When Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden was asked what departing defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews has meant to him during their past quarter century together, Bowden pulled a reference from Southern history.  “What did [Stonewall] Jackson mean to [Robert E.] Lee?” he said, analogizing his relationship with his longtime assistant and friend to that of the two Civil War generals.  “He said it was his right arm.”

And so it has been for the past quarter-century:  Andrews as Bowden’s right arm as the two men built, from the ground up, a Nationally-prominent football program together.

You know the records.  Fourteen consecutive ten-win seasons from 1987-2000.  Fourteen consecutive top-5 finishes in the AP poll.  More than 150 players drafted by NFL teams.

And much of the Seminoles success over the years was predicated on Andrews’ defensive schemes that transformed the football landscape from coast-to-coast.  He crafted defensive game plans to attack the opponents’ offense before the offense could attack them.  He put great athletes in positions to make big plays and created an atmosphere in which these athletes pushed the envelope of what had previously been the role of the defense.

Of course, this atmosphere resulted in incidents like those involving former Florida Heisman winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel during the mid-1990’s.  Andrews charges were accused of dirty play, of trying to deliberately hurt Wuerffel and other opposing teams’ offensive stars.

Andrews role in these incidents can be debated but what is certain is that offenses in college football had to adapt and transform in response to the Noles’ attacking, focused aggression.

This influence extended beyond the college game, too.  Andrews developed 18 first-round NFL draft picks during 26 seasons at Florida State beginning with cornerback Deion Sanders in 1989.  In total, 73 former Nole defenders have been taken by NFL teams, including stars like Sanders, Peter Boulware, Derrick Brooks, Terrell Buckley, LeRoy Butler, Sam Cowart and Marvin Jones.

“Not a single day goes by when I am coaching, mentoring or teaching somebody that I don’t use things Coach Andrews taught me,” Sanders said upon hearing the announcement of Andrews retirement.

The Nov 21 game against Maryland will mark Andrews’ final game in the stadium he helped double in size, from 40,500 seats to more than 83,000.  Just once more, he’ll send his troops onto the field named for his boss for the previous 26 years.  He’ll travel to Gainesville next weekend and, if the Seminoles are able to win one of their final two games, maybe even to a bowl game to close things out on a high note.

But after that, if head coach Bobby Bowden does decide to come back for one final year in 2010, he’ll be doing it without his right arm.

Joe Mayes ACC, Florida State