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If you've had a chance to use Florida State football tickets in the past 20 years or so, you've been privileged to watch one of the most dominant programs in the history of college football. The Seminoles have dominated the ACC as well, and they have produced countless NFL stars over the years.

However, the Seminoles are showing some early signs of decline, and given that their legendary coach, Bobby Bowden, is nearing the end of his historic career, Seminoles fans may be watching a ship that's slowly taking on water. We'll examine why FSU fans should brace themselves for a bit of a dark period below.

Succeeding a Legend

Have you ever tried to succeed a legend? It's not easy, that's for sure. Whoever replaces Bowden will have to deal with constant comparisons, and will only have to fill the shoes of the most successful, when measuring by number of wins, college football coach of all time. It'll be a thankless job where the new coach will almost be set up to fail, even though it won't really be anyone's fault. Florida State football tickets were an afterthought before Bowden arrived on campus in 1976, as the team had won only four games over the previous three seasons.

One need only look at Florida State's neighbors to gain an understanding of the task that awaits Bowden's successor. Ron Zook failed at Florida after Steve Spurrier moved to the NFL, and Jim Donnan and Ray Goff did not meet expectations at Georgia after Vince Dooley hung up the headset in Athens. If you want to look further west, ask Frank Solich how things went at Nebraska after he succeeded Tom Osborne. Solich had a good record, but not good enough, and he was dismissed after only a few seasons.

Recent Record

Bowden's list of accomplishments at FSU is stunning. He's won two national championships and finished in the AP Top 5 an unbelievable 14 consecutive years. Florida State also won 10 or more games for 14 consecutive seasons, but from 2001 through 2005, the Seminoles lost 20 games. Previously, it had taken 15 seasons to lose that many games.

Florida State has won 10 games only once in the past five years, which is a far cry from doing just that 14 consecutive times, and generally speaking, teams no longer fear Florida State the way they once did. Bowden is beginning to lose some recruiting battles that he had always won, and some would say it's because he can no longer guarantee that he'll be around for four or five more seasons, as he is, after all, about to turn 77.

In-State Competition

Although Bowden has always had to contend with in-state powers Miami and Florida, it seems that these two programs are starting to creep up on Florida State a bit. Miami is struggling so far in 2006, but they've won several national championships in recent years and are always a serious threat to win it all. Florida has a hot new coach in Urban Meyer, and he's building a program that could challenge for the national title in 2006 despite a brutal schedule.

Miami and Florida have also started to snare recruits from talent-rich Florida that would have never considered any other school than FSU a decade ago, and that's perhaps the most troubling sign for the future of the program and for the next coach.

Basically, there will never be another Bobby Bowden, and the next coach at Florida State will get an unwanted lesson in that reality. Florida State football tickets will continue to sell well for the foreseeable future, but they may become just a bit easier to find before too long.