Bowden Officially Retires From Florida State, Will Coach Bowl Game

Sports News - December 1st, 2009 - Written by John

Florida State University issued a press release just after 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, announcing that head coach Bobby Bowden has officially decided to retire, ending his career after the 2009 NCAA Football Season.

After a brief meeting with his players, Bowden decided to hang it up after 34 years with the program, and will surrender all authority to offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher. He retires with 388 career victories, which is second-most all-time behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.

"The bowl game will be my last game as head football coach at Florida State," Bowden said in the release. "It's been a great 34 seasons."

School officials are now turning their attention to the Seminoles' bowl game. Projected to play in San Francisco in the Emerald Bowl before the announcement, it is now believed officials of the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville will make special concessions to allow Bowden to finish his career in Florida. The bowl has a clause that requires it to take either the best team available out of the ACC, or a team within one win of the best available. But officials say they will make arrangements to select 6-6 Florida State over probable Clemson or Georgia Tech.

"I'd like to thank my wife Ann and my family for their love and support," Bowden continued in the release. "There were a lot of nights when I was on the road and not at home at the dinner table. We all know that's part of it.

"I'd also like to thank the coaches and their families who helped build the program into something that is special. You can't have a successful program without players and we have been blessed to have young men who are winners both on and off the field. I want to thank them and their families for committing 4-5 years of their lives to me and to FSU."

They will also try to fit West Virginia into the game as their opponent. Bowden coached at West Virginia for five years before accepting the head coaching position with the Seminoles.

It wasn't clear if Bowden would even agree to coach the bowl game if he was asked to retire, but he confirmed to several sources at Warchant that he would coach in the season-finale. School President T.K. Wetherell told the Tallahassee Democrat earlier in the day that he believes Bowden will remain with the school in some capacity, likely as an ambassador and fundraiser.

"Finally, I'd like to thank the University and FSU fans who have supported the Florida State program. We've got one more game and I look forward to enjoying these next few weeks as the head football coach."