Jeff Bowden Position: Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Experience: 12th Season at FSU Alma Mater: Florida State '83

Jeff Bowden enters his fifth season as the offensive coordinator for the Seminoles in 2005. He took over for Mark Richt in February of 2001 when Richt left to become head coach at Georgia. Bowden had been wide receivers coach for the Seminoles for the seven years leading up to his elevation to offensive coordinator and retained those position coaching duties when he took over the offense.

The 2005 season will see the Seminole offense open fall practice with a junior under center in Wyatt Sexton. Pushing Sexton will be redshirt freshmen Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee, who both made solid progress in their first spring practice at Florida State. Sexton, who started seven games a year ago, will have two new starting wide receivers in 2005 with Willie Reid and Chris Davis expected to step in. While Bowden's receiving corps is young and lacks a great deal of game experience, the talent and athletic ability is there to make it one of the strengths on this year's team.

Bowden enjoys a challenge and has a straight forward approach both on and off the field. He is confident in both the system and the staff, and his work has been fruitful since he first began at FSU. Under Bowden's direction in 1997, E.G. Green earned second team Associated Press All-America status and he finished with more receiving touchdowns (29) over his career than any previous FSU receiver. In 1995, Green teamed with Andre Cooper to become the first duo in FSU and ACC history to each register over 1,000 receiving yards. In 1994, Kez McCorvey finished a career that made him the second most prolific receiver in school history. The 1999 national championship season saw Peter Warrick break Green's FSU record and set a new ACC record with 31 career TD catches. In 2000, Snoop Minnis earned consensus All-America honors and was selected in the third round by the Kansas City Chiefs. Four years ago, Javon Walker topped an excellent two-year career with FSU with the MVP trophy from the 2002 Gator Bowl win over Virginia Tech, and followed that with his selection in the first round of the NFL draft by Green Bay. Craphonso Thorpe was drafted in the fourth round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005 while Chauncey Stovall and Dominic Robinson signed free agent contracts with Philadelphia and St. Louis, respectively. In the four years since adding coordinator duties, the Seminoles have appeared in four New Year's Day bowl games, won two ACC championships and earned bids to two BCS bowls.

As a player, Bowden was a member of three FSU bowl teams. Following his playing career, he moved immediately into coaching at Salem College in West Virginia, where he coached receivers for two seasons under head coach Terry Bowden. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in his third season at Salem.

Jeff is married to the former Cindi Smith and they have five children, Haley, Hunter, T.J., Robert and Julia Elizabeth.