A Terry Bowden Comeback?

With one Bowden, Jeff, stepping away from college football coaching, his brother Terry Bowden seems to be getting the itch to get back into coaching.  In the Birmingham News article, Bowden admits "the way it ended (at Auburn) took something out of me" and that, when it appeared that West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez appeared ready to accept the job at Alabama, Bowden "started thinking about making a few calls, to see about getting in the mix (to replace Rodriguez)." Bowden first became a head coach at the age of 26 and lead Auburn to a school record 20-consecutive victories before turning 40.  He has been out of the coaching world for the past eight years, but has stayed on top of the game, working as an analyst/commentator.  At the age of 50, he still has a long coaching life ahead of him, should he choose to re-enter the fold. Even though Bowden left Auburn under acrimonious conditions (the conspiracists claim Bowden was fired due to an extramarital affair with an influential booster's daughter, while others claim that Bowden failed to "give enough love' to powerful booster Bobby Lowder.  So, when he got off to a slow start in the 1998 season, Lowder quickly arranged for him to be fired), most active head coaches would kill to have a resume that included a stint at an SEC powerhouse like Auburn and a career record of 111-53-2.  If Alabama fans and boosters could stomach the fact that he was once fired by Auburn, his numerous connections to talented assistant coaches, pedigree, charm, and strong Southern recruiting ties would make Bowden an outstanding candidate to become the latest to attempt to live under the shadow of Paul Bryant.