Like most retired coaches, Tommy Bowden isn’t short on opinions when he talks about the current landscape of college sports.
The former Clemson coach, who led the Tigers from 1999-2008, last week appeared on a podcast with veteran Birmingham-based sportscaster Doug Bell. When asked about the state of college sports, Bowden offered a suggestion for who could “fix” the college game.
“One quick solution, I think, you’ve got to have co-commissioners that’ll get this thing squared away in one year. Let Nick Saban and Charles Barkley be co-commissioners,” Bowden said. “They both bring perspective, unique angles to college football, and that’s what’s needed (with) the professional aspect and NIL. So let Charles Barkley and Nick Saban be co-commissioners, and they’ll have it cleared up in two years.”
Bowden said that Barkley in particular brought a “common sense approach.” “He’d bring a unique perspective, no doubt. And he’d have some colorful comments,” Bowden quipped.
Bowden, whose father Bobby won two national championships at Florida State and built the Seminoles into a national powerhouse with their own unique brand and swagger in the 90s and early 2000s, recently made news for saying that Clemson fans shouldn’t be too critical of Tigers coach Dabo Swinney.
Swinney replaced Bowden midway through the 2008 season after a 3-3 start. Bowden, who turned 70 on July 10, hasn’t set foot on a sideline since then and was asked if he missed coaching.
“I really don’t. I coached 32 years so I was very fortunate,” Bowden said. “Born in Birmingham, heaven would be to coach at Alabama or to coach at Auburn. You usually pick one of the two. I got to coach at both of them and had great experiences at both of them. I was a head coach (at Clemson and Tulane), had some success, and had always had in the back of my mind my mid-50s to get out and do TV for eight or nine years.
“I might have stayed in (coaching) a few more years if that athletic director (Terry Don Phillips) hadn’t come and made the decision for me at six in the morning,” Bowden added with a chuckle.
The full interview with Bowden can be seen below.
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