Sports

Colleges

Is remake a hit?

Bobby Bowden revamps his staff after his worst year in a quarter of a century.

By Brian Landman
Published August 31, 2007

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TALLAHASSEE - Florida State coach Bobby Bowden didn't want the job, but realized he had no choice.

Not if he wanted to rebound from a disappointing 7-6 season, his worst in a generation. Not if he wanted to see his Seminoles regain their swagger. Not if he wanted to be on the sideline when both of those happened.

So, for the first time since he took over a downtrodden FSU program in 1976 and for just the third time in more than five decades, Bowden spent January re-making his staff.

"If I hadn't lost my son as offensive coordinator, I would never have done all of this," he said. "But when Jeffrey resigned, I felt like, 'Gee whiz. If it's going to get this drastic, this is my last shot and I'm going to make it the best I can make it. I'm going to get the best coaching staff I can get in here and I don't care what it cost.'"

Exit Jeff Bowden coordinator/receivers, Daryl Dickey (quarterbacks), Mark McHale (offensive line), Billy Sexton (running backs) and, of his own volition for a promotion at Alabama, Kevin Steele (linebackers).

Enter Jimbo Fisher (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks), Rick Trickett (line), Lawrence Dawsey (receivers), Dexter Carter (running backs) and former longtime assistant Chuck Amato (linebackers).

"I'm excited about it," Bowden said of the changes. "I think they're excited. I think the players are excited. Now does that mean we're just going to go out there and all of a sudden start winning all our games? No. The conference has gotten too dadgum good ... but we're going to try to get back as quick as we can."

The fall

There's no shortage of villains or scapegoats, depending on your point of view, as to what happened to the Seminoles since they capped their 14th consecutive year in the AP top five with a third straight Bowl Championship Series finale appearance in the 2001 Orange Bowl.

There have been soap opera-esque quarterback problems, on and off the field. There was the tragic death of a promising linebacker, Devaughn Darling, which shook all aspects of the program, including offseason conditioning. There has been a dearth of offensive gamebreakers, a reflection on recruiting as well as developing players. There has been a rash of injuries of late, especially to offensive linemen. There have been some defensive and special teams letdowns and breakdowns.

And then there was Jeff Bowden taking over for Mark Richt in 2001 as the principal game planner and play caller. Fairly or unfairly, the younger Bowden drew most of the fans' ire and finally announced his resignation - over his father's protestations - a few days after a 30-0 loss at home to Wake Forest.

Papa Bowden said injuries devastated the team defensively and if his team had been healthier then maybe the five games it lost by 26 total points would have turned out differently.

"Maybe," he said, "we'd be sitting here today without a changed staff."

But today, he has an essentially new staff and that's why there's so much hope for tomorrow. Fisher, the former LSU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, has created the most buzz. He has been hyped as a miracle worker.

"I hate to inform them, my playing day are over and I was never good enough to play at Florida State anyway," Fisher said, joking. "You always want expectations; there's nothing wrong with them. But you have to have a realistic expectation about how things are."

The Seminoles begin the season No.19 in the AP poll.

The road back

Quarterbacks Drew Weatherford, who has 23 career starts, and Xavier Lee have loads of promise.

"These two guys are redshirt juniors now," Bowden said of an experience level at which he prefers to start a quarterback for the first time, a timetable that worked so well with Danny McManus, Casey Weldon, Charlie Ward and Thad Busby. "It's time to produce. I expect them to produce."

Fisher is pushing them to do so, demanding a commitment to doing their job the right way on each and every play, each and every day. And he's not genteel about getting his message across.

"How can you simulate pressure? You have to put them under it," Fisher said of his yelling. "But if you can't handle that pressure, how can you handle it in front of 83,000 people in Doak Campbell (Stadium)?"

"I pride myself on being tough and giving effort and trying to make good decisions and he raises all those standards to a whole other level," said Weatherford, "which is obviously in turn going to make me a better football player."

Ultimately, that's what the Seminoles need - their players must perform better. That's not just the quarterbacks, but across the board. That begins with getting the best players then getting the best out of them.

Pundits and observers agree that the new coaches, the hard-driving Fisher, Trickett and Amato in particular, will have the Seminoles ready, both physically and mentally, like they haven't been in recent years.

"It better pay off or ol' Bowden isn't going to be around here much longer," Bowden said of the staff changes providing the missing spark. "And I am determined to get back to the top."

Brian Landman can be reached at (813) 226-3347 or landman@sptimes.com Check out his blog at blogs.tampabay.com/seminoles.

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 09:47:36]