# Bobby Bowden is gonna retire...good riddance **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 1, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561 "2009-12-01T05:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/1 "2009-12-01T05:27:37Z")
It’s apparently official now. Story here. > **[Sources: FSU's Bowden to announce retirement](https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?id=4701625)** > > Legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who built one of college football's greatest dynasties in 34 seasons with the Seminoles, plans to announce his retirement Tuesday morning, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com. Glad to see Joe Pa as the one holding the record. I never liked Bowden and always thought his programs were dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/2 "2009-12-01T05:33:34Z")
I won’t believe it until the opening kickoff in the opening game of next year without him on the sidelines. Now Paterno can retire, too. I always thought that those two were doing what they were doing for their own aggrandizement. They both wanted the wins record, Bowden had it, lost it, and wanted it back, and Paterno wanted it to be his legacy, so they both hung on many years after they should have hung it up over a record that will undoubtedly be broken eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/3 "2009-12-01T05:38:07Z")
I got that vibe from Bowden, for the last decade he’s hardly done any coaching or recruiting to speak of and just coasted and cashed checks. Paterno still seems to be busting his ass day in and day out and doesn’t seem like a guy who knows how to do anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/4 "2009-12-01T06:52:37Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I got that vibe from Bowden, for the last decade he’s hardly done any coaching or recruiting to speak of and just coasted and cashed checks. Paterno still seems to be busting his ass day in and day out and doesn’t seem like a guy who knows how to do anything else. I’m a Florida State alum, and I concur with everything you wrote here except from my viewpoint, Bowden has been a fucking anchor around FSU’s neck for at least 15 years, not just the last 10. When Charlie Ward graduated, Bobby just kinda quit caring except for getting that wins record. I’ve been saying for 15 years that it’s time for Bowden to go, and now he’s finally going! WOOT! Go 'Noles! ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/5 "2009-12-01T14:58:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Go 'Noles! …and take the Gators with you. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/6 "2009-12-01T15:02:09Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Now Paterno can retire, too. JoePa isn’t going to retire, ever. He famously said that once you retire, you die. Everybody with even a passing connection to Penn State is convinced that JoePa will leave the university in a box. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/7 "2009-12-01T17:31:06Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > …and take the Gators with you. Fuck no! We don’t want any Gators _or_ Hurricanes! And the Knights and the Bulls can just bugger off as well! ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/8 "2009-12-01T17:46:58Z")
Bobby Bowden isn’t retiring. He’s leaving FSU to take over a recently vacant position up in South Bend. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/9 "2009-12-02T08:47:06Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > JoePa isn’t going to retire, ever. He famously said that once you retire, you die. Everybody with even a passing connection to Penn State is convinced that JoePa will leave the university in a box. Bowden said “once you retire, there ain’t but one big event left”. That was after FSU’s first title in '93. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/10 "2009-12-02T12:31:05Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Now Paterno can retire, too. No way, Jose! Paterno can’t leave unless his replacement can outdo [this commercial.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfLYO3F4D78) ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/11 "2009-12-03T01:18:29Z")
Are these guys scared to retire just because Bear Bryant died shortly after he retired? Isn’t that kinda like not quitting smoking because you know a guy that died of lung cancer just after quitting smoking? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/12 "2009-12-03T02:00:11Z")
Bowden took a nowhere program and made a national contender. He did a hell of a job for them. FSU has no right to bitch about how he did it. Almost all programs built from nothing have to southbend the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/13 "2009-12-03T02:37:16Z")
Speaking as a representative of FSU, I have to say I don’t think the beef is so much how he made them a national contender but the fact that he stopped doing so. It really hasn’t been pleasant. FSU’s ridiculous streak of 14 straight top-5 finishes ended in 2000. My freshman year at FSU? 2001, of course. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/14 "2009-12-03T15:26:46Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > Are these guys scared to retire just because Bear Bryant died shortly after he retired? Maybe. So did Tom Landry, btw. What scares them might be the howling void of a life without football - some of them literally have nothing else in their lives, and will even admit it. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/15 "2009-12-03T16:00:42Z")
UF graduated Doper, who was lucky enough to have been in school during Spurrier’s last few years and the beginning of UF dominance over our hated rivals, wishes Bobby well and hopes he finds a nice cushy job as a color commentator for college sports and gets a lifetime honorary membership in his golf club of choice. Whatever my opinions may be about his school or his coaching career, Bowden spent a good chunk of his life doing something he loved and has an entire football program to show for it. Happy trails, Bobby. Now you get to watch the Gators steamroll the Seminoles from the comfort of your own home instead of on the sidelines. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stooge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Stooge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stooge)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/16 "2009-12-03T20:50:40Z")
Is 11 years considered shortly? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom\_Landry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Landry) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/17 "2009-12-03T21:37:53Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > Are these guys scared to retire just because Bear Bryant died shortly after he retired? One of the [SI.com](http://SI.com) writers said that that’s exactly it, in the case of Bowden. Bryant was Bowden’s idol…and, Bowden’s father also died shortly after retiring from his job. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bobby-bowden-is-gonna-retire-good-riddance/519561/18 "2009-12-04T03:08:56Z")
For what’s it’s worth, a friend of mine was a Division I football coach. He said that from interactions with other coaches, Bowden was the nicest guy you could ever meet.