Bobby Bowden's tales from the Seminoles sidelines

Bobby Bowden is spending what should be his retirement years gathering victories and collecting more fodder for stories that must be told between staff meetings, film study, cross-country recruiting trips, and even the tackling of hundreds of footballs and posters that daily await the signature of NCAA Division I-A's all-time winningest coach. For the architect of one of college football's great dynasties--14 consecutive seasons of Associated Press top five finishes -- his rocker is a swivel chair that swings easily to his right so that even with the next season six months away, he can study opponent's game tape that almost always fills the large projection screen that dominates his office. His porch is an office crammed with more than 300 books he uses to break from the pressures as the coach of one college football's most recognized programs. It boasts a view of Doak Campbell Stadium, where as an assistant coach and head coach he has been a Seminole for more than 31 years. It is down there and on legendary road trips to Nebraska, Clemson, Florida, and so many other places that gutsy trick plays were called and executed, leading to Bowden's nickname a the "Riverboat Gambler." It is where plays that only Bowden would dare try, including some he now regrets attempting, have unfolded. It is also where the final results of amusing and unexpected events on the recruiting trail were written. They are substance for stories that should not, and will not, wait for retirement. Readers will be among the group that gathers around as Bowden tells his Tales from the Seminole Sideline.