Could Stoops have forced Bowden into retirement?
Published: 7/22/2009 1:31 PM
Last Modified: 7/22/2009 1:31 PM
Before leaving the 7-year-old Stoops-to-Florida topic (see: Monday blog) behind, I thought I'd share something Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi wrote recently:
"Try to imagine what the world would be like if Stoops had taken the UF job. I'll give you my three scenarios...
"1. Urban Meyer, of course, would be the coach at Notre Dame because (Ron) Zook would have never been around to get fired midway through the 2004 season.
"2. Zook would not be the coach at Illinois because he would have never gotten the Florida job, which put his name on the map for other big-time coaching positions.
"3. Bobby Bowden would have been forced out by now because Stoops would have accelerated the Gators' rise to dominance in the state of Florida. The coach at Florida State would be Butch Davis, who wanted to return to the state two years ago when Randy Shannon was hired at Miami."
How about that. As so many people wonder what it's going to take for Bowden to figure out his time at FSU has passed, here's a theory that Stoops could have forced the old coach's hand had he accepted Florida's offer seven years ago.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
