Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ó Florida State’s Bobby Bowden says he wants one more national title before retirement.
At the annual football media day, Bowden said Sunday he believes the Seminoles are rebuilt and ready to win another national championship. He has two years to deliver before his successor-in-waiting, Jimbo Fisher, takes over in January 2011.
“Definitely I want to win a national championship again,” said the 79-year-old Bowden, who enters his 34th season at Florida State. “I wish I could leave here on top.”
Bowden’s 1993 and 1999 teams won national titles. The Seminoles narrowly missed another half dozen times between 1987 and 2000, often denied by rival Miami.
The coaches are also bringing back a slogan from the undefeated 1999 Seminoles team that won the national title: “It’s Not About Me … It’s About Us.”
Fisher, who is the architect of Florida State’s offense, agrees the Seminoles are on the right path despite their youth.
“We’re a very young football team, but a team that’s played a lot of football,” said Fisher, noting that the 9-4 record and No. 21 ranking last season was the school’s best in the last four years.
Bowden conceded it would probably be 2010 by the time the “young and experienced” team might be ready to compete for another title.
“The good thing is they’re back another year,” he said. “We’ve got a chance to improve, improve both years.”
This season, Florida State needs to replace its top two receivers, running back and record-setting Lou Groza Award-winner kicker Graham Gano. Junior quarterback Christian Ponder returns for his second year as a starter.
Bowden faces the possibility of 14 career victories being stripped by the NCAA because of an academic cheating scandal at the school. His 382 career coaching wins are one fewer than all-time major college leader Joe Paterno of Penn State.
Bowden, who still suffers from a painful shingles virus on the left side of his face, doesn’t believe either the latest tiff with the NCAA or the program’s slide on the field in the last decade will cloud his career.
“When I get out, people will refer back to the good things that happened,” Bowden said.