1976. But winning seasons don't get it done in Tallahassee; not after the unmatchable run of greatness Bowden's teams put together over two decades. He took a program that had won four games in three years and in two seasons he had an 11-0 squad going into the Orange Bowl. His 'Noles lost to Oklahoma, and his 1980 team, which was even better, finished 10-2 losing to Miami and Oklahoma, again in the Orange Bowl, by a total of two points. That loss to the Sooners would be the last time Florida State would lose a bowl game until the 1997 Sugar Bowl, for the national title, to Florida. Starting in 1981, Bowden went 16-3-1 in bowls until losing to a 13-1 Georgia team in the 2002 Sugar Bowl. The three losses were to Florida, Tennessee, and Oklahoma ... in national championship games. The numbers tend to all blend together after a while, but Bowden's greatness boils down to an epic 14-year run that college football might not see again. The simplest stat might be this. Over 14 years, Florida State only lost seven games to teams other than Miami and Florida. Two of those were in national championship games (Tennessee in 1998 and Oklahoma in 2000), and one was in 1993 to a Notre Dame team that probably deserved the national title. During that span, FSU won two national championship games, lost two others, and came within two missed field goals, a missed throw in the end zone, and an all-timer of a touchdown catch from Florida's Jacquez Green from winning four more national championships. Of the 19 losses during this era, four were to teams that won the national title, and three more were to teams that went on to play for the national championship and lost. While the nine seasons since the loss to Oklahoma in the 2001 Orange Bowl have been underwhelming by FSU's standards, Bowden still came up with three ACC titles, won four bowl games, and continued to crank out winning records. But the 6-6 record this year, bottoming out by looking like a second-rate team in the loss to Florida last week, meant it was time to move on for both Bowden and Florida State football. Beyond all the wins and all the greatness, Bowden proved to be a blueprint of how to handle adversity at an elite program. He might not have always handled everything perfectly, and there were incidents under his watch like the recent academic scandal, several off-the-field issues, most notably the Peter Warrick shoplifting incident, but Bowden never shied away from the media, never tried to sweep the controversies under the rug, and his teams kept on fighting through and producing through the adversity. But his legacy will be all about the wins and the unprecedented run of top four seasons on the field, and his "dadgum" personality off of it. He was what we all want in our football coaches and what we all hope the future stars will be like. But there will never be another Bobby Bowden.
Tagged: Clemson, Florida State, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma

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