Bowden agrees to one-year deal with options; Fisher to succeed him

Terry Bowden, who has been out of coaching for a decade since being fired at Auburn, helped persuade Fisher to take the offensive coordinator's job earlier this year. The job opened when younger brother Jeff Bowden was bought out by dissatisfied boosters late in the 2006 season.

A West Virginia native, Fisher was paid roughly $420,000 as offensive coordinator this year. He is receiving a $200,000 annual raise to wear the successor title and will be paid $2.5 million if for some reason Wetherell changes his mind about Bowden's successor, said an individual familiar with the negotiations, who requested anonymity.

The individual said Bowden could earn up to $2.5 million with incentives included in the agreement being finalized by Florida State's general counsel, Betty Steffens, and attorneys for the coaches.

Bowden has 300 wins at Florida State, where he has won a pair of national championships and a dozen Atlantic Coast Conference titles.

Bowden's 373 career wins overall are two more than Penn State's Joe Paterno, who turns 81 on Dec. 21.

"If I'm the head coach here for 37 years and win 10 games a year, I still haven't caught him," Fisher said. "That kind of puts it into perspective."

But he too recognized the uncertainty that goes along with a head coaching job in an era of million-dollar contracts that create a "win-now" mentality among boosters and fans.

"One of these days I'll be sitting there and you'll be trying to kick me out the door," Fisher said.