Bowden on Richt

Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden has mentioned Mark Richt in each of his past two weekly teleconferences. In case you missed it, here's what he had to say:

"I've seen assistants that become head coaches thatfail, and I've seen others that do well. He has certainly done well.He's already been there long enough to prove himself. You know, he's ina position there, he's got a great job at Georgia. To get a job in astate like Georgia that is among the leading states as far as 1-A-levelfootball players goes, is great. Georgia is one of those places likeLSU where you've got a lot of good talent, and where the majority ofthe state is behind him. You can trust him. Whatever he says he's goingto to do, he'll do it. He's real approachable and likeable to the othercoaches and players and fans."

"We talk occassionally, it's not like we call everyweek, but ocassionally we'll talk. You know, back in the '90s and thelate-'80s, nearly every preseason we were No. 1, and we liked it. Andnow that we haven't had that in six or seven years, we really wouldlike it, but I think it's good for Georgia, and good for Mark. And I'vetold him this, but that schedule they've got is murderous."

On the importance of Richt having dealt with big nationalattention/bowl games at FSU: "It's very important. I know the firsttime we ever went to a major bowl, the first time we ever went to anational championship, it's a new experience. And you wonder if you'veprepared everything and handled it correctly. Well, the fact that hehas been through this -- two national championships here -- I feel verysure that he'll be able to handle it this year."