Bowden says he wants to meet with team before announcing his coaching future at Florida St

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Bobby Bowden to meet players, then announce plans

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Bobby Bowden says he wants to speak to his players before announcing whether he will return to coach Florida State next season.

The 80-year-old coach told The Associated Press that an announcement would be made later Tuesday.

“I want to meet with my team first,” Bowden said on his way into the office.

That team meeting has been scheduled for 2:15 p.m. (EST).

Bowden, the second-winningest coach in major college football history, met earlier Tuesday morning at his home with school officials, their second such meeting in two days.

The coach is in his 34th season at FSU. After Florida State lost its regular-season finale to Florida on Saturday, Bowden said he had to do some soul-searching before deciding whether he would return in 2010.

“This is coach Bowden’s decision,” Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said Tuesday. “He’s going to talk to the team first. I’m not going to make any comment.”

Wetherell said he was waiting word from Bowden on his decision.

On Monday night, Bowden told the AP at his home that he was still sifting through “options” presented to him when he met with Wetherell and athletic director Randy Spetman.

“Yes, there are options,” said a relaxed Bowden, who was eating a light dinner while seated in an easy chair in his home office surrounded by memorabilia from his long career. “One of them is to be the head coach.”

The Tallahassee Democrat and ESPN.com reported Bowden is expected to announce his retirement Tuesday.

University spokesman Browning Brooks said no news conference had been scheduled.

There are questions about how responsibilities will be divided next season between Bowden and coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher — especially when it comes to hiring assistants. Fisher, the offensive coordinator, receives $5 million from Florida State if he’s not the head coach by January 2011.

Earlier this year, Bowden had strongly suggested he wanted 2010 to be his last season. But Bowden, whose 388 career wins are second only to Penn State’s Joe Paterno among major college coaches, also has said he could not return as a head coach with no authority.

Spetman described Monday’s meeting in Bowden’s office as congenial.

“It’s always cordial with Coach Bowden,” Spetman said. “He’s a good man.”

The coach was in good humor when he told a couple hundred boosters Monday at his weekly luncheon that he had the discussion about his future. The coach drew laughs from fans several times with quips and one-liners.

Bowden has been on a one-year rollover agreement with the university for several years, but that ends after the 2010 season.

The winningest coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history, Bowden teams put together the one of most dominant runs in college football history between 1987 and 2000 with 14 consecutive finishes in the nation’s top five and a pair of national titles.

But the Seminoles’ fortunes haven’t been nearly as good in recent years, finishing this year with a 6-6 record after starting the year with high expectations and a preseason No. 18 ranking.

In 1993, despite a late-season slip at Notre Dame, Florida State won its first national title after near misses in 1987, 1988, 1991 and 1992 — several seasons because of losses to nemesis Miami, which won three national titles during that span.

Bowden had a perfect season in 1999 as the Seminoles became the first team to go wire-to-wire in The Associated Press poll ranked No. 1 from the preseason to finish.

Since winning their 12th ACC championship in 2005, the Seminoles have been 16-16 over the past four seasons against league opponents.

“There’s no doubt in my mind Florida State will come back,” Bowden said Monday.