Paterno vs Bowden

[BB73]

Greg-guh Doyle with a scathing piece on the two elder statesmen of the college coaching profession. I've bolded a line that BN27's sure to love.

cbssports.com7

Keeping things under control now beyond Bowden (and Paterno, too)

Somehow Florida State found itself amid one of the biggest academic scandals in recent NCAA history -- not as intense but more widespread than Clem Haskins' Minnesota travesty and Jim Harrick's slime pit at Georgia -- yet the Seminoles avoided being hit with the NCAA's most damaging allegation: a lack of institutional control.

...

They are at fault for the state of their programs, Bowden and Paterno, but their schools are more to blame. At a certain point, men like Bowden and Paterno -- great men -- lose their edge but lack the pride or the humility to realize it. Literally, they don't know what they don't know. Which is why it's up to the schools, Florida State and Penn State, to demonstrate some institutional control and take charge of their football programs.

Paterno can't do it. Look at his program's rap sheet. This stuff wasn't happening, certainly not at the level of 46 players charged in a six-year period, when he was in his 50s.

Bowden can't do it. Look at his program's cheat sheet. This academic scandal is so bad that the NCAA is considering wiping out the Seminoles' 14 victories from 2006-07.

College football is not what it was back when Bowden and Paterno were atop their profession. Thanks to recruiting services and fan interest and the exponential growth of the media, football players come to college with too much hype, fame that has gone to their heads. Their sense of entitlement is staggering. They go to parties and beat up other students because they can, because who are you to tell a famous football player he is acting out of line? They accept in advance the answers to test questions because they're special and because normal rules don't apply when you're special.

College football has changed, and not for the better. The disciplinary pressure on coaches is more than it ever was. Keeping 85 scholarship kids in line is an enormous job, much tougher than it was in the 1980s, and it requires a level of energy and attention that Bowden and Paterno simply cannot give.

Apologists for Bowden and Paterno will accuse me of being an ageist. I prefer realist. The facts are what they are.

The most criminal football program in America, Penn State, is coached by 82-year-old Joe Paterno.

The most academically shameful football program in America, Florida State, is coached by 79-year-old Bobby Bowden.

That is not a coincidence.

Bowden and Paterno are sticking around for the same reason: They're trying to outlast the other guy. Paterno is first in major college football with 383 career victories. Bowden is second at 382.

It will take something ghastly to end their competition. Maybe the NCAA is about to provide that ghastly ending, taking away 14 wins from Bowden to drop him hopelessly behind Paterno. Maybe that's enough to get Bowden to retire, which would then be enough to get Paterno to retire.

I used to think: Shame on both coaches for staying around so long.

Now I think: Shame on both schools for not kicking them the hell out.

 

[BB73]

Here are some of Bowden's opponents in his win total of 382 (pending up to 14 2006/07 FSU wins being taken away due to the academic scandal):

1959 Samford 34, Tennessee Tech Freshmen 0

1959 Samford 52, Gordon (Georgia) Jr. College 20

1961 Samford 60, Millington (Memphis) Naval Air Station 0

1962 Samford 40, University of Mexico 0

He had a total of 31 wins in 4 years at Howard College (later renamed to Samford university). Those wins are all included in his victory total.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

1962 Samford 40, University of Mexico 0

 

[BB73]

Fiu looks at Paterno and Bowden. In naming the ten best and worst wins of each man's tenure, he points out the 4 games I listed yesterday for Bowden, and also a forfeit from Tulane in 1983, which counts as one of the 382.

cfn

Bobby Bowden's Ten Worst Wins
10. Samford 56 - Sewanee 0, 1961
9. Samford 80 - at Troy 0, 1961
8. Samford 41 - at Georgetown (KY) 0, 1960
7. Samford 22 - at West Alabama 6, 1960
6. Samford 26 - at Rhodes 0, 1960
5. Samford 40 - University of Mexico 0, 1962
4. Samford 52 - at Gordon Junior College 20, 1959
3. Samford 60 - at Memphis NAS 0, 1961
2. Samford 34 - Tennessee Tech Freshman 0, 1959
1. Tulane 34 - Florida State 28, 1983*

*By this point, Florida State was special under Bowden. The program had been in the national title mix, went to a few Orange Bowls, and had grown from nothing to a superpower. An awful Tulane team that finished 4-7 on the field, 2-9 in the history books, shocked the Noles early in the 1983 season, but later had to forfeit the win.

Cont'd ...

 

[BB73]

Dennis Dodd lists a statistic sure to get the attention of reagdog and billmac91.

CBS.Dodd

Fraud fallout: Asterisk may make Bowden's wins chase an ugly race

Another day at Florida State, another messy NCAA oil spill. They're used to them in Tallahassee.

But FSU going on probation (again) was not close to being the main news Friday when the school went on probation (again).

Academic fraud. Sixty-one athletes. Crooked academic advisors.

You're surprised? Florida State now is tied for the second-most major infractions cases (seven) in history. That's one behind Arizona State and Southern Methodist, a school you might be familiar with for its death penalty history.

Cont'd ...

 

[BB73]

CBS.Sportsline

Maryland's Friedgen: Bowden, FSU should vacate victories

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Not everyone in the coaching profession is on board with Bobby Bowden keeping all 382 of his career victories.

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen told CBSSports.com that Bowden and Florida State deserve to vacate any victories they gained while playing ineligible players. FSU was placed on probation in March as the result of a widespread academic fraud scandal. Sixty-one total athletes were involved. FSU suspended 23 football players from the 2007 Music City Bowl after the wrongdoing was discovered.

Pending an appeal, Bowden might have to vacate as many as 14 victories, the combined number of games won in the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

"Is it fair?" Friedgen said. "Yeah, they played ineligible people ... They orchestrate 36 guys -- academic fraud by the academic counselor -- and they lose one or two games? That's not right."

Actually, the NCAA has told Florida State to determine how many players competed while ineligible and when. While Bowden might lose up to the 14 games won in those two seasons (seven each season), the total could be less (or none). That's the point of the appeal by the school that could be finalized by the end of this month, CBSSports.com has learned. FSU president T.K. Wetherell recently proposed a blue-ribbon committee to examine the issue but was turned down by the NCAA.

Friedgen has his own reasons to support the NCAA penalties. Two recent cases in the ACC have impacted the league. Duke suspended quarterback Zack Asack for the entire 2006 season reportedly because of plagiarism. In 2005, 11 Georgia Tech football players were found to be improperly certified as being eligible. Seventeen Georgia Tech athletes total were found to be ineligible during a six-year span. In 2006, the school won an NCAA appeal after it was initially forced to vacate football victories from 1998 through 2004. Friedgen was offensive coordinator for the Yellow Jackets from 1997-2000.

"Duke suspends a guy for a year. They (Florida State) got 36 of them and they don't lose a whole year?" Friedgen asked. "Yeah, I think it's [penalties] more than fair. They're [Florida State] playing with the guys I can't play with."
...

"To me, it [penalties] should be standard throughout the league," Friedgen said. "We're all in the league together. Otherwise he gains a competitive advantage."

Cont'd ...