Warchant.com - Sunday Conversation: Bobby Bowden Q&A

November 1, 2009

Warchant.com & Osceola

Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden spoke with the media on Sunday morning, one day after the Seminoles pulled out a 45-42 victory against N.C. State. Here is a transcript of that conversation:

Q: With bruised ribs, do you think Christian Ponder will miss some practice time, at least early in the week?

A: It's according. You know, he went back and threw the whole game with it. Now, again, it's usually the next day it hurts the worst.

Q: How close were you guys yesterday to having to make a move to E.J. Manuel at halftime? Jimbo Fisher said he was very concerned about whether Ponder could keep going.

A: Jimbo was really concerned at halftime. He was really concerned. I was not. Now the reason was, I knew how tough he was. I think Jimbo does too. But Jimbo's also concerned about protecting him. When I asked Ponder, "How are you?" at the half, I could tell by the way he answered, he wasn't planning on not playing.

Q: Didn't Charlie Ward have bruised ribs once?

A: Charlie had 'em against ? remember, Wake Forest got him. Then Danny Kanell threw five [touchdowns] at Maryland.

Q: Obviously, running is a weapon Ponder has. But it's not like he has to run to be successful, right?

A: That's true. He doesn't have to run. He's kind of like [Florida's Tim] Tebow - he's a lot better if he does. Remember when they shut Tebow down for one game and they lost against [Mississippi]. And a lot of times these guys are so competitive you can't make them stop [running]. He might be that way.

Q: It might be too early to talk about, but are you worried about the NFL knocking ?

A: on Ponder's door? Yeah, it's too early to worry about that. It could always happen. Ponder, to me, is on the verge of being a celebrity. It's according to does he want to go ahead and try to climax that college experience or not. Everette Brown chose not to ? he could have been maybe the Defensive Player of the Year. They give all that up for money. So, if that did occur, Ponder would have to have that decision. Knowing him, I would think he's leaning on staying no matter what. Knowing him.

Q: If there is a positive for the defense, is it that for the second week in a row, they've held up on the other team's final possession?

A: Yeah, that's exactly right. And that might be the closest thing to positive that came out of it for the defense. Now, there's one thing that's happened. It happened against Miami, it happened against South Florida ? Mickey makes his first substitution [at cornerback], puts a freshman in there, and there he goes. That's at least twice I can remember that happening. Again, that's having to play freshmen too early.

Q: N.C. State's quarterback, Russell Wilson, is obviously mobile and you don't want him running too much. But it seemed like he sometimes had all day back there to throw.

A: Well, you know, a lot of that was because we were ? once he spins out, and if everybody is dropping back, he don't run three yards. I've seen him over and over. And we were probably too cautious on that. Somewhere in there there's a correct time to go and get him. But I've watched him many a times where he went back to pass, everybody is covered, and he runs 45 yards for a touchdown. What was the longest run he made last night? (14 yards) We held him down there pretty good. That was probably the reason we were so cautious. I'll say this for our secondary, it's hard to play pass defense when you can't go get the passer.

Q: He also showed some accuracy. He really drilled one of his touchdown passes into a tight spot.

A: Yeah. The one that disturbed me was when that tight end went right down the middle. There wasn't a soul around him.

Q: You've seen that before.

A: Oh yeah. But they usually go left flat. (laughing) Hey, I'm sure we had somebody in the left flat waiting on him. (laughing) That's probably what happened.

Q: You ran the ball well on Saturday, and you also didn't give up any sacks. Is this offensive line where you thought it would be?

A: They are where you would hope they would be. I've really been pleased. If you can keep them from getting our quarterback and open some running holes, you can outscore what they do. It's kind of who had that ball last, really.

Q: After the game, you gave a lot of credit to the line, probably more than you did to the running backs. But Jermaine Thomas seemed to be running pretty well.

A: And he did. You know, as I sit there on the sidelines, a lot of times I'll see him run, and I'll see a lane open over here, and he don't see it, and he goes another way. And I'm thinking, 'Dadgummit, why didn't you slash back?' Well, you can't see all that on the field. Then when you look back at the film, you see he's making better cuts than you realize. He was probably making a lot better cuts than I realized.

Q: Looking at Clemson, C.J. Spiller is really having another great year there. How tough is he to defend?

A: Probably moreso than any back in the conference? There's probably not many backs that are more dangerous than him in going all the way, because he is so fast. You watch him run. Anybody that can run into the line - Peter Warrick could do this - could run into the middle and you have him bottled up, and he still could run for a touchdown all the way around the end. So fast. This guy's the same way.

Q: You had to have seen that when you were recruiting him out of high school.

A: Yeah. I think it was a case where Florida thought they had him, we thought we had him, and that crook up there at Clemson (Tommy Bowden) got him. (laughing) Tommy sneaked that one in on us.

Q: Back a few years ago, when the offense was struggling, there seemed to be a lot of bickering between the defensive players and offensive players. The roles are reversed now. How pleased are you that those issues don't seem to be coming up anymore?

A: Yeah. And that doesn't need to be. Because football is a game where if you're playing great defense, you don't do it every Saturday. And if you're playing great offense, you don't do that every Saturday either. There comes a weekend where the other side has to pick up the slack. So, they learn to depend on each other no matter what happens. ? Isn't it amazing? I can't ever remember [a year] like this. What was that, the eighth game? Every one has come down to the wire. We can't substitute. I can't get E.J. in the game, because we're always fighting to come back. Usually, there would be one of those games where you're so far ahead, you could play people. Or you're so far behind, you could play people. But golly, every one of them is right down to the wire.

Q: Were you surprised by the turnout yesterday?

A: Yeah, sure was. My first shocker of the day was when I came out of that tunnel and looked down there and didn't see nobody in the end zone. ? That's the first time I've seen in that light in a long time. I thought homecoming would make up for the slack.

Q: Where are you at with the defense? It doesn't seem like they've made any progress, and they've struggled against all different types of offenses.

A: You're at a point where you're waiting for them to come together. It seems like when the line plays good, the secondary doesn't play good. When the secondary plays good, the line doesn't play good. We play bad one half. We play good the next half. When are we going to get 60 minutes of football out of the defense, where it's all together. And yet, you could turn the thing around and say, "Hold it, what happened to their defense?" Whatever happened to ours also happened to theirs. And then you say, what happened to Southern Cal's defense. We're all having problems with the spread. You know, football goes in cycles. The defense for 10 years will play real good. Then the offense will figure out what they're doing, and then all of a sudden they'll take over for 10 years. Then the defense will get that figured out and they'll take over. It seems like it goes in cycles. And right now we're in a spread cycle. Defenses are having their hands full. Defenses will eventually find out ? they'll come up with a plan that eventually will change what all these dadgum scores are.

Q: Mickey seems to be experimenting with a bunch of different schemes.

A: Oh yeah. We've used anywhere from one-man rushes to two-man rushes to three-man rushes to four-man rushes to six-man rushes. We've done it all.

Q: With the way the ACC has been so topsy-turvy this season, does that give you hope that you can get back in the championship race?

A: We can only take care of what we can take care of, and that's who we play. This ballgame coming up is the biggest one. However, if you win it, the next one becomes the biggest one.

Q: Is Spiller the biggest concern going into that game against Clemson?

A: He's the starting place. The thing that they have done ? the two things I've seen this year that really were kind of like having an inside straight [in poker] and you draw it and get it. It's the quarterback at Boston College. I saw their first two games; it was obvious that quarterback can't do it. So then they got this [David Shinskie], when I saw him play the week before us, I said, "Uh oh, they found their quarterback." He can throw. Then I watched Clemson the first of the year. They started a redshirt freshman quarterback, and he was learning the hard way. Then all of a sudden he began to put it together. And I think they're on a four-game winning streak now. They filled their straight out with that quarterback. Because they've got two of the best skill people in the country with [Jacoby] Ford and Spiller.

Q: You haven't won at Clemson since 2001. It's been awhile. How tough is it to win there?

A: It's tough, but you've just got to go play your best. That's all there is to it. You know ? we played Clemson up there in '97 or '98, Peter Warrick scores on about an 85-yard punt return. Peter Warrick catches an 80-yard touchdown pass. Peter Warrick runs a short pass for a touchdown. He scores about three times, and we win by seven. Now without Peter Warrick, we wouldn't have won that dang game. So sometimes, one guy can make you. One guy. Or maybe it's two. How close are we? I don't know, but probably a lot closer than we think.

Q: Your wide receivers had a lot of issues with suspensions and other problems last year. University president T.K. Wetherell even called out receivers coach Lawrence Dawsey publicly about that. But they seem to have turned the corner and have been productive this season. Does Dawsey deserve a lot of the credit for that?

A: Yeah, I think you're exactly right. He's on those kids all the time about off-the-field stuff. And you know, the thing about it, I hate to keep bringing up that fight they had. But here you had a group of guys and we had a receiver who had been threatened, in front of his mother, with his life. And the kids knew he was going to get in trouble over there. Number one, he shouldn't have gone over there. But they were afraid he was going to get hurt, so they go over there, and they all get into it. They've just got to learn, in your position as a public figure, you've just got to walk away. But Dawsey really grabbed the horns after that and just went above and beyond the call of duty of having to stay on them. And still, you don't know what a kid might do.

Q: Bert Reed is having a really good year and scored the game-winning touchdown yesterday. But he was one of those guys in a lot of trouble last year. How close were you to cutting him loose last season?

A: Yeah, it was probably down to the last strike. Bert is one of the most likeable kids you've got. Talks all the time. He's the only guy I've ever seen that talks on a pass route. (laughing) But he's such a likeable guy, and he's come so far. Gee whiz. ? There's probably been three or four of them we had to call in and said, "This is your last shot."

Q: When you're making those decisions, do you have to consider what kind of person they are and whether you can save them?

A: Yeah, we consider other things. We know where they came from. We know what they went through in high school and home ? you know, he (Reed) had a brother killed. So there are a lot of things that affect us.

Q: Some kids don't take advantage of those second chances.

A: Well, you know many times - and I can name a lot of other guys and I won't - that come here and have not been used to being disciplined. It's kind of do whatever you want to do. Then all of a sudden, they get discipline, and it's a shock to them. "What is this you're doing to me? Why can't I do this? Nobody's ever told me I can't do this." Then they go through that, and it's kind of like breaking a horse. Until you break that horse, you can't get on it. But you eventually can break it, and then everybody can ride him. I think it just comes to a point where they realize, "Hey, my way ain't working. I've got to do it Coach's way."

Q: Louis Givens didn't play much and had his hand in a cast during the game. How did he break his hand?

A: Playing around Friday. ? We couldn't take a chance with him fumbling, but we did use him on special teams.

Q: Going back to giving players second and third chances, when a guy does turn his life around, does that make up for the times when it doesn't work out?

A: No doubt about it. If you can save a life, that's the most important thing in the world. The world is not interested in that. But that is the most important thing in the world, if you can save a kid somehow. ? I've always said that: I hate to throw them back on the street if I can help it.

Q: What's the latest with Richard Goodman. He's missed a couple games now.

A: He's got that pulled groin, dadgummit. He can't hardly cut. It was that way early. Then he took a shot and went out and played good, and then it hurt worse the next week. He just hasn't been able to run full speed for three weeks. I hope this week he'll be ready, because he's been very helpful for us.

Q: Can you talk about your relationship with Dabo Swinney? Have you gotten to talk to him much since he was moved in to replace Tommy at Clemson?

A: He's from Birmingham like I am. Of course I'm from another generation. But some of my best friends in Birmingham also know his family pretty good. Of course, Tommy's the one that helped raise him when Tommy was an assistant at Alabama. And then Tommy took him to Clemson. But he's going to do a good job. Of course, Kevin Steele is up there too. Brad Scott. Brad Scott's son is coaching receivers.

Q: One of the topics out there that fans keep discussing is what's going to happen if Coach Andrews retires. With Jimbo Fisher taking over down the road, are you going to let him make some of those decisions? Or will you still make those calls?

A: Well, I think you've definitely got to consider him because he's the future. The future is him.

Q: So if there are changes next year, you're willing to let him make those?

A: I'm not ready to discuss that yet. I've already got thoughts. But I'm not ready to discuss that.

Q: You already kind of indicated ?

A: Well, he's going to be the next head coach when I leave here. Everything's in his hands. ? I'm still hoping Mickey stays around.

Q: How hard would that be for you to coach next year without Mickey?

A: Yeah, if it did happen, it would be the first time in 26 years. Mickey deserves as much of the success as anybody. His great defenses are what really made the difference. Because there's a lot of good offensive teams in the country. But teams that play defense consistently are probably the ones that keep winning.

Transcribed by Ira Schoffel

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