Bowden agrees to 1-year deal at Florida State; Fisher designated “head-coach in waiting”

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -Jimbo Fisher will succeed Bobby Bowden as Florida State’s next football coach – someday.
President T.K. Wetherell designated offensive coordinator Fisher as “head coach-in waiting,” but skipped out of a somewhat unusual news conference Monday without answering questions about the contracts that are not yet finalized.
Bowden, major college football’s winningest coach, agreed to return for a 33rd season with options to stay longer.
“Every year I’ll just re-sign it and tell ’em if I want to coach another year,” Bowden said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”
Bowden, Fisher and interim athletic director Bill Proctor all skirted questions about what Proctor described as “agreement(s) in principle” that give “stability to our program.”
Bowden, 78, said he supported the plan brought to him last week by the president and Proctor, who have both known the coach since the early 1960s.
“I think it’s a great plan,” Bowden said. “Hey, when you get 78 years of age, it’s hard to say how you’re going out, but we’ve got a plan. It kind of all started with my contract.
“My position hasn’t changed. As long as I’m healthy. (And) If I can win enough games.”
Fisher, 42, spent much of his time praising Bowden and avoiding details on what exactly he agreed to.
“This gives me some peace,” said Fisher, who has not been a head coach before. “I’m content to wait for it.”
Fisher was paid roughly $420,000 as offensive coordinator this year. Bowden made just over $2 million in 2006.
Bowden has 300 wins at Florida State, where he has won a pair of national championships and a dozen Atlantic Coast Conference titles.
Bowden’s 373 career wins overall are two more than Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who turns 81 on Dec. 21.
“If I’m the head coach here for 37 years and win 10 games a year, I still haven’t caught him,” Fisher said. “That kind of puts it into perspective.”