Bobby Bowden

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Ann Bowden couldn't have drawn it up any better. Her husband won a game last night, keeping Florida State's title hopes alive. Her son won respect, pushing around the Seminoles for a half.But Clemson just couldn't finish. The Tigers missed a 41-yard field goal with two minutes left and went scoreless in the second half of a 17-14 Atlantic Coast Conference loss in front of a record 86,200 fans at Death Valley.This was the first father-son coaching matchup in major-college football.

• NFL: The Denver Post reported Tuesday night that former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan reached a deal to become coach of the Redskins. The newspaper said Shanahan will receive a five-year deal from the Redskins, who fired Jim Zorn following a 4-12 season. ... New Browns president Mike Holmgren will meet with Eric Mangini on Wednesday to discuss the coach's future. ... Majestic Realty Co., which is behind a plan to lure the NFL back to Los Angeles, said the Jaguars and Bills are the first teams it will try to relocate.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Florida State was considered among college football's wannabes rather than its most dominant program. Believe it or not, there was a time when the Seminoles were content to be the second-best team in the state rather than disappointed if they weren't the best in the country. Believe it or not, it wasn't during the Stone Ages. Yet: "It's so long ago," Bobby Bowden said recently, "that I can't even remember." Bowden, now 71, is only kidding. He can recall the most minute details from his quarter-century as coach at Florida State, which will play in its third straight national championship game Wednesday when the third-ranked Seminoles meet top-ranked Oklahoma in the FedEx Orange Bowl game at Pro Player Stadium in Miami.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - -Bobby Bowden, the man who built Florida State's once-moribund football program into one of the nation's best, announced Tuesday that the Seminoles' bowl game will be the last game he coaches. Bowden's confirmation puts an end to a whirlwind of speculation that had surrounded his future since reports leaked Monday night that he would be retiring. Bowden, who arrived at Florida State in 1976 and led the Seminoles to national championships in 1993 and 1999, did not make himself available to reporters Tuesday.

Good morning --Bobby Bowden --Maybe you're starting to get this win-by-a-field-goal thing down.

"Mike was like, `What are you looking over here for? You got it, shoot it.'" Alvin Gentry Phoenix Suns assistant coach, on head coach Mike D'Antoni's reaction to James Jones' looking at the bench before launching a shot, before Jones grew accustomed to how different things are with the Suns from his previous team, the Indiana Pacers "Mientkiewicz resembles Daffy Duck screaming, `It's mine! Mine! All mine!'" David Neal The Miami Herald, on former Boston Red Sox first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (right)

Florida State football fans aren't wearing their team's 4-3 record well. They're frustrated and uncomfortable. It's as if their Chief Osceola ties are knotted too tightly around their necks. More than being restless, the fans, alumni and boosters of Florida State, which plays at Maryland tomorrow, are splintered. They can't seem to decide what to do about their living legend of a coach, Bobby Bowden. Florida State@Maryland Tomorrow, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Line: Florida State by 4

Don't put knock on Florida StateIn his column of Nov. 23, Bill Tanton diminishes Florida State's entry into the ACC because the school dropped four football players for not going to class, and because of the "disgraceful" brawl between Florida State and Louisiana State earlier this season.Mr. Tanton also quotes a "longtime" Eastern athletic director who said of ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan: "I hope he's still going to confession, taking that bunch in the ACC."Both Mr. Tanton and the unnamed Eastern AD are showing a total disregard of the record.

Terry Bowden spoke with his father, Bobby, twice last week: once after faxing him the game plan two days before Auburn was to play then-top-ranked Florida in Gainesville and again on Saturday.During halftime of his team's 36-33 upset win, the younger Bowden telephoned the family's home in Tallahassee. Bobby Bowden, whose Florida State team was off last week, had watched the Tigers take a 22-14 lead."I called him from the locker room," the younger Bowden recalled yesterday, "and he told me to keep doing what we were doing."

COLLEGE PARK - When D'Qwell Jackson was a high school sophomore and a budding football star in Largo, Fla., he, like a lot of his friends, dreamed of getting a visit from legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. Largo, you see, is mostly Seminoles country. There are Florida Gators fans there, too, but with all the tradition, all the success Florida State has had over the years, its hard for a high school kid not to be in awe of a team that wears garnet and gold. Even the name of Jackson's high school - Seminole - reflected the program's influence.

Irish, with the right coach Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times This one is, to mix my metaphors, a slam dunk. Notre Dame will return to glory as soon as it hires the right coach. People wondered if Southern California could ever win big again after going through the Ted Tollner, Larry Smith, John Robinson II and Paul Hackett years. USC had lost its mojo. Really? The Trojans shot back to the top after hiring Pete Carroll. Programs with tradition have the advantage in having that tradition.

Bobby Bowden, the longtime Florida State football coach who built the Seminoles into a national power, is expected to either retire today or agree to return to Florida State in a diminished role, a high-ranking source within the university told The Orlando Sentinel. The report came on the same day Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis. Bowden, 80, whose 388 career wins are second only to Penn State's Joe Paterno among major college coaches, met Monday morning with Florida State president T.K. Wetherell and athletic director Randy Spetman.

• COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Virginia fired coach Al Groh after nine seasons at his alma mater, less than 24 hours after the Cavaliers ended a 3-9 season - their worst since 1982 - with their eighth loss to Virginia Tech under Groh. Groh, 65, had two years left on his contract and will receive a $4.33 million buyout. ... Florida State coach Bobby Bowden plans to meet with university president T.K. Wetherell later in the week to discuss his future at the school. Bowden said he wants to coach another year, but he's not sure whether he'll get the chance.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State fans will be playing the oddest sort of guessing game today when the Seminoles host Maryland. Might they be seeing coach Bobby Bowden, 80, on the Doak Campbell Stadium sideline for the final time? Bowden, whose 387 career wins rank him behind only Penn State's Joe Paterno among Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, has declined to discuss his future. Like Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, Bowden has started to face questions from fans, including some who think it's time for him to step aside.

Florida State football fans aren't wearing their team's 4-3 record well. They're frustrated and uncomfortable. It's as if their Chief Osceola ties are knotted too tightly around their necks. More than being restless, the fans, alumni and boosters of Florida State, which plays at Maryland tomorrow, are splintered. They can't seem to decide what to do about their living legend of a coach, Bobby Bowden. Florida State@Maryland Tomorrow, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Line: Florida State by 4

Good morning --Bobby Bowden --Maybe you're starting to get this win-by-a-field-goal thing down.

Irish, with the right coach Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times This one is, to mix my metaphors, a slam dunk. Notre Dame will return to glory as soon as it hires the right coach. People wondered if Southern California could ever win big again after going through the Ted Tollner, Larry Smith, John Robinson II and Paul Hackett years. USC had lost its mojo. Really? The Trojans shot back to the top after hiring Pete Carroll. Programs with tradition have the advantage in having that tradition.

No. 4 Florida State (10-1) vs. No. 9 Ohio State (10-2)Site: New OrleansTime: 8: 30 p.m. todayTV: ABCLine: Florida State by 6 1/2Coaches: Bobby Bowden (206-50-3); John Cooper (86-31-4)Outlook: The Seminoles, whose national title hopes disappeared a 32-29 regular-season-ending loss to Florida, are extremely talented on both sides of the ball. DL Andre Wadsworth, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, and LB Sam Cowart are first team All-Americans who lead a unit that ranked first in the nation against the run, allowing just 1.5 yards per rush.