Ann Bowden says Bobby Bowden is set on returning as Florida State Seminoles coach

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has strongly implied he's hoping to have his one-year contract renewed for one final season in 2010, but it's unclear how much university support there is for that. While he has been diplomatic in his comments, his wife, Ann, is just the opposite.

"You know, we don't need the university as much as they need us — as much as they need him and his connections and reputation and everything," she told USA Today.

Bowden, 80, has been working on a series of one-year contracts, and it has been up to Bowden whether he would return. He has said he hopes that remains the case, but some, including prominent board of trustees chairman Jim Smith, have been pressuring for the end of the Bowden era.

"If they want to pull that trick, we'll just shake the dirt off our feet and go to Europe or go on a long cruise or something," Ann said. "They'll have to fire him for him not to go another year. … If they've got guts enough, let them do it."

She also said she told quarterback Christian Ponder, facing surgery for a right-shoulder injury, that Bobby Bowden wanted to be the coach for his final collegiate season.