Bowden getting the boot?

We like to dog Bobby Bowden here in Lion country, but college football will miss him when he goes. Today, it seems we'll miss him sooner than we expected, according to a report out today:

"Jim Smith, the chair of the university’s Board of Trustees and a 1962 graduate of FSU, also said it is time to eliminate any doubt about Jimbo Fisher’s role and responsibilities in the football program... “The President intends to announce we’ve negotiated a contract with Coach Fisher,” Smith said."

I get it, Florida State doesn't seem to be improving. But for all the barbs people like me have thrown his way, I do feel for Bowden right now. The Gators are running roughshod over the Sunshine State, the Hurricanes are picking up speed, and hell, even South Florida is a better team right now. It's too bad Bobby couldn't go out with one more good season. (Tallahassee Democrat)

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Tip to NCAA: It's all about the money

◊ The Orlando Sentinel had a good article today by Alan Schmadtke, who explained that if anything is ever going to change in college football, it must start and end with the money.

"Hitting the Seminoles right where they hurt most -- Bowden's record -- isn't the most effective way to punish schools across the board when it comes to NCAA penalties... Hit schools where it hurts: in the checkbook."

I couldn't agree more with Schmadtke. While I don't personally mind, for obvious reasons, if the NCAA upholds the forfeit of those 14 Bowden wins, I do believe that it's not an effective way to solve these problems.

College football is one of the best run businesses next to the NFL. You could actually say it's better, due to the ever-ridiculous cloak of "student athletes = more wholesome sport." Bullshit. By taking away wins from another team that committed a similar ––we'll use USC as the example–– it would not really hurt the football program the way a financial punishment would. Do you think USC and other juggernauts would be so lax about the rules, if they faced the possibility of a hefty fine on top of all the other normal punishments?

You throw a $500,000 fine at USC, including loss of scholarships and probation; now there's incentive to behave.

Schmadtke continued,

"The NCAA screams about the arms race in college athletics. Schools spend too much money on athletic facilities, it says. They're escalating coaching salaries too high, it says. Budget trends are non-sustainable, it says...Well, OK. Force schools that cheat to cut back. Fine them. The bigger the penalty, the bigger the fine... Fine them and put all of a school year's fines into an escrow account to pay for NCAA initiatives that will benefit athletes and schools that don't cheat."

Now that's a winning point right there. If the NCAA did that, it would be viewed as a shining beacon of light in an otherwise dark world of college football. I really hope someone from the NCAA reads this.

Now, I don't want to hear people contend that the NCAA can't do things like fining and stuff. Bullshit. When college football went to bed with the BCS, and rakes in billions of dollars each season, they forfeited any right to complain about financial sanctions for rule breakers.

But there is one last thing about Schmadtke's article I should point out. He wrote the following passage:

"Steve Spurrier was railing about this way back in 1990 when he arrived at probation-laden Florida when his first team was paying for the sins committed under former coach Galen Hall."

This is simply a misinformed statement. I don't know how you could be a college football writer at one of Florida's leading news organizations, yet mess something up this big. The NCAA violations which resulted in the sanctions placed on Florida in the 1980s, were due to infractions by the Gators' previous coach, Charley Pell. Galen Hall did not commit those "sins" while at Florida. In fact, he went on to several very successful seasons with the Gators, despite the fact that he had to deal with Pell's mess.

(link) Orlando Sentinel

Have a great weekend everyone!

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FSU and the Media: Where's the blood?

◊ I didn't intend to write anything too deep the next few days, with spring ball heating up soon, figuring I'll be plenty busy as the Blue White Game nears. However, has anyone else noticed this mega-hypocrisy going on between Florida State and the media?

When Penn State players were getting into all sorts of legal trouble the past few years, which came to a rolling boil in 2007 and 2008, there was non-stop outcry from the main stream media (MSM).

"Joe Must Go!" and "Joe has lost control" were all very common phrases thrown around during the faux outrage. It was widely asserted that since Penn State football players were out drinking, partying and acting like 20-something men, subsequently getting caught by a corrupt district attorney on a mission, it was worthy of severe MSM scrutiny.

No one can argue that "Fight Club 2007"––when several prominent Penn State football players beat up other students, who had in fact initiated the altercation earlier that night––was a serious case of bad judgement by the players. They should have made better decisions.

The problem, however, in the MSM came after that event. It was used as a spark to ignite a firestorm of yellow journalism and shoddy investigative reporting, anchored by ESPN's Outside the Lines' 14-minute, skewed feature on Penn State's legal issues. The segment portrayed Penn State as a thug institution, hell-bent on winning football regardless of anything else.

After watching it, viewers were solidly turned against Penn State.

Why am I bringing all of this up now? Because Bobby Bowden and Florida State are pissed off that the NCAA didn't just let another infraction slide, the AP reported.

I'm not going to be an apologist on Penn State's behalf. They made their own mistakes, and have to deal with them. But the fact that this entire story has been treated by the MSM as "poor Florida State, too bad they couldn't avoid this," disgusts me personally.

Outside the Lines did a feature similar to, but very different from, the Penn State one last year. It touched on the recent issue at hand, talked to coaches and "experts," and reviewed past problems in the program. That's about where the comparison ends... abruptly.

OTL's angle on Florida State was one that made you almost feel bad for Bobby Bowden and the university––at least a little sympathy. It was a far cry from the hatchet job done to Penn State last year.

Have some in the MSM come out to denounce Florida State and agree with the sanctions? Of course, but individuals don't carry much weight in the MSM.

To question the NCAA's actions against Florida State is equivalent to burying one's head in the sand. Yet, no one outside Happy Valley ever questioned the validity of the MSM's claims that Penn State has gone off the deep end.

Florida State has been living on thin ice with the NCAA since 1989. That year, Seminoles star Deion Sanders stopped going to class his senior season, and didn't take any final exams. The NCAA decided to implement the "Deion Rule."

How many rules are named after Penn Staters?

The forfeit of games, loss of scholarships and probation should not come as a surprise to anyone. Florida State had this one coming.

Yet we're being led to believe that this is something other than a double-standard in the MSM. The funny thing about it all is that I think I know why the two stories have been given completely different coverage.

Florida State has always been known for its flashy players, flashy wins and "too cool for school" attitude. When the Seminoles were logging top-five seasons every year, this was just all part of the coolness. The MSM played right along because it was good for readership and ratings.

On the other hand, you have Penn State, the uptight, straight laced program that solidified that reputation against another Florida team, just as Florida State was earning its own.

Florida State has always been a media darling. Even when the coverage goes sour, Bowden just says "dagummit!" and everything is wonderful again.

Penn State, particularly Joe Paterno, has a sharp distain for the media, much of which stems from one night 1979 when a football writer (now a popular NFL reporter with ESPN) released Paterno's off-the-record comments to a group of writers about Barry Switzer and Jackie Sherrill.

Florida State is getting a big pass from the MSM. Granted, the NCAA took care of most of it, but we haven't heard the constant berating of Florida State that we heard about Penn State.

So it doesn't surprise me that Bowden & Co. have begun using the MSM to build a sympathetic base going forward. Will the MSM play any part in what the NCAA ultimately decides? Probably not, but that's not the point of this.

History is what matters, especially those who write history: the MSM. No one remembers what the history books don't tell. If Bowden and Florida State can come out of this whole thing with the general public feeling like they were screwed, and that somehow works its way into the history books... mission accomplished.

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The first runner up is... Bobby Bowden

◊ Until this week, the argument between Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden was just filler. Now, it's very much a relevant topic in college football. It's a perfect storm, really, for the conversation to jump to new heights.

Usually, we talk about the wins race during the season, when there's not much room for elaboration. Now, it's the offseason, when every little bit of news is magnified due to the lack of an active football season.

The wins race was also viewed as a close contest, one that would only be resolved by which one coach could make a late-career run, overtake the other, and hope for retirement.

Not anymore.

This week has been dominated by Florida State and the NCAA punishments, handed down for the cheating scandal. We all know that part of the story, and quite frankly, it's old now.

The conversation has taken a dramatic shift to the objective views towards each of the legends' coaching careers. This could be attributed to the fact that, if the 14 Bowden wins from 2006 and 2007 are scrubbed from the record books, this race is as good as over. Paterno would win.

So what do we discuss now? Well, besides the useless, burnt out tirades crying for Paterno and Bowden to retire, and that they're bad for college football (this argument isn't even worth a rebuttal), it's time to take a look at the two careers for their merits and flaws, to finally figure out which coach has the better on-paper career.

The first (usually the only sane) sportswriter to do so was Pete Fiutak, from CFN:

"Paterno finished up last season one win ahead of Bowden up 383 wins to 382. So while any lost wins off Bowden’s total might secure Paterno’s place in history, it could be argued that the Penn State head man deserves the title no matter what... While Paterno got all his wins at one school, Penn State, Bowden came up with 31 wins at Samford against several interesting opponents (to go along with a solid stint at West Virginia). Of course, no one would ever question Bowden’s all-timer status, but when taking a hard, objective look at the two careers, it’s not really that close."

Fiu then goes on to list the worst and best wins in each coach's career. I'll tell you, seeing them "on paper" right in front of you really drives the point home. Even if you take the two undefeated national championship seasons, 1986 for Penn State and 1999 for Florida State, the Lions' win over Miami was much more impressive, in terms of opponent relative quality, than the 'Noles' win over Virginia Tech.

It's unfortunate, really, that this is how it might end. No one expected it to be like this, especially those close to the schools and the teams.

But this is just another episode in college football, where nothing is determined "on the field." Rather, like the Mythical National Championship itself, the eternal argument Paterno v. Bowden will be forever tarnished with a sense of illegitimacy and doubt.

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Florida St appeals decision

◊ You knew this would happen. I get a feeling this time it will be in vain. Florida State is now appealing the sanctions–four years probation, loss of scholarships, forfeit of wins–handed down by the NCAA for a massive academic cheating scandal.

This isn't like the usual "we didn't know he was academically ineligible" argument we hear from schools. This wasn't just one or two players failing a class. This was a 10-sport, well organized cheating ring. The worst part? It was discovered when they were trying to cheat their way through a music history class. Seriously, music history!

Florida State is correct in arguing that they didn't know those players were actually ineligible to play the games. However, there's a point at which you have to ask, "how did this get so big, right under your noses?" Where was the oversight of these athletes?

Maybe Bernie Madoff was their academic advisor...

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A special comment on Florida State

◊ Florida State was handed four years probation, reduction in scholarships, and forfeit of wins achieved during the 2006 and 2007 athletic seasons. In all, 10 sports programs at the university will be sanctioned. So what does this all really mean?

This kind of wide-range academic cheating scandal doesn't come along very often. In fact, we've never seen something similar, involving so many different sports programs at one school. The punishments are, well, much more severe than they even seem; and that's saying a lot.

I'm going to focus mainly on the football team, as that is the most visible program at the university, and of most interest to my readers.

Academic infractions usually get treated much more severe by the NCAA. For instance, when Reggie Bush was being accused of getting a free apartment and cash for his family, it felt like the NCAA was doing all it could to sweep it under the rug.

Then, when Oklahoma was nabbed for non-academic infractions, it was forced to vacate all wins from 2005. Later, however, an appeal was won by the Sooners, and their wins reinstated.

Don't count on a successful appeal by Florida State. Oh, they will try, but I really don't believe that the NCAA will budge on their decision. The punishment was a dead giveaway that they're being dead serious about this one.

Only one team in college football history has been punished by The Death Penalty, SMU in the late 1980s.

Before and ever since, not too many program have been whacked with sanctions like the ones Florida State will now have to deal with. This punishment is so severe, you could call it "The Death Penalty-lite."

Then there's the record for all-time wins by a major college football coach. While slim, there is still the chance for a successful appeal to at least reinstate the wins from 2006 and 2007. But that would mean the university would have to have known the students were ineligible to play at the time of the games, which is tough to prove.

However, if those wins are in fact forfeited, Bobby Bowden would lose 14 wins from his career total. That would mean he'd no longer trail Joe Paterno 383 to 382, but rather 383 to 368.

Bowden's current deal allows him to coach until 2010, where after if he stays on, coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher would be paid a few million a year until Bowden leaves. Assuming the wins are vacated, Bowden would absolutely have to continue coaching beyond 2010 to even catch Paterno again.

In a more long-term view, what does this do to Bowden in the end? He was once idolized by every rising coaching star, and feared by all opponents. Now, with his team mired in mediocrity on the field, and disgrace off it, Bowden's legacy is in danger.

History usually views things differently than the people living the situations. I think history will look kindly on Bowden in the end, with this final disappointment as just a small blemish when compared to the greatness of his career.

As much as we all jump to demonize coaches who allow their programs to run out of control, particularly when those programs win a lot of games over the years, it can't be forgotten that coaches like Bowden don't come along all that often anymore.

Does this punishment go to far? No, definitely no. Florida State and its athletic department deserves everything coming at it. But we can't forget that this is not a problem unique to only a few universities.

And that's the sad part, now isn't it? For every Florida State that gets caught, there are about 50 more programs that don't get caught. College sports have become a bloated, self congratulating conglomeration, hell bent on making as much money as possible. The NCAA can't keep up.

It's an unfortunate reality we have to live with. Football, college football specifically, needs help, but no one wants to seriously bring it up. There's too much money at stake.

The universities, athletic departments and the boosters have too much invested to allow their teams and athletes to fail, even if it means looking the other way just when guidance is needed most. In Tallahassee, those who were supposed to be stewards of hundreds of young people's lives just looked the other way.

Unfortunately for 10 Florida State athletic programs, and the athletes in them who didn't cheat, the NCAA saw what no one else wanted to. It's about time.

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Seminoles, Bowden slammed by NCAA

◊ Florida State is in deep trouble. The NCAA just handed down severe sanctions, including four years probation, loss of scholarships, and, most interesting to Penn State fans, the forfeit of all games from the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

More to come later, so check back tonight.

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Paterno or Bowden, yet again

It's about freaking time some preview (The Quad, to be exact) acknowledges the fact that Bobby Bowden is NOT the career I-A wins leader.

"Tidbit (coaching edition): As all loyal readers of the Countdown undoubtedly know, Paterno trails only Bobby Bowden on the career list for major college wins; Bowden has 373 victories, with Paterno on his heels with 372. However, if we discount Bowden’s 31 wins on the F.C.S. level (Samford, 1959-62), Paterno holds the edge in F.B.S. victories, 372-341."

The funny thing about this, since the conversion to FBS (former I-A) and FCS (former I-AA), who the hell knows which coach is the real leader? Are we now going by how many wins at the F-B-S level, or is it unchanged from when it was I-A football? Of course, it's unchanged. I don't care what you call it, but there's no comparison between Bowden's wins over Mississippi College, Furman, Troy and Delta State, and Paterno's wins over Pitt, Maryland, Syracuse and Texas. Even if you took away all wins over I-AA schools by both coaches, Paterno would still lead. So don't try to say 'Paterno played I-AA teams, too!' It doesn't work.

There's not much to worry about though, as Florida State doesn't look to contend for anything this season (even with all those I-AA/FCS schools on the 2008 schedule). Penn State, even with a decent record, should push Paterno back up and beyond Bowden's false record. I would just like to see more writers/sports fellas respect the fact that Paterno has won more games on a higher level than Bowden. And just because there was no I-A/AA designation before 1978, doesn't mean that ALL those 'Major College' wins count alongside the true I-A/FBS wins.

Completely off the Paterno/Bowden topic, but a great debate nonetheless: Say that again?

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It's the Bowden bashing hour, brought to you by Foot Locker

Mike over at BSD tore Bobby Bowden a new one, after EDSBS took the initial swing at the legendary FSU coach. All I have to say is Bowden had it coming sooner or later. Wrote Mike of BSD:

"This is a common practice in these southern schools. They are only supposed to sign no more than 25 kids in any one recruiting class. But every year there's Alabama taking 32, Auburn taking 30, LSU taking 26. This year Florida State granted scholarships to 30 kids. Inevitably someone has to get cut. So you start hearing stories about kids being declared academically ineligible. Or suffering mysterious injuries that cut their career short. Or in this case, fifth year seniors who are basically asked not to come back."

Read the original letter sent by former FSU lineman Geoff Berniard's girlfriend to Larry Williams, of the Post And Courier in Charleston, SC. The letter explained how the Bowden family is following a disturbing trend--win at any cost, even if you ruin some people's lives along the way.

But let's take a different angle on this. I'm not going to get on Bowden's case today. I've done plenty of that, and usually focus on his wins at Samford--they count towards his career wins record, even though Joe's were all at a major program like PSU.

Where I'm going with this is PSU's recruiting efforts in recent years. Every one's been bashing the coaching staff for the last two hauls in '06 and '07. The loud minority fan base, which has cried for a top-ten class every year, says that PSU won't win championships by awarding fewer than "the other" do. Mike mentioned earlier that SEC schools usually sign between 25 and 30 recruits... each season. Maybe that's the reason SEC schools usually rank so high on the recruiting class lists. These coaches--in this case, when I say "SEC" I really mean most southern schools--offer kids a scholarship, with nearly no guarantee that they'll remain on scholarship if the on-field performance isn't up to par. That's just plain bullshit. You offer a kid to play for your team, and if he doesn't pan out, tough luck for you, not him. The coaches should never encourage a kid to leave school, just to save a freaking scholarship for next year's recruiting class. Bowden--and by Bowden I mean his whole staff, since he's responsible for their actions--has now fell into the "SEC" category of coaches. Mike's take was hardly as sweet as mine:

"Like I said before, in a way I was glad Joe Paterno broke his leg in 2006. It delayed him from entering the College Football Hall of Fame by one year. If you remember, he was supposed to enter the Hall alongside Bobby Bowden and they were both going to share the stage. I'm glad Joe didn't have to share anything with that fat jerk. The only thing these two men have in common is a lot of wins on the football field. Outside of that, the two programs could not be any more different."

That's just it. Penn State is nothing like Florida State. To many sportswriters and "experts" lump the two schools together all to often. Why, because the two coaches have been around forever and racing to see who could finish with the most wins? Sure, but that's the one and only connection between the two schools. How many times has Florida State played Penn State? Three times. Wow, I'm impressed. Bowden was forced to play PSU in the '70s because West Virginia always played PSU. I don't see FSU scheduling PSU anytime soon. Actually, I don't see FSU scheduling any living, breathing opponents anytime soon.

Let FSU die its slow, painful death. It'll be good for college football. The age of cheating and under-the-table deals is gone in this sport. I'm not being naive. I know there's still wheeling and dealing every hour of every day. But a program like Florida State--rulers of the late '80s and the entire 1990s--needs to go to rehab after its 15-year high. Penn "Mr. Boring Straightedge" State might not be as exciting or fun. PSU is surely not the life of the party in college football, but if you consider what Joe Paterno and his coaches have done for the last 50 years, it's a feat no other school could fathom doing. How many times has PSU been on probation in the Paterno era, or any era for that matter? NONE. Penn State wins with honor.

Oh, and if you didn't get that Foot Locker reference, go look up "Florida State," "Foot Locker," and "1993."

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Article of the day - Coaching Succession Plans

I generally try to feature an article each day from another site. Usually they're from Penn State or Big Ten blogs, sometimes from other sites. Please check out the author's Web site. I always supply the link in the introduction.

You knew it was only a matter of time before some columnist had his rant on the new trend of choosing a head coach's successor. The first one I saw was from our dear old friend over at ESPN.com, Pat Forde. Actually, this one isn't as bad as the Ohio State bash-fest he wrote a while back. This article has some semblance of thought to it. So, without boring you anymore, here is Pat Forde's take on the coaching succession fad.

Those newfangled succession plans shouldn't be just for coachesBy Pat Forde
ESPN.com

Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming for this announcement. I've decided it's time to reveal my succession plan here at ESPN.com:

When I retire from column writing, it has been arranged for my 12-year-old son, Mitchell, to take over. (This is me now, but ESPN.com couldn't get a better shot of Forde's daught--er, I mean, son.)

All the suits in Bristol have signed off on it. I'd introduce you to the Columnist-in-Waiting, but I can't get the Wii control out of his hand long enough to put on his clip-on tie and pose for pictures.

I know you'll be excited about this. Many of you already think I write at a seventh-grade level, especially readers from the great state of Ohio, so the transition should be seamless. But it won't be immediate.

Sometime in the next 20 years, I'll shut down the old laptop and turn it over to my kid. When in the next 20 years? I have no idea. Probably when they pry my stiff, dead fingers off the keyboard, but don't ask because I won't tell.

Determining a timetable is not the point. The points are these:

A. For me to exert control past the termination of my tenure and into the next.

B. To force my employer to buy into it.

C. To show how much political capital I've earned during my tenure.

This is the hottest trend in Sportsworld -- naming your own successor without naming a succession date. Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts did it this week, establishing assistant Jim Caldwell as the next coach of the Colts at whatever point Dungy decides to join his family in Tampa.

(I know it's almost sacrilege to say anything bad about Dungy, but does anyone else find it a bit odd that the alleged No. 1 family man in the NFL sent his family to Florida while he stays in Indy to chase another championship?)

Succession Mania is all over the place in college. Especially basketball: Bob Knight will be succeeded at Texas Tech by Pat Knight, time TBD; Lute Olson will be succeeded by Kevin O'Neill at Arizona, time TBD; Jim Boeheim will be succeeded by Mike Hopkins at Syracuse, time TBD. Sean Sutton, Tony Bennett and Keno Davis already have taken over for their dads at Oklahoma State, Washington State and Drake, respectively.

In college football, Kentucky just named offensive coordinator Joker Phillips as the heir apparent to Rich Brooks. Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher has been slotted to replace Bobby Bowden at Florida State, should Bowden eventually decide he doesn't want to coach until he's 100. Purdue just hired Eastern Kentucky coach Danny Hope as an apprentice to replace Joe Tiller.

The Purdue deal at least comes with a finite retirement date, effective after next season. The rest of them? Whenever the old buzzard in charge feels the urge.

Hey, lots of kids and/or other handpicked successors take over family businesses. But in most of those cases, the guy turning over the top job owns the business. In sports, there allegedly are school presidents and team owners calling the shots -- but apparently not all the shots.

Washington State's Tony Bennett is one successor who has been as good as promised.
Some of these agreements have worked out splendidly. Tony Bennett has dramatically improved the product at Washington State, and Keno Davis has done the same in a breakthrough season at Drake.

But the open-ended succession scenarios are probably worth about as much as the paper used for the press releases. They might last as long as a ninth-grader's oral commitment. Coaches already walk out on contracts and commitments all the time; what makes you think this will be any different?

For instance: Fisher came to Florida State last year for a handsome sum. On Dec. 7, the school announced that Fisher was its choice to succeed Bowden at a later date. About two weeks later, Fisher listened to West Virginia's overture about becoming the next head coach of the Mountaineers. He decided to stay in Tallahassee, but the succession agreement hardly deterred him from looking at another job almost immediately.

(One other thing about Fisher: He has a great rep in coaching circles, which helped earn him superstar coordinator pay at FSU. But in his first season the Seminoles deteriorated from 45th nationally in scoring offense and 70th in total offense under the excoriated Jeff Bowden to 90th in scoring offense and 80th in total offense under the sainted Fisher. Hm.)

Kentucky could be facing a similar situation with other schools making runs at Phillips. Brooks' oft-stated goal in Lexington is to become the longest-tenured head coach of the Wildcats. That would be 10 years on the job, and Brooks is halfway there. If Kentucky's offense keeps lighting up scoreboards the way it has the past two years under Phillips' command, do you really think he's going to sit around until 2013 waiting for a job?

My suspicion is that Kentucky and FSU were trying to pre-empt other job offers, while assuaging recruits at the same time. Most of these collegiate succession arrangements are used to convey continuity on the recruiting front -- so commit now, kid, and quit worrying about who your coach will be.

There probably are or have been other succession arrangements that went unannounced. Nobody was shocked when Bill Guthridge took over for Dean Smith at North Carolina, for example. But as Michigan football is likely to find out with Rich Rodriguez, breaking out of a familial mold can eventually serve a stale program well.

Change is often good. Job searches that expand beyond the usual suspects with ties to a school or a beloved coach can be beneficial. (See: Rick Pitino at Kentucky, Pete Carroll at USC, Urban Meyer at Florida, and so forth.)

But quite frankly, that kind of thinking is for other suckers. Here at ESPN.com, I'm riding the succession wave. My 12-year-old kid is taking over this space -- just as soon as he learns how to type faster than 18 words a minute.

Pat Forde is a national columnist for ESPN.com. He can be reached at ESPN4D@aol.com.

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