Bowden Gets Retirement Wish

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Retiring Bobby Bowden got his wish.

Bowden's Florida State Seminoles will play West Virginia in the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., fulfilling Bowden's hope of coaching his final game in the state of Florida. There is too much sentimental value to ignore.

The Seminoles began their NCAA record 28-year streak of bowl games in 1982, when they defeated the Mountaineers 32-12 at the Gator Bowl. Bowden left West Virginia in 1976 for FSU, which will soon begin a new era under Jimbo Fisher. Fisher has been busy, too, with coaching interviews and recruiting.

"It excites me to know that we're going to go to the Gator Bowl," said Bowden, 80, who announced his retirement last Tuesday after 34 seasons at FSU.

"It was the first bowl I was associated with as an assistant coach at Florida State in 1964 when we played Oklahoma in the January 2, 1965 Gator Bowl. And of course, the first bowl in our 28-bowl streak was against West Virginia in the 1982 Gator Bowl."

FSU is 5-0-1 in the Gator Bowl, including two wins over West Virginia. The Mountaineers (9-3) finished with wins over Pittsburgh and Rutgers while the Seminoles (6-6) were defeated 37-10 in their season finale at Florida.

FSU has not had a losing season since Bowden's first year (5-6) in Florida's state capitol.

The last time these teams met in the Gator Bowl was Jan. 1, 2005, with FSU winning 30-18.

Under normal circumstances, FSU would have likely fallen to a lower bowl with its record, but Gator Bowl officials made it immediately clear they wanted Bowden and FSU in its game.

Forty-two of Bowden's 388 career wins came at West Virginia between 1970-1975. He was West Virginia's offensive coordinator for four seasons before becoming the coach.

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart was an assistant coach for that Mountaineers team and was a freshman lineman at WVU in Bowden's first season in 1970.

"He's one of my heroes," Stewart said. "He's an icon to college football. It's going to be a real, real challenge because I know they're going to want to go out with a real bang for Coach Bowden.

"I'm just a drop in the bucket compared to him. I love the man. All the accolades he gets, he deserves. I'll be right there when he's on the podium clapping louder than anybody."

Fisher, meanwhile, has been on the move since Bowden's announcement.

Fisher, designated the head coach-in-waiting in 2007, has reportedly hired his first assistant coach -- Tennessee's Eddie Gran, who coaches running backs and special teams for the Volunteers.

Fisher's staff will likely be drastically different than the one that coached the Seminoles in Gainesville, Fla., against UF last Saturday.

Veteran FSU defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews is retiring following the bowl game, and favorites to replace Andrews include Alabama linebackers coach Sal Sunseri and East Carolina defensive coordinator Greg Hudson.

Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, a former graduate assistant coach at FSU from 2002-03, also has been mentioned but is considered a long shot.

Fisher also received a non-binding verbal commitment Saturday night from Jeff Luc, considered one of the nation's top linebackers. Luc, a senior at Treasure Coast (Fla.) High, is one of FSU's top defensive targets.

Luc's expected to enroll in January and participate in spring practice.