Bobby Bowden, the coach with the second-most victories in major college football at Florida State, is a legend.
08:16 on August 9, 2021According to this article and a previous version of the title, Bobby Bowden was the major college football coach with the most wins. This is untrue. After the NCAA reinstated Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s record in 2015, he became the all-time leader in major football wins with 111 victories.
Bobby Bowden was a charming storyteller who combined Southern charm with “fast-break” football to turn Florida State into a major college football power.
He has more victories (377) than any other major college football coach at the end of his tenure.
Terry Bowden, the son of the late coach, told reporters that his father, who was regarded as one of the best coaches in history, passed away early on Sunday morning at his home in northwest Florida, surrounded by his loved ones, following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He had battled health problems since being ill with COVID-19 in late 2020, and he was ninety-one years old. Bowden disclosed to the Tallahassee Democrat in July 2021 that he had received a terminal medical diagnosis.
“I’m at ease,” he declared.
Like most things surrounding Bowden, his ascent to the top is accompanied by a backstory.
He once competed in a fast-track race with his close buddy Joe Paterno to become the first major-division coach to win 400 games. The two obstinate icons fought each other until their 80s.
Paterno, Penn State’s longtime legend, won the race and finished with a Division 1-A record of 409 before his death in 2012.
Bowden ended with 389 wins, but 12 of those were vacated by the NCAA as part of academic fraud penalties levied on Florida State’s athletic department, leaving him with 377.
More than two years after his forced resignation in 2009, however, Bowden moved back to No. 1 as a result of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal at Penn State.
Crippling NCAA sanctions handed down against Penn State included stripping Paterno of 111 wins, putting Bowden back on top.
“I wasn’t expecting it like this and didn’t want it to happen like this,” Bowden told the Gainesville Sun in 2012.
Bowden’s head-coaching arc spanned 44 years at three schools, and his accomplishments, primarily at Florida State, earned him a place in a pantheon alongside Paterno, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Knute Rockne and Pop Warner.
