As college football prepares to enter a new era with a four-team playoff, some coaches appear unable to keep up with the times.
And we're not just talking about up-tempo offenses.
Speaking at the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday, former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden criticized the College Football Playoff selection committee for including Condoleezza Rice on the panel.
"If the selection committee wants to get it right and find the most knowledgeable people about the sport of football, go get people who played the game and preferably coached the game," Bowden said, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. "But just because she likes to watch football doesn't necessarily mean she knows anything about football."
This isn't the first time somebody has been critical of Rice's involvement in the sport. Last year, ESPN analyst David Pollack said women shouldn't be on the committee, and former Auburn coach Pat Dye remarked that the only thing Rice knew about college football came from what somebody else told her.
We can now add Bowden to the list of those who've put their foot in their mouth when it comes to Rice's position on the committee.
"I'm a big Condoleezza Rice fan," Bowden said. "I'm Christian conservative. I'd vote for her for president. I don't necessarily agree that she should be on the committee."
Clearly, the sport's higher powers disagree with Bowden's assessment.
Rice is a former U.S. Secretary of State and currently occupies her non-football watching time as a political science professor at Stanford. She grew up in football-mad Alabama as a kid and has been a frequent visitor to Cardinal football games for years. Speaking to Fox Sports about her role on a weekly basis, the esteemed former cabinet member noted how much she dives into stats after watching hours of college football.
At least on Tuesday, the controversy shifts from the committee's makeup to the committee's rankings.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
