Coach Bobby Bowden

Bobby Bowden took over the Florida State college football team in 1976. This team was struggling before Bowden came aboard,  having only won  4 games in the 3 previous seasons. It would be a difficult, almost impossible  task to turn this football program around.  It didn’t take Bowden very long though. In fact, the only losing season the Florida State Seminoles have experienced with him as coach, was  that first 1976 season.  The next year and continuing on for the next 31 years, Bobby Bowden and his football team have brought the fans a winning season.  This has made him a legend.  He is know the winningest coach in the history of college football.  It only took Bowden four years with Florida State University to take a team that was once, one of the worst college football teams around, to a team that was only one game away from being national champions. The final record for that year, 1979, was 11-1.  It was only the beginning for the FSU football club. The team would continue to do well every year since that first 1977 winning season.  FSU was one lucky University, to have Bobby Bowden coaching their team, and they knew it.  This was a team that was on the rise and  the fans knew who was taking them there.  Over the years at Florida state, Bowden has been offered many head coaching  jobs with the NFL and other well know colleges across the country. He has turned them all down and remained loyal to Florida State University. The fans appreciate his dedication and they showed that by placing a statue of Bowden in front of the Moore Athletic Center to honor him.  He has had a very impressive career at FSU. His winning record stands at  300-87-4. Bowden will turn 79 this year but he says he is still feeling good and enjoying his job.