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Quote:Q&A WITH FSU COACH BOBBY BOWDEN

Ready for Canes, not to retire


Q. Do you like the idea of playing Miami right off the bat?

A. I sure do. Number one, to get it out of the way. Number two, I'd like to get them before they get all greased up. They lost six first-rounders last year. I'd like to get them before they get those other guys playing like first-rounders, which will happen. Number (three), if you win you're going to get a good jump on everybody. If you lose, you have time to work your way back to the top.

Q. I asked one of your players how long you are going to coach, and he said, "Forever."

A. I simply have no desire to quit. I'm sure there are some alumni who would love to see me hang it up and go get somebody younger. But as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather do this than retire.

Q. You've won more games at this level than anybody and have a couple of national championships. What more do you want out of this?

A. I just want to keep winning. I couldn't stay in it if I started losing a lot. And I won't define a lot because I don't want you to hold me to it when I lose some. But I, again, just enjoy winning. I enjoy coaching. I think this is my 52nd year. I've known nothing else, and I don't know what I'd do if I retired. I know what I'd do if they fired me and I was healthy, I'd go get another job somewhere. I might call (my son) Tommy.

Q. How much did last year and getting (more hands on with the program) re-energize you?

A. You could just nearly base it on how many games you win. If you win 10, you feel better than you did when you won nine. If you win nine, you feel better than you did when you won eight.

Q. Are kids the same as they were 30 years ago?

A. These kids that we get nowadays, they come in and do this wrong. You shouldn't steal. You shouldn't do this. Their parents have got to teach them that. And it's got to be done when they're 2, 3, 4, 5 years of age. And kids aren't getting that anymore because the daddies ain't home. The daddies are all gone. And a boy needs discipline. He needs discipline from a male. Not a mama. They all want to wear earrings like their mama. They all want to look like their mama. Because their mama is raising them.

Q. Do you still feel like you relate to 18-year-olds or 20-year-olds?

A. I don't believe in a lot of things they're doing now. I sure don't believe in a lot of things they're doing. But I'm sure I could talk to them about it, and I do, in certain circumstances. They (say), "Well everybody else is doing it. Everybody else is doing it." Yeah. But the Book says you can't do that, son. The Book has said for 2,000 years that you can't do that.

Q. When kids come in and do things wrong, some people attribute that to the star treatment they get at programs. Big programs like yours, even.

A. It's probably true. A lot of that is true. There's no doubt about it. A lot of our problems are perpetrated by us coaches. We baby them. We give them this and we give them that. When I went to college, nobody told me to take English. Nobody told me what courses to take. Nobody told me where the library was. Nobody ever told me any of that stuff. But now we get their classes for them and we check and see if they went to class. I think we're probably our biggest enemy sometimes.

Florida State

COACH: Bobby Bowden (269-67-4 at Florida State, 28 years; 342-99-4 overall)

LAST SEASON: 10-3 (L. Miami 16-14 in Orange Bowl)

RETURNING STARTERS:

9 offense, 4 defense

SCHEDULE

Sept. 6 at Miami

Sept. 18 Ala.-Birmingham

Sept. 25 Clemson

Oct. 2 North Carolina

Oct. 9 at Syracuse

Oct. 16 Virginia

Oct. 3 at Wake Forest

Oct. 30 at Maryland

Nov. 6 Duke

Nov. 11 at N.C. State

Nov. 20 Florida