Bowden became the all-time winningest coach in major college history in 2003 and currently has 351 career wins. He is the winningest bowl coach by percentage and is just one shy of tying for the most bowl wins ever by a college coach. He is the only coach to lead his team to 14 straight seasons that ended with a ranking among the Associated Press Top five. He's coached two national championship teams including the 1999 squad that was the first ever to go through a season from start to finish as the AP No. 1. So overwhelming has Bowden's influence been on college football and, in particular, at Florida State, that the field at Doak Campbell Stadium was named for him last season and a national award given by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes now bears his name.
Bowden's interest in the sport of football began while watching his neighborhood high school team practice just on the other side of his backyard fence in Birmingham, Alabama. His love and talent for the game grew from playing with friends on the same fields everyday and later practicing with high school teammates. His knowledge of the game grew as a quarterback at Samford and from watching and listening to the legendary Bear Bryant. His skill and creativity were honed on the coaching staffs at South Georgia College, FSU and West Virginia. But it has been his combination of leadership, vision, talent and magnetic personality that have flourished over 30 years at Florida State, raising the program from perhaps its lowest point to the national powerhouse it is today.
Bowden's remarkable career numbers are even more impressive considering the fact that he took over an FSU program in 1976 that had won just four games over the previous three seasons. He has remained at FSU despite offers from NFL teams and several other prestigious college football programs. Bowden's loyalty has meant the world to Florida State University and its athletics program. Part of that was recognized by the school this past season with the dedication of a statue of his likeness that sits in front of the Moore Athletic Center and with the official proclamation of Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium.
Bowden's record at Florida State is 278-70-4. The totals include a 144-22-2 record in Tallahassee, 31-8-1 record at neutral sites and 103-40-1 on an opponent's field. 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, including a 31-6 record at his alma mater Samford University between 1959 and 1962, and a 42-26 mark at West Virginia from 1970-75. But what he has done at FSU is simply phenomenal. Eighteen times in 29 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 2005 Gator Bowl marked the Seminole's 26th since his arrival and was the 19th "New Year's Day" trip. 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.
He has developed the most consistently successful program in the history of college football. FSU won more games in the decade of the 1990s than any other program. The win over Wake Forest on October 25, 2003 allowed him to become the all-time winningest major college coach.
While Bowden has not spent much time looking back, most of the nation has spent time looking in at his program's extraordinary success. 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. 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.
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 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 in Birmingham. The two celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the same year (1999) that FSU won its 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 in college football history.
Bowden served as an assistant football coach and head track coach at Howard College (now Samford) from 1954-55. He left his alma mater to serve as athletics director and head coach at South Georgia Junior College from 1956-58. He returned to Samford as head coach from 1959-62. He joined the Florida State coaching staff under head coach Bill Peterson as wide receivers coach from 1963-65. During that time, he coached Seminole receiver T.K. Wetherell who is now president of FSU. Bowden moved on to West Virginia, serving as offensive coordinator from 1966-69 before taking over as the Mountaineers' head coach from 1970-1975. He was named FSU's head coach in January 1976.
Bowden's faith and family have always been most important to him. The nation can follow son Tommy's career as head coach at Clemson as well as Terry, who is a college football analyst for ABC. The Bowden's oldest son, Steve, co-wrote a book entitled "The Bowden Way" with his dad . Youngest son, Jeff, is in his 13th season on the FSU staff and his fifth as offensive coordinator. His oldest daughter Robyn is married to Clemson assistant coach Jack Hine Hines and his youngest daughter Ginger is an attorney.
