This fall the Alabama football history against Florida State will reach 52 years, but the 2017 contest will only be the fifth game.
Most college football fans, even some Alabama football fans are surprised to learn the Tide and the Seminoles have a history of just four games. The teams have played in 1965, 1967, 1974 and 2007.
There are other lesser known facts about Florida Sate that pre-date the Bobby Bowden era. Florida State did no begin modern football competition until 1947. The school was women only from 1905 until after World War II.
Other than a brief interval in the Dixie League (1948-1950), Florida State was an independent until joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1992. Bobby Bowden had long since built a powerhouse before entry into the ACC.
From 1987-2000 Florida State had one of the greatest runs in college football history. In that span, FSU was 151-19-1 with two national championships and nine ACC championships.
The Bowden FSU era was not without controversy. Bowden was widely considered to be player friendly, during a time when that was not a compliment. Bowden set his own standard for player discipline and most everyone, not Noles fans found it lacking.
As a result, the informal name of the Seminoles went from the ‘Cinnamon Rolls’ to the ‘Criminoles’ and FSU was jokingly referred to as Free Shoes University. We are documenting rather than passing judgment. Others can look up the history and decide how much criticism against FSU was warranted.
Whatever weaknesses Bobby Bowden exhibited at FSU it was not enough to dampen Alabama’s interest in hiring him. Bowden, a Birmingham native, had long been interested in becoming the Tide coach when Alabama began its search for a replacement for Ray Perkins.
Bowden came to Birmingham for a meeting he thought was to discuss a job offer. When he found out it was an interview, he listened but walked away without an offer. After Curry resigned Bowden did get an Alabama offer which he rejected.