Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407250089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TAMPA, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
One way Bobby Bowden has been able to retain his enthusiasm after 24 years as a Division I football head coach is to distance himself from the game each May.
``I don't want to see it, I don't want to see a film, I don't want to hear about it,'' the Florida State coach said Sunday. ``I like to play golf, be with the family, travel. Then, come August, you can hit it running.''
Bowden was expecting another peaceful summer this year before a May 6 call to his Sarasota motel room, where he was informed Sports Illustrated was preparing a report on a shopping spree involving Seminoles players.
``It's been very distracting, but I haven't been thinking football,'' he said. ``I've been thinking law and order. I've been to the [university] president's office more in the past month than in the previous 18 years.''
Many wondered how Bowden would react Sunday at the ACC Football Kickoff, particularly since he no longer will discuss the issue with Sports Illustrated, but he was his usual cooperative - even gregarious - self.
``Our university ain't done nothin','' Bowden said. ``There's nothing where we tried to get a guy a pair of shoes or tried to get a guy a job or tried to get a guy ineligible or tried to change a grade. That ain't what happened.''
If the program has been criticized, it has been for negligence, for not realizing players were in contact with agents, who paid for an after-hours, expenses-paid trip to a Foot Locker store in Tallahassee.
``I can't believe they could go into a store and it didn't get around,'' Bowden said. ``If you had told me something like that would happen, I would have thought I would know about it in 30 seconds.''
But he swears he didn't.
At the recommendation of the ACC, Florida State has asked the Kansas City, Mo., law firm of Bond, Schoeneck and King to look into the allegations. Once that report is complete, it will be forwarded to the NCAA.
Bowden said he hopes to get some information in the next 10 days that will clarify the status of several players, including guard Patrick McNeil.
McNeil, selected to more than one preseason All-America team, was named by Sports Illustrated as one of the players who went on the Foot Locker excursion. Running back Tiger McMillon was another, although knee problems could keep him off the field.
``There's nothing I can do about any of this, to be honest with you,'' Bowden said, ``but I've got to know the eligibility status of our players, what we're going to do about this guy missing here or this guy missing there.
``We're going to have some boys suspended; there's no doubt about it. How many games, I don't know yet. Once we get the report, we'll start coaching. We'll forget about this thing.''
Bowden said he expects the adversity will serve as a rallying point for his players, although he has spoken with only a handful of them - most proclaiming their innocence - in the past two months.
``I'm looking forward to meeting with my football team Aug.11,'' he said. ``That will be my first chance to sit down and say, `See, I told you you can't do this. See, I told you what was going to happen.'''
Several of Bowden's coaching colleagues and ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan expressed concern about the recklessness of many sports agents, who resist the call for regulation and have little regard for NCAA rules.
``They couldn't care about the players, especially the ones who have eligibility remaining, and they can't care about the [college] program,'' said George Welsh, Virginia's coach.
``I know our players have been approached. All you can do is educate them, tell them to stay away [from agents] and keep your fingers crossed.''
The special favors allegedly given the Florida State players, combined with the suspension with pay of athletic director Bob Goin for accepting gifts, has brought renewed scrutiny for a once-independent program entering its fourth year as an ACC member.
``When you add somebody to a conference, there's always a chance for contentiousness,'' Corrigan said. ``But with Florida State, it's always been, `Is that the way it is? Is that what we've got to do? Fine!'
``They have been an ideal member. That's why it hurts so bad to see them in this situation. These are difficult times, but in my seven years [as commissioner] we've had a number of schools investigated.''
At this time a year ago, Bowden only heard questions about Florida State's inability to win a national championship. When the Seminoles finally won one, however, the focus quickly shifted elsewhere.
``If you look at the history of the teams who have gotten in trouble, they haven't had the trouble we have,'' Bowden said. ``Ours is different. This was not a premeditated case of trying to cheat.
``Gee whiz! If we hadn't been ranked No.1, there would not have been a Foot Locker. Those agents from Las Vegas would not have come to our school. They said, `Florida State [is] No.1 in the nation. Let's start there.'''
by CNB