Bowden's legacy defined before NCAA decision

The NCAA has upheld its decision to take away as many as 14 wins from former FSU coach Bobby Bowden.

Bowden

Notice the use of the word “former.”

Because on Saturday, one day after the Seminoles’ 33-21 win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl -- Bowden’s final game of his career -- Jimbo Fisher held his first official staff meeting as head coach. And at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Fisher will officially be announced as Florida State’s next head coach. It’s nothing but a formality, really. The Seminoles have already moved on, and it’s time for this academic fraud case to be put into its proper place -- in FSU history.

Now that Bowden has retired -- and retired trailing Penn State’s Joe Paterno -- it’s a moot point and one that’s not worth appealing or fighting. Florida State has announced that it will begin the lengthy process of sorting out which athletes across 10 sports were ineligible at the time of competition. If the NCAA takes away the maximum 14 wins from football, Bowden will have ended his career with 375 wins. If the NCAA for some reason had had a change of heart and left well enough alone, Bowden would have finished the way he did Friday night -- with 389 wins.

Either way, it’s a long way from his goal of 400 wins. The only possible way Bowden could have reached that number and retired the way he wanted to would have been if the NCAA had granted FSU its appeal, had FSU allowed Bowden to coach in 2010, AND the Seminoles had had an 11-win season next year.

That’s how Bowden wanted to go out.

Instead, Bowden’s place in history had already been set before the NCAA’s decision was made. It’s been defined by his two national titles, his 14 straight 10-win seasons, his two Heisman Trophy winners, his 12 ACC championship appearances and his personality. It was also defined by the way he left Florida State -- on their terms.

The NCAA’s decision won’t change the fact that Bowden ended his career on Friday night with 33 straight winning seasons. It will change only the way Florida State does things in the future, and that’s not entirely a bad thing.