Whenever Bobby Bowden’s name comes up, you often hear a Bobby Bowden story. Here’s mine.
Coach Bowden’s recent passing brings to mind a personal recollection that is 50 years old–that’s right–it happened a half-century ago. Bowden was head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers when my wife Kathy and I were graduate students there.
Shortly after the 1971 football season, my department chair called me into his office. Coach Bowden had phoned, he said, requesting that a faculty member come over to the football office at Mountaineer Field “for a few Saturday mornings” to meet recruits and tell them about WVU academics. No faculty member was interested, so I got the nod.
At 22 years old, I was but a few years older than the recruits. My chair said, “No worries! Coach is looking for a person knowledgeable about the academic side of WVU, and I think you’ll be able to handle that just fine.”
Well, I knew what I knew about WVU, but I figured I needed to know a lot more. So I dug into materials to learn about all the U’s offerings and what undergrads needed to do, especially in fields with which I was unfamiliar. I ‘boned up’ as they say, and a recruiting maven I became. Still, though, I was nervous as hell! I remember the first Saturday morning, especially.
I walked into the lair that Mountaineer fans dream about, where the likes of Ira Erritt Rodgers and Sam Huff roamed — the innards of WVU football. I knocked on the closed door, and within seconds there stood Coach Bowden. Personable and welcoming, he stuck out his hand, “Frank Fee-ah, I presume,” He said. “Yes, Coach. Dr. Ball asked me to come over and give you a hand.”
Courtesy WVU Libraries
“Well, thanks for taking the time,” he replied.
We walked into a small room full of recruits who were sitting around the conference table. “Boys,” Bowden said in his distinctive Southern drawl, “I want you to meet Pro-FESS-Oar Fee-ah. He’s going to tell you a little bit about academics at West Virginia University. I want you to pay attention. You can ask questions after he’s done.”
Of course, I tried like hell to be believable, scared to death that the Mountaineers would lose a recruit because of me. I had memorized a spiel, but I also knew that content was only part of the deal. I had to act as though I knew what I was talking about, and the recruits had to see me that way. The thought of having to answer unexpected questions had me shaking in my boots.
Thankfully, I was able to pull it off … well … at least I didn’t hear any complaints. And Saturday after Saturday, that’s where I went–and that’s what I did–for the rest of that recruiting season. Nerves never let me forget where I was and what I was doing.
Glad for the opportunity and tickled to get an inside look at the program. I also knew that the gig wouldn’t last. For one thing, I was a fill-in, and I would be graduating soon, moving away from Morgantown.
Courtesy WVTM-13.com
Today, fifty years later, I can’t help but think about college football back then and what it is today. With decades of change, it isn’t easy for a head coach to wear well over a long career. Bowden did that. He adapted just like another coach has–a guy who hails from Fairmont. WV, just twenty miles down the road. I’m talking about Nick Saban. And for me, there is a connection. About twenty-five years after I left Morgantown, Saban was Michigan State’s head football coach and I was a faculty member there. I served as one of the team’s academic mentors.
As a ‘forever’ college football fan, I can’t tell you what it was like having an opportunity to get close-up views of two of the game’s all-time greats.
And what strikes me most about Coach Bowden is that he survived the turmoil associated with being a head coach. Hailed one day, coaches are ducking hail the next. That happened to Bowden in Morgantown and, later, in Tallahassee. And it is during times like those, they say, that one’s character shows.
Bobby Bowden never wavered. He remained the same and stayed the course. Never disrespectful or elusive–and certainly not abusive–Bowden always spoke frankly and directly. He always tried to do the right thing. He always put people first. And he always had that smile on his face.
Courtesy The Osceola
Coaches come and go. They win and lose. Some are unforgettable, and others we hardly remember. Bobby Bowden? Well, he was simply one of a kind. I doubt we’ll ever see another coach quite like him.
Bobby Bowden was a “Brother” in the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He would show up unannounced at the Pike House in Morgantown during Faternity Rush Week. He would talk for about 5 minutes, then answer questions for another 10 minutes. What a wonderful “recruiting” situation this was for Alpha Thete Chapter.