Legendary Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden begins his 28th season at Florida State in 2003 trailing only Joe Paterno in college coaching victories. When he took the FSU job following Larry Jones back in 1976, he likened his new association with FSU to a marriage even adding the familiar phrase of “letting no man put it asunder,” which surely reassured even the most downtrodden Seminole fan. And most of the fans were disheartened because 28 years ago, Bowden inherited a program far from the dynasty that he now commands. In fact, FSU had only won four games over the previous four seasons combined and there was talk that perhaps the school should shelve the program unless it was more successful. The most optimistic of FSU fans could not possibly have predicted what Bowden would accomplish over the next three decades.

The coach himself hints that he was not sure he could turn the program into a national power.

“When we started winning I started to get some interest from other schools and from some NFL teams,” Bowden has admitted on several occasions. “I had some chances to move to other schools with great football tradition. LSU was a job that I looked at long and hard. We were playing them that season and I told Ann that if we go over to Tiger Stadium and lose maybe I should go to LSU. When we went to their place and won, I realized that maybe we could get it done right here at FSU. And I’ve never regretted it.”

Bowden’s loyalty has meant the world to Florida State University and the athletics program. He has developed the most consistently successful program in the history of college football with his win over Iowa State in the season opener last season, he passed Bear Bryant to become the second all-time winningest coach in college football history.

“I feel great physically,” said Bowden who will turn 74 this season. “I’ve always enjoyed getting to know people, so the recruiting is still a lot of fun for me. I like going into a player’s home and meeting his parents and family. I don’t have any desire to slow down on all the elements outside of the actual game that some people find hard. I understand why it grinds away at some people, but it just doesn’t on me. I guess I’ve always been able to put football in its place.”

While Bowden will be in his familiar garnet and gold to start the 2003 season, it will be an unusual start as the Seminoles are coming off their first two "down” years in 15 years of winning 10 or more games. “We weren’t satisfied with our season last year,” said Bowden. “When you’ve got players who have talent and will give you effort, you’ve got a chance to be successful. We’ve got that combination going into 2003.”

The Seminoles’ win over Virginia Tech in the 2002 Gator Bowl gave Bowden his 323rd career coaching victory tying him with Bear Bryant. A thrilling goal line stand at the end of the Eddie Robinson Classic played in Kansas City against Iowa State gave Bowden second place on the all-time college football list. Bowden would rank second only to Eddie Robinson in total career wins, ahead of Bryant and Paterno, if his 22 wins as South Georgia College were included.

“To be honest, it doesn’t really feel like I should be there,” said Bowden of the feat. “It’s not something that I sat down 40 years ago and said “you know if I coached long enough and was successful maybe I could get there.” That type of thought never entered my mind. I don’t really think about it. Maybe when I’m done I’ll look back on everything.”

While Bowden hasn’t spent much time looking back, most of the nation has spent time looking in the extraordinary success of his program. Just imagine a college basketball program advancing to the Final Four for 14 years in a row. Even more startling is the thought of playing in the national title game five times in eight seasons. But that’s just what the Seminoles have done over the last few years. FSU set an NCAA record with 14 straight Top Five finishes and the 2001 Orange Bowl was the Tribe’s third straight national title game and fifth in eight years.

Gracious in both victory and defeat, Bowden is a man at peace with himself. His rock-solid character and firm coaching principles date back more than 49 years. As if the fact that his coaching numbers have reached legendary proportions is not enough, he also gives Florida State University a proud, moral leader, a family man of the first order, a caring disciplinarian, and a calming voice in the face of the turbulence surrounding college football. Perhaps the best tribute to the man is that he is not afraid to change with the times adapting brilliantly to new ways of winning games, as well as dealing with young student-athletes. From a sense of discipline and control, to a bold switch to the Fast Break offense, he has proven that he would rather stay one step ahead of the rest of the field rather than rest on the status quo.

Like few other coaches before him, Bowden has created something of a monster that sits squarely on his shoulders. He has coached his Florida State teams so very close to perfection that people have come to expect nothing less. He has won 176 games over the last 17 seasons, including monumental wins over Miami, Notre Dame, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Florida and others.

In the fickle world of “big-time” college sports, some forget what it is all about. Sure, Bobby Bowden is proud of his two national championships, his place among the all-time greats, and a football program that is the model for the entire country, but as Bowden well understands at this stage of his career, there are things more important in life.

He has time for charity and to give to his church. He has never walked past an admiring child without a wink and a smile. He greets total strangers. He listens and he cares. He is a father figure in the traditional sense.

One of Bowden’s greatest coaching achievements revolves around bowl games and his team’s success in them. Bowden’s 18-7-1 record and .710 bowl winning percentage rank first all-time. Only Paterno (20) has won more bowl games and his is the only name ranking ahead of Bowden on the all-time Division 1-A coaching list. Indeed, Florida State’s eighth head coach has inked his name on the list of legends over 38 seasons at Samford, West Virginia and FSU.

What Bobby Bowden means to Florida State University off the playing field cannot be measured. Respect, sincerity, class, honesty, charisma, charm and humor; just a few of the words that describe and define this man better than wins, losses or coaching records.

As if his character isn’t enough, his coaching style draws admirers nationwide. A wide-open offensive style makes Bowden teams a treat to watch, a pleasure to play on and a delight to cover. Reverses, flea-flickers, laterals, you name it, here it comes.

By now it’s been well chronicled how the Birmingham native left snowy West Virginia to come to Florida State and save the program. Three seasons after he first walked on campus, he had taken one of the worst football teams in the country to within one game of a national championship.

Bowden’s record at Florida State is 259-64-4. That includes a 138-19-2 record in Tallahassee and a 121-44-2 mark away from home. He has built those numbers against some of the nation’s toughest schedules, earning respect for his team, attracting top players to his program and establishing his reputation as a competitor in the process.

Bowden achieved impressive numbers in his previous coaching stops (31-6 at Samford University in Birmingham between 1959 and 1962, and 42-26 at West Virginia from 1970-75), but what he has done at FSU is simply phenomenal. Seventeen times in 27 years, his Seminoles have won 10 or more games in a season. Florida State had been to just eight bowls in the 29 years before him. The 2003 Sugar Bowl marked the Seminole’s 24th since his arrival, including a string of 21 in a row and 17 “New Year’s Day” trips. He is, by far, the winningest coach ever at Florida State as his win total is greater than the previous seven Seminole head coaches combined.

Florida State is the only school to finish among the (Associated Press) Top Five for 14 consecutive seasons. The Seminoles finished first twice (1993, 1999), second twice (1987, 92), third, four times (1988, 89, 97, 99), fourth, five times (1990, 91, 94, 95, 96) and fifth in 2000. No team in college football history can match the run.

Over the past 11 years, Florida State has played in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Since joining the league in football, FSU is 83-5 and has claimed (either outright or shared) nine ACC championships and set the league record for consecutive victories. Bowden picked up ACC Coach of the Year titles in 1993 and 1997.

Rising above Bowden’s coaching accomplishments, though, are his credentials as a man. Friendly and outgoing, he is a deeply religious man who believes strongly in the strength of the family. He loves people. His personality and charm are bigger than life and he has become somewhat of a folk hero. An engaging speaker, Bowden is constantly in demand and most free evenings will find him on the speaking circuit. His off-season travel schedule would exhaust anyone. Sunday morning will usually find him in the pulpit of a church somewhere in the south. Outside of football, Bowden has an intense interest in World War II history and he is a voracious reader on the subject. He traced his ancestry to parts of Germany and has visited the country several times. Bowden was an outstanding football player at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Ala., and went on to Alabama as a freshman quarterback, fulfilling a lifelong dream to play for the Crimson Tide. He lasted one semester in Tuscaloosa before high school sweetheart Ann Estock lured him back to Birmingham. They soon married and Bobby transferred to Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham. The two celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the same year (1999) that FSU won it’s second national championship and Bowden coached his only undefeated team, which was the first team ever to go wire-to-wire as the AP No. 1.

Bowden’s family has always been most important to him. The nation can follow son Tommy’s career as head coach at Clemson as well as son Terry, who is ABC’s top college football studio analyst. The Bowden’s oldest son, Steve, is in private business in Birmingham and co-wrote a book entitled “The Bowden Way” with his dad that hit the Wall Street Journal’s best seller list. Youngest son, Jeff, begins his 10th season on the FSU staff and his second as offensive coordinator. The four boys, daughters Robyn Hines (who is married to Clemson linebacker coach Jack Hines) and Ginger Madden, and 21 grandchildren make up the Bowden clan.

 

 

 

About Bobby Bowden...

Born • November 8, 1929 in Birmingham, Ala.

High School • Woodlawn High, Birmingham, Ala.

College • Howard (now Samford) 1953

Collegiate Football Experience • University of Alabama (QB), freshman; Howard (QB), sophomore-senior

Graduate Degree • Peabody College

Wife • The former Julia Ann Estock

Children • Robyn Hines, Steve, Tommy, Terry, Ginger Madden, Jeff

Head Coaching Honors • 1977 Southern Independent Coach of the Year…1979 National Coach of the Year (ABC-Chevrolet …1979 Southern Independent Coach of the Year…1980 National Coach of the Year (Bobby Dodd)…1983 Florida Sports Hall of Fame…1986 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame…1987 Region II Coach of the Year…1991 Walter Camp Coach of the Year…1992 Neyland Trophy…1993 Bear Bryant Award finalist…1993 ACC Coach of the Year...1996 Home Depot National Coach of the Year...1997 ACC Coach of the Year...1997 Home Depot National Coach of the Year Finalist…1999 Football News Coach of the Year Semifinalist…1999 Home Depot Coach of the Year…1999 Home Depot Coach of the Decade Finalist.

Coaching Accomplishments • The only coach in the history of Division I-A football to compile 13 straight 10-win seasons (1987-present)…Won his first national championship in 1993 while setting a school record for victories in a season with 12…Nation’s second-winningest active head coach with 304, which ranks fifth all-time (Division IA)…Holds the NCAA record with 11 consecutive bowl victories and 14 straight bowl trips without a loss…With a 17-5-1 record in bowl games, his winning percentage of .761 is the best mark, all-time, in college football…Owns the fifth-best winning percentage (.779) among active coaches with a career record of 304-85-4…Has guided FSU to 21 bowl appearances in 24 years, including 17 straight, with 14 “New Year’s Day” bowl trips…His 231 wins at Florida State over the last 24 years are more than the previous seven FSU head coaches compiled in over 29 seasons…Patriarch of the only father-son duo ever to lead Division I-A programs, let alone to lead them at the same time.