Bobby Bowden
The news is all over the sports world that Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden has coached his last season. It was inevitable (and made moreso by the team’s recent foundering) but it’s still a sad day for college football.
I grew up a Florida State fan and have always thought Bowden was the epitome of a college football coach. There will certainly never be another one like him. As Birmingham News sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky pointed out:
Bear Bryant didn’t build Alabama from next to nothing. Joe Paterno didn’t start Penn State from virtual scratch. Bobby Bowden turned Florida State from a former girls’ school into a national football power.
Thank you, Bobby Bowden.
Two things:
1. It looks like he was pretty much forced out, which is very sad.
2. As good as Bowden was, I’m sorry, he was NO Bear Bryant. I grew up in Alabama as a Crimson Tide fan and Bowden is simply not in Bryant’s league. But, then again, hardly anyone is.
True, Bowden’s two championships don’t come close to Bryant’s six. But it’s true that Bowden started with less than Bryant did. Also, Bowden would be the first to say he’s no Bear Bryant.