The following is an exerpt from my latest NoleDigest.com article:

One of the more interesting things about the FSU postgame interviews after this week’s game against Clemson was that this time I was able to take a friend of mine along for the interviews (he had worked the game as a photographer)—a friend passionate about FSU football, passionate in criticizing the FSU coaching staff, especially on defense. He had joked about asking certain extremely pointed (and somewhat disrespectful) questions during coaches’ interviews, but I had warned him beforehand that things look different when you see the humanity of the coaches and players up close.

As we were leaving the stadium, my friend was a changed man. It’s not that he still does not think the situation at FSU needs a change (it does), but he commented that he had been struck by how much pain he had seen in the coaches after the loss. He hadn’t expected to see the hurt that he saw; he suddenly realized that these men die a little bit inside after each loss, that they take it far worse than even he does—and he is as rabid a fan as they come. He was especially struck by how hurt defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews seemed, how much pride the man obviously took in his work. It was clear how much pride that man takes in his work, and he was obviously hurting. This week, after participating in some message board action, he mentioned to me on the phone that many places where he would have just piled on a week ago, he has found himself defending the staff a bit.

One of these places involves yet another embarrassing Bowden postgame press conference that has been a subject of discussion throughout the week (starting with Tallahassee Democrat reporter Corey Clark’s blog post). Yes, it’s embarrassing that Coach Bowden doesn’t recall simple details about the game. (Bowden actually got chippy with me after I asked a question about how the defense had varied its coverages more against Clemson than was usually the case, asking me how many games I had seen this year and asserting that it was actually the opposite—that they had played more zone defense against Clemson, cutting their packages down some. This of course made my point—FSU rarely plays zone coverage, and they played a few different zone looks over the course of the game, reducing their man-free snaps from the usual 75–80% to around 10–15%, meaning the coverages were necessarily more varied. Andrews confirmed as much in his interview after the game.)

But it’s important to remember the humanity of these coaches. By having had the opportunity to be closer to Bowden than many (first as a player—though a walk-on who didn’t much know Bowden—then as a member of the media covering the ‘Noles), I’ve noted for some years that Bowden’s best, freshest interviews come after wins. But after losses, the man’s memory tends to be even worse, and he looks older and more spent. These losses have eaten him up the last few years, and it was obvious that he didn’t want to be there in the Clemson postgame, that he’s frustrated that things aren’t working as they should. And as all of us know from the common human experience, our minds simply don’t work as well when we’re depressed, hurt, and frustrated.

I’m not saying that FSU doesn’t need to make some major changes—because they do, but I am saying that it is important to remember that these coaches and players are human beings who have invested their lives into wins and losses. Nobody hurts more after a loss than they do, and sometimes that can have effects like what was observed in Bowden’s presser last Saturday. Yes, Bowden should be held accountable for his program, but how he sounds after a frustrating loss in which he lost the arguably the top performing QB in the nation should not be the basis of criticism. As my friend learned, it’s important to remember the humanity involved. In his words: “Before, I just sort of saw Bobby Bowden as a pawn that needed to get out of the way in order for us to win again. But seeing him, how hurt he was by the loss, I honestly wanted to give the man a hug. I still think he needs to step down, but it’s just different now.”