Bobby Bowden was recently diagnosed with a terminal medical condition. He’s widely known as one of the greatest head coaches in college football. Moreover, he turned the Florida State Seminoles into a blue blood program during the late 20th century. Reminisce on Bobby Bowden’s career at FSU and his impact on the sport of college football.
Bowden’s Beginnings
In the early 1950s, Bowden started his career at Samford University as an assistant following his playing career there. He quickly transitioned to become the head coach at South Georgia State College, where he rose the program to a higher standard. Bowden then returned to his alma mater as the head coach, but he soon gained interest in being a head coach at the Power 5 level.
Bowden’s first stint at FSU was in 1963 as the wide receivers’ coach. He then transitioned to West Virginia, where he coached for a decade, and was an offensive coordinator before becoming the head coach at that university. In fact, Bowden was a coach for the Mountaineers when Nick Saban was playing for WVU. He finally became the head coach at Florida State in 1976.
Bowden’s Start at Florida State
The initial reason for Bowden joining the Seminoles was for him to be closer to where his family lived. FSU had an atrocious record of 4-29 the prior three seasons to Bowden’s arrival, and even Bobby considered this job as a stepping stone to his next coaching job: perhaps in the NFL.
Bowden quickly turned around the Seminoles’ program in a matter of two years. During the 1977 season, the Seminoles managed to finish 9-2, and this was just after Bowden’s only losing season as a head coach. Furthermore, Bowden led FSU to an 11-1 record in the 1979 season. However, the Florida State Seminoles were not consistent in the seasons prior to 1987. In the early 1980s, the Seminoles’ annual records fluctuated around eight or nine wins, but Bowden was ready to take the next step.
Bowden’s Run of Dominance
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Starting from 1987, Bobby Bowden and the Florida State Seminoles never looked back. For the next 14 years, the Seminoles consistently finished in the top four of the AP Poll and gathered two national championships. Since FSU joined the ACC in 1992, the Seminoles won the conference every year up until 2000, and they only finished outside the top two in 2006.
Notable players to play under Bobby Bowden during his FSU run include Anquan Boldin, Walter Jones, Derrick Brooks, Deion Sanders, etc. Bowden’s rivalry with Steve Spurrier was one for the ages, and Bowden finished with a record of 8-5-1 against one of the most creative offensive geniuses.
Concluding Thoughts
Bobby Bowden ended his career at FSU in 2009 with a win in the Gator Bowl. Additionally, he finished with a cumulative coaching record of 377-129-4. Bowden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach; he will forever have a spot on the Mount Rushmore of college football coaches.