Commentary | FHSAA Cup Standings reveal injustice; Bowden did it on the cheap
The Sunshine Cup all-sports awards reiterated what we already know: Certain private schools are not playing on the same level as the rest of the state.
It is glaring and begging for a remedy.
In the cup standings, points are awarded to every school on the basis of how it finished in the Florida High School Athletic Association postseason playoffs.
American Heritage (Plantation) led the way with 1,356 points. St. Thomas Aquinas was second (1,259.5), and Jacksonville Bolles third (1,196).
They are all private schools and were the only schools to break the 1,000-point barrier. The highest public school was Ponte Vedra (956), followed by Lakewood Ranch (905) and Winter Park (901).
It's no surprise these three private-school behemoths top the state rankings. They are not restricted by physical boundaries or ethics when it comes to garnering the state's finest talent.
There is a simple remedy: Put those private schools all together. They play by a different set of standards, so let them compete against each other.
We can call it the Greedy Bowl Standings or Win At All Costs Classification.
St. Thomas notes on its website that it has been named a pipeline to the NFL. Rivals.com reports that eight former players from the school have been drafted by the NFL in the past five years, more than any other high school in the country.
Why would a high school promote itself as a pipeline to the NFL?
It makes no sense, unless there is another agenda. Draw your own conclusions.
Now you know what Joe Kinnan was up against when his Canes faced this factory of NFL hopefuls.
STA has won six state championships since 1992 and the mythical national title in 2008.
STA and the other private-school powerhouses started what could become an epidemic. To keep up with the Joneses, some public schools have gone
clandestine in their search for elite players.
Lost in all of this is integrity.
A simple solution: Many other states put private schools in separate classifications for postseason activity, and it's time Florida followed that course.
Don't hold your breath.
Bowden was a bargain
In the NFL and NBA, coaching staffs earn about 7 percent of team payroll.
In college football and basketball, they earn between 200 and 800 percent of team payroll as measured in scholarship values. The money finds its way into athletic departments, where bureaucrats earn more than actual teaching professors.
Now we know Bobby Bowden's true value.
The man who changed Florida State from a doormat into a national football power did it on what would be called a shoestring budget, spending a little more than $280,000 on recruiting in his last three years at the school.
Under third-year head coach Jimbo Fisher that recruiting budget increased 86 percent to $525,000 this school year, according to a report in USA Today.
One of the key reasons for the spending boost is Fisher's apparent love affair with private planes. It was noted that his budget included $200,000 spent on private charter flights for him and his assistant coaches.
It seems to be an inevitable consequence of going from an icon like Bowden to relative unknown in Fisher. He apparently believes he has to put his face in front of as many recruits as possible as many times as allowed by the NCAA and it has to be done at their time.
It used to be the other way around. When Bowden flew to Bradenton to recruit the heralded Adrian McPherson, it was an event. Any kid in the country and his parents would have been honored to have him in their home.
There are only a few college football coaches who can generate that kind of attention: Alabama's Nick Saban, Ohio State's Urban Meyer and to a lesser extent LSU's Les Myles and Texas' Mack Brown.
You have to wonder if Fisher needs to spend all of our tax money the way he does, particularly with universities laying off faculty and cutting budgets.
Fisher and FSU Athletic Director Randy Spetman have justified their loose spending by throwing Bowden under the bus with comments about how they are making up for some bad recruiting.
If it wasn't for Bowden, Fisher would be lucky to recruit Division II players, and Spetman's salary would have him looking for a job elsewhere.
Fisher better hope he wins sooner than later to justify his liberal spending habits, which he claims is necessary to produce a winner. He calls it an investment. He can expect as much gratitude as he showed Bobby from FSU fans if he fails.
Alan Dell, Herald sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7080, ext. 2112.
This story was originally published June 13, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Commentary | FHSAA Cup Standings reveal injustice; Bowden did it on the cheap."