Legendary Florida State Football Head Coach Bobby Bowden passed away this morning at age 91.
Surrounded by his wife Anna and all six of his children, Bobby Bowden passed away this morning at age 91. In July, Bowden revealed that he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Bowden is known to many college football fans, but the coach is just as proud of his legacy as a father.
Bowden is survived by his wife Anna, his six children and a host of grand and great-grandchildren.
Robert Cleckler Bowden knew early that coaching football was going to be his life’s work. After fulfilling a dream to play quarterback at the University of Alabama, Bowden transferred to Howard College (now Sanford University) after marrying his high school sweetheart Anna Estock.
While at Samford, Bowden set records and was an All-American. In 1954, Bowden was athletic director, football, basketball and baseball coach at South Georgia College. After two seasons at South Georgia, Bowden returned to his alma mater, Samford, where he coached for four seasons.
In 1962, Bowden was hired as the wide receivers coach at Florida State under head coach Bill Peterson. Bowden left FSU in 1964 to become offensive coordinator at West Virginia. When Jim Carlen left to take the Texas Tech job, Bowden became head coach at West Virginia.
During his tenure in Morgantown, the Mountaineers won 68 games in six seasons including the 1975 Peach Bowl. In 1970, Bowden and the Mountaineers football program honored the Marshall Thundering Herd by wearing green crosses and “MU” on their helmets after a plane crash killed 37 members of the Herd’s football team.
Bowden also gave new Marshall head coach Jack Lengyel access to film and playbooks so the team, devastated by the crash, could learn the veer.
Florida State football and the streak
In 1976 Coach Bowden left West Virginia and took the head coaching job at Florida State University because according to Bowden, the climate in Tallahassee was warmer than Morgantown and it was closer to Birmingham where his mother and mother-in-law lived.
Bowden, who grew up an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, never intended on staying at Florida State long. It was his dream to become the head coach at Alabama, and it almost happened.
The interview that changed everything
In 1986, Ray Perkins was leaving Tuscaloosa and the Florida State Seminoles were playing in their bowl game, ironically enough, in Birmingham. Bowden says that he was only interested in meeting with the Alabama president if he were going to be offered the job.
“We were playing our bowl game in Birmingham,” Bowden said. “I got word the Alabama president wants to see me. I told him only if I was going to be offered the job. We were going to get this thing done. I start thinking: What am I going to tell the folks at Florida State? It brought tears to my eyes. But this was Alabama, where I grew up. I was going.
When Bowden arrives, there are 17 people there and he realized that it was an interview, not a job offer. Bill Curry, a former Bryant player, and assistant gets the job and Bowden returns to Florida State.
By the time Alabama came calling again in 1990, Bowden was on the verge of one of the most impressive streaks in college football history and, at 61 years old, wasn’t willing to make a move to rebuild the Crimson Tide.
In 1990, the Seminoles won 10 games for the fourth consecutive season. FSU would win ten games every season for the next decade. Florida State also finished in the top five for the fourth consecutive season and would do so for the next decade.
Before the college football world became enamored with the National Championship, Bowden’s streak of fourteen seasons in finishing in the top five and fourteen consecutive ten-win seasons were the most impressive streaks in college football history.
There is an argument that it still is the most impressive.
Great in the living room.
One thing is for sure, you cannot put together a streak like that without recruiting great talent. During the prime of his coaching tenure, there were few coaches better in a living room than Bobby Bowden.
Coach Bowden could sell ice to an Eskimo and hot sauce to the devil one rival head coach said of the Florida State football legend. There were few college football programs that put more players in the NFL than the Seminoles during Bowden’s tenure.
Bowden coached three future NFL Hall of Famers in Derrick Brooks, Walter Jones and Deion Sanders (Packers great LeRoy Butler was a finalist for the hall this year). Some of the 31 first-round draft picks include Peter Warrick, Terrell Buckley, Warrick Dunn and Antonio Cromartie.
Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl after his FSU days and Marion Butts, Peter Boulware, Samari Rolle and Anquan Boldin were some of the many Pro Bowlers Bowden coached.
Deion Sanders has since become a college head coach at Jackson State, Martin Mayhew is an NFL executive and Leon Washington is an NFL assistant coach. Bowden charmed his fair share of parents and grandparents and made good on those promises by cultivating close relationships with many of his former players.
The end of an era
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Vision tells Ultron toward the end of the movie, “Nothing is beautiful because it lasts.” Florida State was a football footnote before Bowden took over the program. Under Bowden, the Seminoles became the first Florida school to gain national prominence.
Though it was difficult to see in real-time, the Florida State football program’s regression can be pointed to losing some great assistant coaches. Many Bowden assistants went on to become head coaches.
Bowden’s two sons, Terry and Tommy went on to be head coaches. Offensive coordinator Mark Richt left for Georgia while defensive coordinator Chuck Amato was hired at North Carolina State. Another long-time Bowden assistant Brad Scott left to coach South Carolina after 11 years under Bowden.
Losing so many great coaches who were also recruiters, the Seminoles were never able to recapture their dominance. After the streak was snapped in 2001, Bowden would win 10 games just once in the last nine seasons of his career (2003).
Influence and innovation
Bowden was one of the first coaches to use a “CEO” approach to coaching. Bowden hired men who wanted to become head coaches and allowed them to coach. Bowden’s focus, especially later in his career, was recruiting and being the face of the program.
Bowden allowed his coaches lots of input in both the game plan and in-game adjustments.
Coach Bowden was not afraid to adjust to the talents of his players either. Take the Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward. During Ward’s first year as starting quarterback, he struggled to play under center.
Ward had played in a no-huddle spread offense in high school. Offensive coordinator Brad Scott, quarterbacks coach Mark Richt, and Bowden devised a scheme to take advantage of Ward’s athleticism and quick decision-making skills.
The rest is history.
From the streak to the many players in the pros and the many head coaches that were former assistants, Bowden’s influence on college football is undeniable. Bowden is one of the all-time greats and has a legacy both on and off the field.
Rest in peace coach.