Organized Chaos

Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden took some time with the media after a round of golf in a tournament bearing his name Friday at Panama Country Club in Lynn Haven.

You can read my story about the visit by clicking here. This entry features items I couldn’t squeeze into the story.

Let’s get started.

—– Bowden was asked about Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s quest to unseat him as the winningest coach in Division I history. Paterno trails Bowden by one win.

“He and I are together every year and we don’t talk about it. The funny thing is nobody is (close) behind us. If he wins more games I won’t lose sleep over it. There’s nothing you can do about it because you’re trying to win games, too.”

—– Friday marked the second of 25 booster club functions for Bowden this year, but he said it’s an important part of being the head coach.

“I’ve been doing these for 31 years, ever since I got here. I enjoy it because I get to know people and it’s been great in that regard.”

—– He spoke about his current contract situation, which is basically a yearly renewal when he tells the school he’ll be return.

“I’ve always signed a five-year contract, but when you get to be 78 who are you trying to fool by trying for a five-year contract? (Naming Jimbo Fisher) the eventual successor has helped me. When you resign, your coaching staff loses their job. When I decide it’s time to be done I don’t have to worry about that.”

—– He talked about the importance of boosters and their contributions to the university.

“They are so important to us because it’s gotten so costly to run a football program. It used to be that you could live off ticket sales, but it’s so much more expensive now. Football and basketball has to support (the athletic department) and we have to have help.”

—– The subject of the Allstate insurance commercials featuring the football fans of Bowden and the Seminoles was raised. Bowden noted he has done national commercials before, but he wasn’t approached to be in the current Allstate campaign.

“I think my favorite is the one where the door gets knocked off and he says it wasn’t even me (who he saw from a distance).”

Football season is far off, but you can watch a video I shot in 2007 while at an FSU game. Maybe it will get you pumped.

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