There's a mess brewing within the athletics program at Florida State, and a campus trustee is right in the middle of it.
Florida State used to be one of the kings of college football but of late has fallen on hard times, relatively speaking. FSU is no longer a perennial national title contender and many believe longtime Coach Bobby Bowden is to blame.
Bowden, who has headed the program for 34 years, came under attack recently from an unlikely foe: Jim Smith, chairman of the university's board of trustees.
Smith opened fire on Bowden in two local newspaper articles following the Seminoles' recent loss to Boston College. In the second interview, with the St. Pete Times, he actually compared Bowden to a loyal old dog that you have to put down.
"You know it's the right thing to do but you sure feel bad about it," he said.
Yikes.
Smith holds a position of great power at Florida State, but as Inside Higher Ed reported this week, he appears to have overstepped his bounds a bit. Trustees, you see, are not supposed to meddle in athletics affairs. Or, at least not publicly.
Here's the story.
Comments
#1 Topic of Interest
Thu, 10/08/2009 - 11:03 — AgentPierceCollege Football is the highest profile program at many universities. It is the first thing the public thinks about when they think about the institution .... rightly or wrongly. Why shouldn't the BOT head have a public comment about it?
Bobby Bowden is THE most well-known employee of FlaState by far. His status is "of interest" to anyone who cares about FSU.