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    College Football Coaches
    College Football Coaches
    College Football Coaches
    Ebook137 pages1 hour

    College Football Coaches

    By W. Roger Baker

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Winners.  Leaders.  Teachers.  These incredible men shaped the game Americans love.

    Which of them won six National Championships?

    Who were the "blackshirts?"

    Who has the highest win percentage in college football?

    This book has all the answers and more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAndrew Adams
    Release dateNov 13, 2016
    ISBN9781540187833
    College Football Coaches

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      Book preview

      College Football Coaches - W. Roger Baker

      Introduction

      Thank you for purchasing this book. I truly appreciate it.

      It is not likely that this book will end the discussion about who the best college football coaches of all time are. I would not want to spoil the fun anyway. These 13 (a Baker’s dozen) great coaches are, however, certainly near the top.

      I did a good deal of research before forming my opinion.  Barring coaches whose careers are still a work in progress, these are the coaches who stood out to me.

      They were by no means consensus picks because the criteria for ranking past coaches will never be agreed on by sports fans. These coaches were the most frequently mentioned during my research. That influenced my opinion along with win percentage and longevity.

      They are presented in alphabetical order. The chapter titles offer a clue about who the coach is; can you guess their names?

      Chapter 1. Life Begins At 80

      Bobby Bowden 2007.jpg

      Robert Cleckler Bowden (born November 8, 1929) is a retired American football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons. During his time at Florida State, Bowden led FSU to an Associated Press and Coaches Poll National Title in 1993 and a BCS National Championship in 1999, as well as twelve Atlantic Coast Conference championships since FSU joined the conference in 1991. After a difficult 2009 season and amid questioning fans, Bowden stepped down, just weeks after his 80th birthday. But he was allowed to make his final coaching appearance in the 2010 Gator Bowl game on January 1, 2010, with a 33–21 victory over his former program, West Virginia.

      On the day of March 6, 2009 NCAA ruling requiring Florida State to vacate wins for any games in which an ineligible player participated, threatened to remove as many as 14 of Bowden's wins from the 2006 and 2007 seasons in relation to an academic scandal. Florida State appealed the ruling, but the NCAA upheld it on January 5, 2010. Upon final investigation by Florida State University it was determined that Bowden was to vacate 12 wins, bringing his final career record to 377–129–4.

      Youth and early life

      Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Bowden spent a portion of his childhood in bed, sick. Bowden is the son of Bob Bowden and Sunset (née Cleckler) Bowden. When he was 13 years old, Bowden was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. After a six-month hospital stay, Bowden was confined to his bed at home for just over a year with nothing more than his imagination to pass the time. It was listening to World War II reports on the radio that began Bowden's interest in the war, an interest he still has to this day. It was also around this time that his love for football increased, as he would listen to University of Alabama football on Saturday mornings.

      Bowden was an outstanding football player at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, and went on to play for the University of Alabama as a quarterback, fulfilling a lifelong dream to play for the Crimson Tide. He then returned to Birmingham and married his high school sweetheart, Ann Estock, on April 1, 1949. Today, the couple have six children and 21 grandchildren. Bobby transferred to Howard College (now Samford University), where he played football, baseball, ran track and became a brother in Pi Kappa Alpha. In his junior year he was elected president of Pi Kappa Alpha. That year his Alpha Pi chapter recorded the highest grade point average in the nation among all Pi Kappa Alpha chapters. His senior year he was reelected to the presidency as well as captain of the football team where he garnered All-American honors at quarterback. The Howard College faculty nominated him for Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges in recognition of his academic and athletic leadership. Bowden graduated from Howard in 1953.

      Early coaching career

      Bowden served as an assistant football coach and head track and field coach at Howard College (now known as Samford University, currently in the FCS football division) in Birmingham, Alabama from 1954–55. He left his alma mater to become Athletic Director as well as head football, baseball, and basketball coach at South Georgia College from 1956 to 1958. Bowden then returned to Howard as head coach, where he compiled a 31–6 record between 1959 and 1962. In 1962, Bowden went to Florida State University as an assistant coach under Head Coach Bill Peterson. Three other coaching legends who worked under Coach Peterson during this time were Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs and Don James. Bowden left Florida State in 1965 to go to West Virginia University as an assistant under Jim Carlen. When Carlen left following the 1969 season to become head coach at Texas Tech, Bowden replaced him. Bowden then compiled a 42–26 record at WVU before returning to FSU as head coach in 1976.

      During Bowden's first year as head coach at WVU, the football team of the state's other top-division school, Marshall University, fell victim to a tragic plane crash. Bowden asked NCAA permission to wear Marshall jerseys and play Marshall's final game of the 1970 season against Ohio, but was denied. In memory of the victims of the crash, Mountaineers players put green crosses and the initials MU on their helmets. Bowden allowed Marshall's new head coach Jack Lengyel and his assistants access to game film and playbooks to acquaint themselves with the veer offense, a variation of the option offense which aids teams with weak offensive lines. Lengyel credits Bowden with helping the young Thundering Herd recover. Bowden reportedly became emotional while viewing the movie We Are Marshall, and has said that he was the original candidate for the Marshall head coaching job vacated by crash victim Rick Tolley.

      Florida State

      Bowden became the head coach of the Florida State Seminoles because the climate was warmer than in Morgantown, and because Tallahassee was closer to Birmingham, Alabama, where his mother and mother-in-law both lived. The team had a 4–29 record over the previous three seasons, and Bowden planned to stay only briefly before taking a better job, perhaps as head coach at Alabama.

      During his 34 years as Florida State's head coach he had only one losing season–his first, in 1976–and declined head coaching job offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons. From 1987 to 2000 the Seminoles finished every season with at least 10 wins and in the top 5 of the Associated Press College Football Poll, and won the national championship in 1993 and 1999.

      Personal life

      Bowden is a committed Christian who credits his success in football to his faith.

      Sons who coach

      Bobby is not the only member of his family to have coached Division I-A football. His son Tommy Bowden was the head coach at Clemson University. Another son, Terry Bowden, was the head coach at Auburn University, where he was the 1993 Coach of the Year. A third son, Jeff Bowden, was the offensive coordinator at Florida State. All three Bowden men who were head coaches have achieved an undefeated season: Terry in 1993 at Auburn; Tommy in 1998 at Tulane; and Bobby in 1999 at Florida State. Bobby's 1993 and 1999 Florida State teams were the only ones to win a National Championship, however. Terry and Jeff currently coach at the University of Akron.

      The Bowden Bowl

      As both Florida State and Clemson are in the same division of the Atlantic Coast Conference for football, the two teams played each other every year from 1999 through 2007 in a game that became known as the Bowden Bowl. Their 1999 meeting was the first time in Division I-A history that a father and a son met as opposing head coaches in a football game. Bobby held the edge in the series 5–4, with all four losses within the last five games. Tommy Bowden's four wins in the series remain the only times a son has ever beaten his father when facing off as head coach in any of America's four major sports.

      One Bowden Bowl was scheduled between Auburn and Florida State for 1999 when Terry Bowden was the coach at Auburn. However, Terry's midseason resignation in 1998 ended the possibility of a Bowden Bowl. Another Bowden Bowl was scheduled between Clemson and Florida State in 2008, but Tommy Bowden's resignation halfway through the year ended the Bowden Bowls. Florida State beat Clemson in what would have been the 2008 Bowden Bowl on Bobby Bowden's 79th birthday, earning him his 380th career win.

      ––––––––

      Most of this chapter was excerpted from the Wikipedia webpage linked to here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Bowden

      Chapter 2. Do You Like My Hat?

      Bear Bryant.jpg

      Paul William Bear Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach.  He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships. Upon his retirement in 1982, he held the record for most wins as head coach in collegiate football history with 323 wins.  The Paul W. Bryant Museum, Paul W. Bryant Hall, Paul W. Bryant Drive, and Bryant–Denny Stadium are all named in his honor at the University of Alabama.  He was also known for his trademark black and white houndstooth hat, deep voice, casually leaning up against the goal

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