What's Next for Florida State and Notre Dame...
By Scott Burks
We have all seen the two big coaching changes
"heard 'round the world". Florida State ousted -- errrr, I mean
announced the retirement of coaching legend Bobby Bowden, while Norte Dame
hastened the inevitable and canned Charlie Weis' fat ass.
Here's how I view both schools' decisions:
Florida State. While I thought
that Bowden should have left last season, the announcement of his retirement
was sad for me for personal reasons. My mother's family comes from
Tallahassee, Florida, so Florida State was my introduction to college
football as a kid. Hence, I was a big Seminole fan in college football
until I went to college. I've always viewed Bowden as an icon, and he
should be remembered as such by all.
For those who do not know, Florida State
football was a freaking joke before Bowden arrived 34 years ago.
Florida State also won at least 10 games and finished ranked in the top five
for 14 straight seasons under Bowden. Hell, Bowden's 315 wins is more
than twice the number of victories of the by the previous seven coaches
COMBINED! Let's make one thing clear: Bowden is (or at least WAS)
Florida State.
I'm curious to see how Florida State football
will fare after Bowden. The good news is at least one of his trusted
assistants, Jimbo Fisher, will man the Seminole ship next season. And
it doesn't look as if the Seminoles will be losing any of their talented
recruits off of this.
I just wish that the school handled Bowden's
departure better. Hey Mr. Athletic Director and College President,
don't hide from the media and send two of the players out to the media to
answer questions for you! That act was beyond cowardly.
Notre Dame. Big shock here eh?
Notre Dame had to fire Weis. It's just that this move came two seasons
too late. Weis simply was not the right hire for the job. Hell,
he was not Notre Dame's first, second, third, or fourth choice! Weis
is a lifetime coordinator -- and a damn good one at that. However, he
never was a head coach on ANY LEVEL, and it showed. His teams were
constantly unprepared, and they never played up to their talent levels --
easy schedule or otherwise. As a result, Weis finished with a mediocre
35-27 record in five seasons.
The next question is will Notre Dame get it
right this time? I think that anything short of Urban Meyer or Jon
Gruden would be a failure of sorts, given the school's profile and history.
However, I would be cool with Notre Dame going with Cincinnati coach Brian
Kelly. Hell, Kelly took a moribund Cincinnati football program into a
powerhouse in just three years. Think of what he could do at Notre
Dame!
Despite what all the nay-sayers think, I still
think that Notre Dame is the best job in the country for college football.
It does not belong to a conference, which means they do not have to share
any revenue from bowl games and TV games. Speaking of TV, it has a
multi-year contract with NBC worth millions of dollars. They have the
facilities and blank checkbook to compete with ANYONE in college football.
All it takes is the right coach to make Notre
Dame a college football powerhouse again (unfortunately)...
Go Back to
Home Page
