After UCLA's surprise, Bowden reconsiders postseason wish list
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden ought to be careful in what he wishes for this holiday season.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published December 14, 2006
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden ought to be careful in what he wishes for this holiday season.
A few weeks ago, when it became clear that his Seminoles likely would be making the trip to San Francisco for the Dec. 27 Emerald Bowl, Bowden heard a list of possible Pac-10 opponents: Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State or UCLA.
"I said, 'Gee. I hope it's UCLA,' " Bowden said, referring to the national reputation of the Bruins and what that would mean to his players, his fans and a television audience. "That's before I saw them."
The Bruins, of course, closed the regular season with an upset of Southern California, a win that caught the attention of the nation, reshaped the Bowl Championship Series and put UCLA in the Emerald Bowl.
"Boy, after I saw them on TV," Bowden said, "I started trying to look up some of the other names."
Comfortable parachutes not an uncommon sight
Some fans were - and probably remain - a bit miffed that offensive coordinator/receivers coach Jeff Bowden will receive $537,500 or about $107,000 annually for five years as a garnet-and-gold parachute upon resigning his position.
But such deals aren't unprecedented at FSU.
According to public records obtained by the Times, former longtime defensive line coach Jim Gladden continued to draw his $115,000 salary from Feb. 7, 2002 to Sept. 30, 2003 when he accepted a reassignment within the athletic department. The September date corresponded with his hitting his 30 years of state service.
Linebackers coach Joe Kines, who resigned after the 2002 season, and offensive line coach Jimmy Heggins, who resigned after the 2004 season, without parachutes; both landed on their feet, Heggins at Kentucky and Kines at Alabama (defensive coordinator/linebackers).
He said it
Bowden, on whether he would be comfortable if the bowl game came down to a field-goal attempt: "We're playing UCLA. You know what L.A. means to us? Law of averages. So yeah, I'll take my chances on the law of averages."
Award talk
Defensive end Darrell Burston is among the 25 nominees for the Bobby Bowden Award, established in 2003 to honor the Division I-A senior football player who best embodies the values of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A committee will pare the list to three finalists, all of whom will be flown to the site of the BCS title game in Arizona for the winner's announcement Jan. 6. ... Senior India Trotter was named one of 11 MVPs by Soccer America. She is the second Seminole (Selin Kuralay, 2005) to receive the honor.
Brian Landman can be reached at landman@sptimes.com or at (813) 226-3347.