TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Even gruff, tough Florida State center Bryan Stork was deeply moved.
Stork remembers what it felt like to watch coaching legend Bobby Bowden - surrounded by chanting players - plant a spear in midfield during his last game after 34 years leading the Seminoles program.
“It brought tears to my eyes because I knew it was the last time he’d ever coach Florida State,” said Stork, a redshirt senior. “I remember the day he retired. It rained for three days straight [afterward]. I swear to God, it did. He never came around after that. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
Bowden returns to Doak Campbell Stadium for the first time since his retirement in 2010 when No. 2 FSU (6-0, 4-0 ACC) hosts North Carolina State (3-3, 0-3) today. The game will be broadcast on ABC. Prior to the game, Bowden will be honored by the university, with more than 300 of his former players in attendance. The gesture will serve a cleansing for both Bowden and FSU Coach Jimbo Fisher.
It will put closure to Bowden’s abrupt and tumultuous departure from the school. At the same time, it will help Fisher, who served as Bowden’s offensive coordinator from 2007-09, continue his work putting his on mark on the program Bowden built.
“It’s what’s right about the world. I mean, he made Florida State,” Fisher said of Bowden’s return. “He was Florida State. It’s why we have this stadium, it’s why we have these facilities, it’s why we have academics, it’s why we have the school. It’s why we have everything.
“I’m extremely excited, because he’s my hero, too.”
As FSU reaches a level of national prominence last achieved under Bowden in the 1990s, the Seminoles will face North Carolina State. Last year’s 17-16 upset loss against the Wolfpack, which pushed FSU out of the hunt for the national title, is arguably the most confounding defeat of Fisher’s brief tenure.
The Seminoles are thriving in Fisher’s fourth year since taking over for Bowden.
Following last week’s 51-14 trouncing of then-No. 3 Clemson, the Seminoles are title contenders midway through the season. It’s a feat that hasn’t been accomplished for more than a decade.
“It was a dead area at one point,” Joyner said. “For Coach Fisher to come and be entrusted with that and have so much pressure on him, he’s doing pretty well with that and it’s showing.”
When Bowden takes the field today, he will again plant the spear. This time, it seems it will help mark an era of optimism about the future rather than sadness about the end of an era.
“What he’s done doesn’t surprise me,” Bowden said of Fisher. “He’s got them back on the top.
“A lot of people think there’s animosity between me and [Fisher], but you’ve got to realize, I hired him. I hired him because I knew he was going to be a successful coach.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 10/26/2013