Jim Henry

Tallahassee Democrat

It wasn’t the way Bobby Bowden envisioned spending Thanksgiving Day and watching the Florida State-Florida football game two days later on Saturday.

The Seminoles’ legendary football coach spent four days in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital with pneumonia. Bowden, who turned 89 earlier this month, was admitted last Thursday and released Sunday. Bowden was feeling much better Monday.

“I feel pretty good but a little weak – just not very strong,” a raspy-voiced Bowden said from his Killearn Estates home. “I don’t have any aches or pains, so that’s good. The doctor told me to take it easy this week.”

While it wasn’t the family’s Thanksgiving dinner, an appreciative Bowden thanked hospital employees for their care and hospitality. "They kept me fed," Bowden quipped. Bowden also spent Saturday watching college football games and channel surfing, starting with the FSU-UF showdown at Doak Campbell Stadium at noon.

Needless to say, Seminole Nation didn’t feel very good after the 41-14 defeat.

The Gators halted FSU’s NCAA-best bowl streak, which began in 1982, and handed the Seminoles (5-7) their first losing season since 1976 - Bowden's first season as head coach.

“I watched it until I had seen enough,” Bowden said.

It was a sour ending to a sour season under first-year coach Willie Taggart.

Bowden, who says streaks don’t last forever, again stressed Taggart deserves time to get the program turned in the right direction. He reminded fans of his losing record (5-6) in his first season in Tallahassee.

“There’s only one thing to solve it – recruiting,” Bowden said.

“You also need to check to be sure your coaches are doing a good job. There’s an old saying in coaching, ‘Don’t repeat your mistakes, don’t repeat your mistakes.’ A lot of times under a new staff that will occur. They have to get used to each other and how they operate.”

Bowden also was dismayed to hear about the racially-charged post that appeared on social media after the game. An image showed Taggart’s face atop the body of a black man hanging from a tree. Taggart is the first black head football coach in the university's history.

“It’s a cruelty joke – you don’t need those,” Bowden told the Democrat.

Bowden has felt the wrath of fans, too.

He was hung in effigy following a 4-7 season at West Virginia in 1974, his fifth season with the Mountaineers. A dummy with his name on it was placed in a tree near his office. Students also hung a sheet outside their dormitory that read “Bye-bye Bobby.” At FSU, fans grew frustrated with Bowden near the end of his tenure with the Seminoles. He was forced into retirement following the 2009 season with 304 wins and two national titles.

“It’s the nature of the job,” Bowden said. “You can’t let it bother you."

Bowden recalled that his son Tommy and West Virginia lineman Dave Van Halanger, who later served as FSU’s strength coach under Bowden from 1983-2000, planned to take matters into their own hands in 1974 in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Bowden said Tommy climbed the tree before being stopped by a policeman. Tommy explained he wasn’t taking down the dummy, only adding pillows to its midsection because it wasn’t “as fat” as his dad. Tommy and Van Halanger, however, did knock on the dormitory door of the student who hung the sheet outside his window.

“The guy wore glasses, weighed about 120 pounds and probably couldn’t break a window pane – they laughed and just left,” Bowden said and chuckled. “Life is funny sometimes.”

Bowden is pulling for Taggart.

“He’s a good guy, that has been his nature,” Bowden said. “It has been done at Florida State before.”