For decades, literally decades, Bobby Bowden won football games. And with today's 2010 Gator Bowl win, the legendary coach has recorded victories in seven different decades of Division I college football.

That's more than his elder, Joe Paterno.

Bowden claimed his first D-I win at Howard in 1959 at the ripe age of 29. He led his alma mater Bulldogs to a 9-1 regular season, the first of 41 winning records (32 at Florida State) compared to just two losing seasons for Bowden.

In the '90s there was no program better than that of the Seminoles. Two national championships ('93 and '99), eight consecutive ACC titles (FSU joined the conference in 1992) and no more than two loses in any season.

In fact, Bowden's Seminoles have never known a losing season...

So why has FSU asked the second most successful coach in college football history to no longer be their chief?

It is true that the FSU football program is no longer among the best in the nation. They aren't even the premier program in their own state.

And it is true that the 80-year-old has delegated most of the coaching duties to his staff while taking a less decisive role.

But dadgumit! He's Bobby Bowden, he made the Seminoles the Seminoles.

And altough FSU hasn't hung any banners since 2005 (ACC champions), Jimbo Fisher wasn't going anywhere.

Bowden should have gone out on his own terms.

But Bowden as "your highness" and Fisher as prime minister was not working out according to the FSU administration. So just as Charlie Weis and, seemingly, hundreds of others have come to find out, heads must roll.

But the charming, charismatic, throwback coach would never let this situation out shine him, you can count on that. And today's 33-21 victory was one, the last one, to remember.

"After you retire, there's only one big event left," Bowden has said over the years. "And I ain't ready for that."  (ESPN.com)