Bobby Bowden		Tommy Bowden
AGE: 69 | CAREER WINS: 299 | ACC TITLES: 5 By Bill Curry Special to ESPN.com Ann Bowden has a problem. Wife of ultra-successful Bobby, head football coach at Florida State, she lacks the simplicity most football families enjoy. No, when her man finishes off another hapless Seminole victim, her day has just begun. While most coaches' wives and mothers have to anguish over one game, with one loved one on the skillet, Mrs. Bowden faces each Saturday with five traumas, all Bowden in nature. Son Jeff is on Bobby's staff, responsible for wide receivers (and hasn't he had fun lately?). Son Tommy is head man at Clemson, with son-in-law Jack Hines responsible for defensive backs. Rounding out the Bowden Five is Terry, former head coach at Auburn. Asked to choose between them, she demurs, "How could you ask a thing like that?" Of course she pulls for all of them. Problem solved, stress heightened. But the rest of us can choose, and we should. I mean, why allow one family to dominate the football proceedings without scientific analyses of which is the best of the best? One way to look at it is that Bobby, Terry and Tommy have been head coaches, and only one of them has never had an undefeated season. Guess who? Yep, it's Bobby. He says, "I am a family disgrace -- we have never gone wire to wire." So that leaves Terry and Tommy, undefeated at Auburn and Tulane respectively. Well, football people say most anybody can go undefeated at Auburn, so that eliminates Terry (besides, he is too smart, has a law degree, and had the wisdom to get into broadcasting). That leaves Tommy, my choice of the Bowdens to show the way into the next millennium. If I appear biased, it is because I am, having coached with Tommy for four years. Clearly, they are all sharp as tacks, and Bobby has stood the test of time. But consider the near-impossible achievements of Tommy's Tulane teams: 12-0 record in 1998, one of only two undefeated teams for the year (Tennessee is the other); 19-4 record for 1997-98, at Tulane; plus-15 turnover margin, fifth nationally, with 23 consecutive quarters at no turnovers to close the season; 45.4 points per game, second nationally; 507.1 yards per game on offense, fourth nationally; and a national ranking of seventh in both major polls. Any sane football analyst would have said that those results would be impossible at Tulane. The results at Clemson are heading in the same direction, and while the youngster will not beat his teacher Saturday, I believe his day will come -- and it will be soon.		AGE: 45 | CAREER WINS: 21 | ACC TITLES: 0 By Rod Gilmore Special to ESPN.com If I were starting a program and had a choice between Tommy and Bobby Bowden, I would choose Bobby because of three factors involved in starting a program: recruiting, staffing and fund-raising. Right now I don't think Tommy matches up with Bobby on those fronts. When you look at recruiting, Bobby is a proven, great recruiter. The mothers love him. He can go to homes and convince people from every walk of life to turn over their kids to him, and he has kept promises to them. He has been able to get players into the pros, and he has been that second father figure. He has done that for years. When you look at staffing, he will be able to put together a great staff, as he has currently, because of his reputation as a legendary coach and for giving his assistants the autonomy to do their jobs. When they do their jobs, he gives them credit. Mark Richt is hailed as a top offensive coordinator around the country because Bobby Bowden allows him to step out and receive the credit for what the offense does. Same with Mickey Andrews, who has been at Florida State for 16 years. He gets all the credit for what the defense does because Bobby allows him to structure things his way. When you look at creating a staff, assistant coaches want to have the ability to coach themselves without the head coach looking over their shoulder each and every minute. He would allow his guys to do that, allowing him to put together a solid staff that will stay together for a long time. Plus, the staff will know Bobby is going to be there. They know he won't leave, and that when he leaves the successor will come from within the staff. That creates stability in a program, which you may not be certain of with Tommy, who is building his career. He left Tulane to go to Clemson, and if you have assume there is another step in the chain for him. Finally, I'm not sure if there is anyone better than Bobby at fund-raising, except maybe Joe Paterno. The coffers are overflowing at Florida State. he does the road show, gets everyone pumped up and they open up their checkbooks for Florida State. So those three factors give him the ability to do a great job going forward. I understand he is 69 years old, but there is no reason to suspect he will slow down over the next three or four years. Plus, he has a five-year deal to boot.