Jeff Bowden’s Judgement Year
Posted by NoleCC
By Bill Kristoph
Since Jeff Bowden was promoted to FSU’s Offensive Coordinator, fans, media and players have been quick to blame him for FSU’s offensive woes. Until 2006, that judgement was not fair. Granted, there are play calls that have left many people in the stands wondering what the heck was going on downon the field. At times, clock-management was awful (and watch out for that again this year with the rule changes). But overall, Jeff Bowden had two things going against him over the last 5 years.
The first problem was the Chris Rix saga. Forget about Chris as a player and the things that went on. He certainly wasn’t Chris Weinke or Charlie Ward. Heck, he wasn’t even Thad Busby. A coach can teach, call plays and have the best strategy out there, but when a player can’t execute, there is not much a coach can do about it. It was a mixture of events that lead to a rough four years. The biggest issue was Rix’s polarizing nature; the worst thing a team environment can have.
The second problem occured last season. Fresh off of the Chris Rix experience, Jeff Bowden had to start another freshman, Drew Weatherford. Forget about the fans arguing over Lee vs. Weatherford, that battle was settled in practice. In fact, the ‘Noles looked pretty great through 6 games. But when the offensive line was decimated, and Drew Weatherford started doing his best Ken O’Brien sack imitation, what can anyone really do? If people watched some of the game tapes, they’d see that receivers were open, but the ‘Noles just couldn’t get the ball there.
With those questions solved heading into the 2006 campaign, what are the excuses this year?
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Rix actually had tons of talent. Certainly a better arm than Thad and far more mobile than Thad or Chris. Too bad he regressed over the years and never achieved full potential. My guess is that coaches are as much to blame as he is. Still, some of those mistakes came from trying to do too much — trying to make something happen — because he didn’t have the supporting cast that Charley, Thad and Chris had. And I’ll always believe the team was in a negative funk for a few years because of the Darling incident.
Darling is a very good point that I didn’t touch on. As for the Rix / Coaches thing, I hate coming across as a Rix hater, I certainly never wished an ill on him. I think Weatherford will be the litmus test for the FSU Coaching Staff, if he continues to improve over 4 years, then they shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of the blame for the Rix era.