Saying Goodbye to Grandpa

As word leaks that Bobby Bowden is to announce his retirement tomorrow, it seems only fitting that tonight’s Monday Night Football game is being played in the New Orleans SuperDome. The SuperDome is the site of Bobby’s greatest coaching accomplishment – the 1999 National Championship. That night, after years of close calls, heartbreaks, missed field goals, failed two point conversions and a 1993 national championship which came only after a last second Boston College field goal beat Notre Dame and a last second missed field goal by Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

That 1993 title finally got that ‘best coach to never win a national title’ asterisk removed from his remarkable career but there was never a Bowden team that truly dominated like that 1999 team. The first team to be #1 from pre-season all the way through the national title game, that 1999 team in hindsight is the perfect encapsulation of Bowden’s career. Maybe no team better defined Bowden’s career and legacy more than that 1999 team.

The team was quarterbacked by a future Heisman trophy winner (Chris Weinke would win following the next season), who may go down as the worst NFL quarterback in history. As great as the FSU offenses were throughout Bowden’s career never did he have a quarterback go on to be an all-time great. Peter Tom Willis, Casey Weldon, Charlie Ward, Thad Busby, Chris Weinke. None of these guys went on to NFL stardom. In fact the only quarterback who went on to a major NFL career was Brad Johnson, who was a part time starter with Weldon and would best be known as a quarterback who was named starter by NFL teams and asked not to lose games. Brad may not have overwhelming stats but he did lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl.

The key weapon to that 1999 offense was Peter Warrick – one of the all time greatest skill players to play college football. Not only were some of Pete’s plays awe-inspiring (for all you kids, he was a more explosive Percy Harvin) but he was clutch. Just watch that national title game. A punt return TD and a long touchdown reception early followed by an unbelievable diving, juggling TD catch that ended all suspense. Yet his play wasn’t the only notable thing about Warrick’s 1999 season – he was also suspended for two games after receiving a 90% discount by an overeager female fan at Dillard’s. His partner-in-crime (literally) was Laveranues Coles, who was booted from the team after his 3^rd strike. But one of Bobby’s greatest strengths (or biggest weaknesses to his critics) was an ability to forgive and give another chance. Bowden maybe recognized earlier than most that not every high school kid that came to FSU was an angel. His strong faith enabled to see himself a leader, someone who could help turn around troubled youngsters, even in the face of criticism by those who saw him turning a blind eye to the antics of his best players. After Warrick got a second chance, he returned the favor by single-handedly taking over the national title game.

While some would say Warrick’s return perfectly summarizes Bowden’s willingness to overlook mistakes (or crimes) by his best players let’s not forget in the years before 1999 he had kicked off the team a young wide receiver named Randy Moss and following the 2000 season would kick off his starting quarterback in waiting which disrupted his carefully scripted “quarterbacks don’t start until their junior year” approach and forced him to start a freshman named Chris Rix, whose immaturity and mistakes hastened the collapse of the FSU dynasty.

One of the games that Warrick was suspended for in 1999 happened to be the First Bowden Bowl – match-up of father Bobby and son Tommy at Clemson. Not only did it introduce us to the Anne Bowden half and half sweatshirt but it also helped drive home the Bowden family’s impact on college football. If there is anything more important to Bobby than football it is family. Playing one son after refusing to play the school that had fired his other son (Auburn) may be one of the most fitting memories of Bowden. A few years later, Bobby’s devotion to son Jeff, his underperforming offensive coordinator, combined with a sudden inability to beat Tommy’s Clemson Tigers, helped to start to drive a wedge between Bobby and the Nole faithful. But not in 1999.

Even though the high flying, highly talented offenses got the press, it was Mickey Andrew’s defense that was the real constant through Bobby’s tenure in Tallahassee. Derrick Brooks, Deion Sanders, Terrell Buckley, Peter Boulware, Marvin Jones were all studs that played defense for Bobby. That 1999 team included future pros like Corey Simon, Jamal Reynolds, Darnell Dockett, Tommy Polley, Dexter Jackson, Derrick Gibson and Chris Hope. Despite how we remember those 1990’s teams now that we are stuck in the doldrums of being a .500 team, it wasn’t always all offense. The final score of that Bowden Bowl was 17-14.

But at the end of the day, that team was known for excellence. They were just too fast, strong and too well coached for the teams on their schedule and there was little doubt that entire season who was the best team in the country. Bowden finally had his signature team.

While I am of course sad to see Bowden go, it is more how he is going out. Seminoles across the country will debate for years whether he should have been allowed to come back for a final season but that isn’t what I mean.

Bobby should have gotten to have a final goodbye tour. The second winningest coach of all time should have been allowed a final season where everyone knew this was his last go-round. Even more than Bobby getting a chance to say goodbye, we as Seminoles should get a chance to say goodbye to him.

We as fans will never get to stand as one in Doak Campbell, cheer loudly, and thank him for making FSU known for something other than having the best looking female students in the state of Florida. We will never get to let him know that regardless of a couple down seasons, we still thank him and love everything he did for the school. We will never get to tell him that he will forever be our family. It isn’t just a nickname when my wife calls him ‘Grandpa Bobby’. He is the ‘gosh-darning’, ‘dad-gummeting’ grandfather of the Florida State family. But forever, there will be a little pang of guilt when I think about him.

We never got to say goodbye and thank you.

Tagged as: bobby bowden, florida state, FSU, peter warrick, seminoles