Bowden laughs off hot seat talk
By Greg Wallace
PINEHURST, N.C. — As Tommy Bowden sees it, it was a dream come true.
Several weeks ago, SportsIllustrated.com national college football writer Stewart Mandel rated Bowden as the third-worst college football coach in America with at least three years’ experience, questioning, “How has Bowden managed to survive half a decade on the hot seat?”
It is further evidence that Bowden needs to win — and now — heading into his ninth season at Clemson, or there might not be a 10th.
When reminded of the SI article Tuesday at the 2007 ACC Football Kickoff, Bowden just smiled.
“The fact is that the guy writes for Sports Illustrated, and I’ve always wanted to be in Sports Illustrated,” he said. “I’m in there. Who doesn’t want to be in Sports Illustrated?”
It was another example of, as Bowden put it, “reacting with humor.”
If he’s feeling the pressure, he certainly isn’t showing it.
“We set a season record in the history of Clemson for all-time (season) ticket sales (with 57,991),” he said. “I’ve got a bunch of people that don’t like me — most in Clemson history.”
A 1-4 finish in 2006, which followed a 7-1 start and run to a No. 10 national ranking, fueled offseason talk about Bowden’s return to the hot seat. So did Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips’ failure to grant him a contract extension and the revelation that Clemson has enough in its “rainy day” fund to pay Bowden’s $2.5 million contract buyout.
The contract has four years left, and pays him $1.1 million per year. But after 2009, the buyout drops to $500,000. Bowden said Tuesday he wasn’t bothered that South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier — who also finished 8-5 last season — got a two-year contract extension and $500,000 raise.
“Eight wins, losing four out of five, I wouldn’t have (extended me),” he said. “Everything is normal, recruiting has gone really good, I don’t think the prospects saw anything abnormal. Season ticket sales have gone up, I don’t think they saw anything abnormal.”
Mandel isn’t the first — or last — national analyst to suggest Bowden’s seat inside his McFadden Building office is getting a bit toasty. Sporting News college football analyst Tom Dienhart recently rated him 47th among the 66 BCS coaches, and ninth out of 12 ACC coaches (only Duke’s Ted Roof and newcomers Randy Shannon of Miami and Jeff Jagodzinski were below him).
“I like him and all. But let’s just say I wouldn’t wanna be this guy,” Dienhart wrote. “Bowden always seemingly does just enough to keep his job. But that’s no longer good enough in what looks like a make or break year. And, honestly, Bowden looks poised to be broken in 2007.”
Bowden, of course, takes the glass half-full approach.
“No, I’m not satisfied, but it’s not like we’re way far off and have to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “If I have to be somewhere other than the championship, I’d rather be real close. Where that is, I don’t know.”
By now, he has accepted that most Tiger fans will accept nothing less than an ACC title, followed by a long string of success.
“The last six head coaches have lasted (an average) of five years at Clemson,” he said. “It’s a tough place to coach. You know you’re going to be on the hot seat. It’s my ninth year, third on the hot seat. You understand the environment.”
And he understands that fans, by nature, tire of a coach after time unless he is successful beyond their wildest dreams. Bowden cited former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes and Arkansas coach Houston Nutt as examples, and noted Spurrier didn’t return to Florida after his NFL tenure for the same reasons.
“Spike Dykes said you lose 10 percent of your support every year you stay. Ten years is 100 percent,” he said. “…I’ve been here nine years. You kind of wear out your welcome after a while.”
It’s easy telling where Bowden got his sense of perspective from. A few feet away, his father, longtime Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, held court with a large group of reporters gathered around his table.
When suggested he taught Tommy well, Bobby agreed.
“He knows the pitfalls of our profession,” Bobby said. “He’s seen me go through it. I’ve been through the same thing.”
Bobby has two national titles. Tommy has none, but knows luck can play a factor, citing a tipped two-point conversion and tipped pass that saved his 1998 unbeaten season at Tulane.
As a result, the son is just bold enough to suggest he could repeat his father’s success, despite the obvious pitfalls.
“I’d like to play in a BCS bowl game, win a national championship,” he said. “That’s been done around here. Florida, three years ago, they lost to South Carolina and won eight games, then they won eight games, and then they won a national title. So it’s not being unrealistic.”
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks