Ann Bowden is right about one thing.

Her husband Bobby has been a party to betrayal at Florida State University.
Except it’s not exactly how she portrays it.
You see, Florida State has not betrayed Bobby Bowden.
Bobby Bowden has betrayed Florida State.
And, along the way, he has even betrayed himself.
Throughout the years, Bobby has said that if his program ever fell into a state of disrepair and mediocrity, he would hang it up. He has said in the past that when his program started going downhill, he would “get out and let some young guy do it.” He said when a “pattern of losing” developed, it would be time for him to step down. After going 8-4 way back in 2001, Bobby cracked that if the Seminoles suffered another such subpar season, “It might be time for ol’ Robert to step down.”
That was about six subpar seasons ago and ol’ Robert is still desperately hanging onto his job while Florida State’s dysfunctional football program circles the drain. This, sadly, is what happens when you don’t follow your own advice.
There is a feeling among his wife and supporters that boosters such as influential trustee Jim Smith are being disloyal for wanting Bowden to retire after this season. Bowden loyalists believe Bobby is owed a graceful and grand farewell by Florida State. I would agree — except for one small problem. It’s hard to say farewell to somebody who just won’t leave.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Bobby. I think he’s the greatest college football coach who ever lived. I’ve said many times, he not only put FSU football on the map, he drew the map.
But guess what? He’s been paid handsomely for that. He’s made tens of millions of dollars being Florida State’s coach. Good grief, the ’Noles are currently paying him $2.3 million a year so he can stand on the sideline and watch somebody else do his job. If this is being betrayed, I volunteer.
Let’s face it, as great as Bobby has been and as much as he has meant to FSU, he has selfishly and stubbornly choreographed his own demise.
The beginning of his downfall started nearly a decade ago; that’s when Bobby’s betrayal of Florida State began. That’s when he wrongly put his son’s career ahead of his program’s success.
The year was 2000; the Seminoles were coming off their last appearance in a national championship game and their offense was ranked No. 1 in the nation. Mark Richt, the offensive coordinator, left to become the head coach at Georgia. Bobby could have had his choice of the most innovative offensive minds in college football. He instead hired his son Jeff as the new coordinator.
In fact, he went to battle to hire Jeff, circumvented FSU’s own nepotism policy and won a behind-the-scenes power struggle with then-FSU president Sandy D’Alemberte. In his own book, The Bowden Way, Bobby wrote that he had made up his mind to resign if D’Alemberte had not allowed him to hire Jeff.
D’Alemberte would tell The Florida Times-Union years later he fought Bowden because he thought “Florida State needed an offensive coordinator as high in quality as (defensive coordinator) Mickey Andrews. I didn’t see that in Jeff.”
Bobby’s program hasn’t been the same since. And even when it was clear to everybody else that his son couldn’t get the job done, Bobby continued to hold the program hostage. He would not fire Jeff even after six years of awful offenses. As a result, FSU had to actually pay Jeff more than $500,000 to get him to “resign.” This is believed to be the first time in history a school ever paid a multiyear buyout to an assistant coach whose contract had already expired.
Translation: Bobby selfishly turned Florida State booster contributions into the Bowden Family Unemployment Fund.
So, please, spare us the rhetoric about how Jim Smith and other boosters have betrayed Bobby by saying publicly they think the coach needs to retire at the end of this season.
Such talk is unfair to a loyal and long-standing Seminole like Smith, who is simply trying to do what’s right for his school.
It’s about time somebody started looking out for the best interest of Florida State University.
After all, ol’ Robert stopped doing it years ago.