Is it time for Bowden to go?

Florida State fans and alumni have begun calling on head coach Bobby Bowden to retire after Saturday's 28-21 loss to Boston College dropped the Seminoles to 2-3. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

With all of the rough starts in the ACC, it’s dumbfounding to think the hottest seat in the conference now seems to belong to the legendary Bobby Bowden.

Just to recap, Florida State lost 28-21 to Boston College on Saturday to fall to 2-3, the team’s worst start since Bowden’s first year as head coach in 1976. The Seminoles also dropped to 0-2 in the ACC for the first time ever.

As soon as the clock hit zero in Chestnut Hill, things turned ugly in Tallahassee. A Facebook group has been formed calling for FSU fans to “Black Out Doak for Change.” As of Tuesday morning, the group had more than 4,200 members and was growing by the minute.

On Sunday, Tallahassee Democrat writer Steve Ellis put it thusly:

It is time to move beyond the Bobby Bowden Era.

Let Bowden finish out the season. Because of what he has done for Florida State’s football program, the university and college football, he is owed that much. Say what you want, but Bobby Bowden put the university on the map, gave FSU fans the thrill of two national titles and a legacy of consistency with 14-consecutive top-five finishes that is still the standard in this sport.

A move of that magnitude at nearly mid-season would be so unwise for FSU in so many ways. That includes the impression it would give of how it does business with its own. This is not professional sports.

Yet it is time.