Bobby Bowden Needs To Go

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

BATON ROUGE, La. -- I lived in Louisville during the Denny Crum ouster. It didn't bother me at all. He needed to go.

Now I'm among the more sensitive sports fans in that I don't typically shout for the firing of a coach or demand the benching of a quarterback. If I do need to express such thoughts, I try to present my argument logically and politely. It's possible to do, though if you listen to faceless sports talk radio callers or read anonymous blog commenters you'd hardly know it.

YOUR THOUGHTS: When should a legendary coach step down?

But I do believe it's OK to call for old coaches to step down without being insensitive. Despite the hate that spews forth in the aforementioned forums, our culture also possesses a soft side that stretches toward the other extreme. We're often too dainty when we talk about old people or really any group. Sensitivity and inclusion are overrated.

With all that said, however, it's time for Bobby Bowden to step down. Losing winnable games has become commonplace in Tallahassee the last seven or eight years. Someone not named Bowden usually gets cut after two or three such seasons, but certainly the man who built the program gets a longer leash.

Now should FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Jim Smith have questioned Bowden publicly like he did? Of course not.

But misguided free speech notwithstanding, stubborn old Bobby needs to take his suitcase of memories and call it a career. He turned Florida State's program into a powerhouse and nobody will deny that, but such a body of work does not guarantee lifetime employment. The day after his team visits Clemson next month, he'll turn 80.

The world of college football is a far different place now than it was when Coach Bowden edged toward the last layer of his prime a decade ago. The 2009 season, the one that's off to a 2-3 start, needs to be Bowden's last year in charge of the Seminoles.