Bowden: No Joy In Taking Most-Wins Recognition From Paterno
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden says the NCAA's unprecedented punishment of Penn State's football program "cannot replace those boys who were molested."
Among the penalties was the vacating of 112 wins by Penn State, 111 of which were credited to late coach Joe Paterno. The move retroactively makes Bowden the NCAA career leader among major-college coaches, 377 wins.
Bowden, who himself has been forced to vacate wins, says he "didn't want it to happen like this. Wish I could have earned it, but that's the way it is. I don't want people thinking I am glad that happened so I can do this. All of the things that have happened aren't worth it — not worth it at all."
The NCAA on Monday dropped the hammer on Penn State in the wake of the sex abuse that occurred under assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The sanctions included wiping away all Penn State wins from 1998 to 2011.
Bowden said he didn't expect such sweeping sanctions from the NCAA. But he said Penn State can bounce back eventually.
"You had a segment or something bad, but you have too much good there and that's too great of a university. They just got to rebuild, they just got to rebuild their reputation," he told CNN.
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