Wednesday, October 7, 2009

What has happened to loyalty?

I have always watched college football over NFL due to the fact that there use to be loyalty in college football. People are more loyal towards college football programs than NFL. This is true in regards to players and coaches. You tend to see programs recruiting former players brothers or sons if they are available. At the University of Georgia we have had brothers and sons all go to the University. Some examples are the Bailey brothers, Stinchcomb brothers and the Tereshinski family. The reason I am talking about this is in regards to Bobby Bowden.

How can Florida State University even start to listen to a board member about calling for Bowden's retirement or even forcing him to step down. Yes, Bowden might be off to rough start this year but overall he was the person who single handily put Florida State on the map and made them a national powerhouse. Since taking over the Florida State program he has 18 ten win seasons, won 20 bowl games, has an award named after him and has won two National Championships. He is also second all-time in wins behind Joe Paterno. When a coach has a resume like Bowden's you do not force him out, you let him retire when he is good and ready. Florida State needs to remember that without Bobby Bowden they would be getting stomped by Florida and Miami every year and not able to bring in top recruits every year. 

I can see something like this happening in the NFL but not in college. The NFL is all about money and wins. Coaching changes happen every year, sometimes you can even lose your job when you win 13 games, as Marty Schottenheimer found out in San Diego a few years ago. Bowden has nothing but good intentions for the program when he thinks he is no longer able to bring in top recruits and compete for the ACC and National Championships he will step down.  The board of trustee's needs to just sit back and let Bowden do his job and stay out of the football program. 

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