Saying Goodbye to a Seminole Warrior

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- It was 1988, and Liberty University's football recruiting closer at the time was Jerry Falwell, the school's founder and an American evangelical Christian pastor.

Falwell was on the telephone with the family of Casey Weldon, a hometown star here at a small Christian school. The conversation focused on spiritual learning, guidance and football, and Weldon-to-Liberty appeared to be a done deal.

That is, until Weldon received word from a higher calling the following evening: Bobby Bowden.


"It was like getting a telephone call from the Pope," chuckled Weldon, who signed with Bowden's Florida State Seminoles and left as the runner-up for the 1991 Heisman Trophy and with the reputation as one of the program's finest quarterbacks ever.

" Bobby's like a warrior, he's not ready to put his sword down. ... Maybe that's what makes him so great and made him as successful as he was. The problem is, time marches on. "
-- Barry Smith, former FSU WR The Bowden Era at FSU came to an unceremonious end Tuesday afternoon, when the 80-year-old coach announced his decision to step down after 34 years.

Bowden, who never used the word "resignation" or "retirement," said he will coach FSU a final time in its bowl game and then make a decision whether he will remain with the program as a fund raiser.

FSU's handling of Bowden's announcement has drawn sharp criticism, though university representatives say Bowden didn't want to make a fuss over the news.

FSU President T.K. Wetherell, who met with Bowden over two consecutive days to talk about the future, didn't make himself available for comment Tuesday. Neither did Randy Spetman, the FSU athletic director who had also been a part of the meetings with Bowden and Wetherell.

Even Bowden, one of the most media-friendly coaches in college football history, didn't talk to reporters and released his comments through FSU after he met with his team. Instead, the Seminoles' captains -- quarterback Christian Ponder and linebacker Dekoda Watson -- were the designated university spokesmen.

Former Seminole receiver and donor Barry Smith wasn't surprised by Bowden's approach, citing the veteran coach's competitive nature. As recently as Sunday, Bowden stressed his desire to return as head coach in 2010.

Bowden, who had a rolling, one-year "lifetime" contract with FSU, also admitted he didn't realize "the severity" in regard to his job status. Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, the program's coach-in-waiting since 2007, has agreed to contract terms to become FSU's next head coach.

"Bobby is a warrior, he has a heart of a lion. ... Bobby's like a warrior, he's not ready to put his sword down," Smith said.

"He's ready to battle... and maybe that's what makes him so great and made him as successful as he was. The problem is, time marches on.

"You don't dismiss what he has done at Florida State, but it's 2009, and if you look at where FSU has been the last few years and the direction it was going, and it wasn't a good one. And it's time for a change. As hard as that is, as hard as that his, it's time for a change."

For Bowden, it was surely a day he knew was coming, but one he never wanted to come. Bowden has told university officials he would address reporters later this week about how he came to announce his retirement just days after saying he wanted to return.

Believe it -- Bowden wanted to return.

Former FSU offensive lineman Jason Whitaker, an All-American as a senior in 1999, didn't mince words on the university's handling of Bowden's exit.

"It's an embarrassment on our program," said Whitaker, a high school football coach in Cairo, Ga.

"I think it's just a sad deal; he was forced out and he didn't get to make the decision he was promised when he signed his contract. I thought a lifetime contract meant you were there as long as you wanted to be there."

That was also a concern, FSU officials have whispered. If Bowden had coached in 2010, what would have stopped him from wanting to return in 2011? Fisher was scheduled to receive $5 million he wasn't named FSU's head coach in January, 2011.

Bowden explained his emotions during his video interview that was released by FSU.

"You know something like this is going to happen," Bowden said.

"If it didn't happen now, it would be happening this time next year, but it's happening now. As long as my family is happy, that's the main thing. So I'll go out and make a lot of talks now and tell everybody how good I was."

Former FSU quarterback Brad Johnson, a 17-year NFL veteran who is best known for leading Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory over Oakland in 2003, would have liked to seen Bowden return for a final season. Johnson can vividly recall when Bowden spoke at his high school football banquet in Black Mountain, N.C., in 1987.

" If it didn't happen now, it would be happening this time next year, but it's happening now. As long as my family is happy, that's the main thing. So I'll go out and make a lot of talks now and tell everybody how good I was."
-- Bobby Bowden "That was more than 20 years ago and people still talk abut that night, it was amazing," Johnson said.

"I thought coach Bowden was a legend when I was there and he got his 200th win [over Louisiana State, 1990]. Just the impact that he made on all of our lives was so special. I considered it an honor to have the opportunity to play for coach Bowden."

Bowden was known to be sympathetic to his players' needs.

In 1995, for example, he excused African-American players from practice in observance of the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. Later that week, FSU easily defeated Georgia Tech 42-10.

It also shouldn't come as a surprise that Bowden's initial meeting with Wetherell and Spetman -- though amicable, according to Bowden -- was also extremely emotional.

"It's very tough because of all of those unbelievably things Bobby Bowden has done and meant to this program," said Smith, a successful Tampa businessman who has donated millions to FSU.

"This wasn't anybody's decision but T.K.'s and Bobby's, those two guys getting together and grinding it out and trying to make a decision that is best for the university -- not best for T.K., not best for Bobby, but best for Florida State University.

"As I've said, we will never see the likes of a Bobby Bowden again; he's a wonderful man, a great human being and a father figure to so many kids."

One of those kids, of course, was Weldon, 40, now a successful businessman in Florida's state capitol.

Weldon smiled and said Bowden was a mentor, friend and salesman -- the same qualities he showed in his telephone call to the Weldon family more than 20 years ago and trumped Falwell.

"I was showing clients around the athletic center and we ran into Coach on his way out," Weldon said.

"Coach was in a hurry, but I know he sensed what was going on, because he stayed there and really talked me up -- made me sound way better than I was even close to being (laughing) -- and he talked to the clients like he knew all them personally. That's just the way he was.

"It was such an honor to play for the man. That's why it was such a sad day [Tuesday]."