Ex-Florida State coach Bobby Bowden wants NCAA to restore victories
Former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden says he is glad that the NCAA gave Joe Paterno his wins back after the Jerry Sandusky scandal, but he wants the NCAA to do the same for his own vacated wins.
Bowden has 12 victories of his own that the NCAA took away after the school's alleged academic misconduct concerning the football program from 2006-07.
"I'm all for Joe getting his hundred wins back and me getting my 12 back," Bowden told the Orlando Sentinel.
Last week, the NCAA and Penn State University agreed on a settlement to return Paterno's 112 victories from 1998 to 2011, which the NCAA took away as part of the program's punishment.
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Paterno was fired by Penn State in October 2011 as a result of the scandal and died months later. The settlement restores Paterno's record to 409-136-3, again making him major college football’s all-time winningest coach.
"It always felt like there should be asterisk beside it," Bowden said, referring to his own total. "When I would give a speech and be introduced as the all-time winningest coach, it never felt right to me."
Bowden retired at the end of the 2009 season with a 377-129-4 record and two national championships.
"That was disappointing to me," Bowden said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. "The NCAA has been very inconsistent about how they take away victories. It's not like we were trying to cover up anything. We did everything in our dad-gum power to get to the bottom of the situation."
- Scooby Axson
