College football

ACC: Bowden regains composure after rough season

By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 22, 2003

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GREENSBORO, Ga. - Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has simmered down. Some.

"I got very upset last year because, No.1, we do not have control problems; we definitely are not out of control," he said Monday. "We control our players, but we're just like everybody else, we have problems."

Much to his chagrin and then anger, those off-the-field problems - the arrests of Adrian McPherson, Darnell Dockett, Travis Johnson and Talman Gardner, the suspension of Chris Rix for the Sugar Bowl for missing a final exam, internal investigations into how the athletic department handled the rumors of McPherson gambling and the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit - were well documented.

"I got so tired of reading about the same old thing over and over and over," Bowden said, adding that he felt some media reports questioned his integrity. "The only thing I can say about me is I will try to be good, but I don't claim to be good because I ain't good. But I think there's some people out to prove it.

"So, how much of a toll did it take on me? I got very upset. I got very upset. I wasn't worth confronting for a month, I can tell you that."

But the historically accessible Bowden didn't give many media members that chance. He didn't return telephone calls. He also has decided to insulate his players more than ever by closing the locker room.

"Am I over it? I'm trying to straighten it out; it's a new season," he said. "I've about gotten my anger behind me, and I'm ready to go."

DOCKETT BACK: Bowden said Dockett, suspended for the Sugar Bowl and subsequently arrested and charged with felony grand theft (he pleaded to a misdemeanor), has been reinstated.

"He's okay. He paid the price," Bowden said, adding that the oft-injured senior is healthy and "should be one of the best defensive tackles in the country."

FORCED CHANGES: With the loss of 10 players to academics, Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said he and his staff will be forced to do things differently in the preseason and throughout the season. His freshmen, including former Jefferson tailback Rashaun Grant and former Lakewood quarterback Pat Carter, will see more reps in practice.

"We have to get them (the freshmen) up to speed in a hurry," Gailey said. "We're not going to slow down to adjust to them, they have to speed up to adjust to what we've got to be at to go win football games.

"But we'll do some other things, too, tempo-wise and practice planning-wise to adjust to the loss of those players."

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