The Back Alley Archives

Bowden downplays retirement talk, stresses need for results

ESPN.com news services
Updated: July 22, 2008, 11:31 AM ET

The start of recent college football seasons has brought the same question for Florida State's Bobby Bowden -- is this his last campaign?

Bowden turns 79 in November and has a named successor, Seminoles offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, waiting in the wings once he decides he's had enough.

But Bowden, whose 373 victories are the most in Division I college football history -- one more than Penn State's Joe Paterno -- is not done yet.

"I'm still the head football coach," he said Monday at ACC media day. "But I know we've got to win more than we're winning now. I'm not interested in getting out, though. I plan on getting this thing back to where it ought to be, and go on from there. Time will tell."

The Seminoles are coming off a pair of 7-6 seasons. And Bowden is aware that another mediocre season won't do in Tallahassee, where there have been rumblings in the past few years that perhaps it's time for him to step aside.

"We had better be heading in the right direction ... 7-6 ain't gonna do it," Bowden said. "My goal is to get back to the top, but if we get there, we're not going to stay there. [/size]There's too many good teams in this conference."

In all seriousness, when is the last time Bobby actually coached? He just seems to walk the sidelines now.