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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Bowden hopes this is the year for Richt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Amelia Island, Fla.-I had a chance to spend about an hour with Florida State coach Bobby Bowden during this week’s ACC Spring meetings. The Q&A that I put together from that interview was published this morning.
But here is a little nugget that I wanted to pull out and share with you.
Bowden, who turns 79 on Nov. 8, makes no secret of the fact that he would like to win another national championship before he retires from coaching.
But if he can’t win it all in 2008, Bowden knows who he would like to see holding that crystal football at Dolphin Stadium on January 8, 2009.
“I sure hope this is the year for Mark,” Bowden said.
Georgia’s Mark Richt has always made it very clear that Bowden is his mentor, both in football and in his spiritual life. Richt worked for Bowden for 16 years before he finally became a head coach. There is a bond there.
Bowden had been a head football coach for 28 years before he won this first national championship in 1993. He doesn’t want Richt, who is heading into his eighth season as a head coach, to have to wait that long.
“I get the sense that he has a pretty good team,” Bowden said. “But I have learned this. To win a national championship you have to be good. But you also have to get the ball to bounce your way a couple of times. It’s something that you can’t coach. Things just have to work out. I hope he gets those bounces.”
Bowden said he takes great pride in what Richt has accomplished in his first seven years at Georgia. He also smiled and reminded me that at one point, he wasn’t sure if Richt had the right stuff to be a head coach at this level.
“I wondered if Mark was really tough enough to be a head coach,” Bowden said. “He would get his feelings hurt when I would get involved in his business (of being offensive coordinator). I wondered if he was strong enough.
“But I was wrong. Look at him now. There is a quiet toughness that you can see. He is in control of that program and his players like and respect him. I am very proud of him.”
Then I reminded Bowden of Georgia’s schedule. He “oohed” and “aahed” and shook his head several times as I walked him through it. Then he gave me the perfect response.
“As a coach, all you can ask for is to have a team that is good enough to compete for a championship,” Bowden said. “If they are good enough, then it is your job to get them ready to play. And Mark has already proven that he can do that.”
