Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden mourned across the ACC, college football world

North Carolina tight end coach John Lilly grew up in West Virginia and was a childhood fan of then-Mountaineers coach Bobby Bowden. So when Lilly had the opportunity to leave Northwest Guilford High School in Greensboro just to take the present-day equivalent of a quality control coach at Florida State, he jumped at the chance.

He probably wouldn’t have made the move for anyone but the legendary coach. Bowden, who won 377 games over four decades most notably with the Seminoles, where he won two national titles, died Sunday at the age of 91, his family announced in a statement.

Lilly went on to coach for at FSU under Bowden from 1995-2007 going from his entry-level position to a graduate assistant before serving as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator his final 10 seasons. Lilly’s coaching path has included two stops in the NFL along with stints at Georgia and Tennessee before being hired by UNC last year. And he said it may not have ever happened without Bowden’s influence.

“I think that’s what we’d all love for that to be said about us when we leave this earth,” Lilly told the News & Observer. “Everybody needs somebody to believe in him so he’s got faith in somebody to give him a chance, and the fact that he did that for me at a at a young age and entrusted me with a lot was certainly life altering.”

Lilly said he briefly spoke with Bowden over the phone last month and he sounded like the same charismatic coach many had grown to love.

“He called everybody ‘Buddy,’ and he said, ‘Buddy, thank you for everything,’” Lilly said. “I’m thinking to myself, I’m like thank me? I mean I could never do enough to repay him all that he did for me. But that really is representative of who he really is. I never got the sense he got into coaching for himself.”

Terry Bowden, Bobby’s son who coached at Auburn from 1993-98 and is currently the head coach at Louisiana-Monroe, said he couldn’t have “asked for a better personal mentor than my father.”

“He was a wonderful husband and father, who relied on his strong Christian faith to provide the foundation for his life,” Terry Bowden said. “I also was fortunate to be raised by a football coach who had a reputation for coaching the right way his entire career. He was admired by everyone who played for him or coached against him. As a family, we will embrace all of those wonderful memories and celebrate a life well lived.”

Bowden was a college football coaching giant. In addition to his 377 victories, he built Florida State into one of college football’s great dynasties, winning two national titles and multiple ACC conference crowns with the Seminoles in the 1990s.

“Coach Bowden is the gold standard in our profession — a true winner on and off the field,” NC State head coach Dave Doeren wrote in an email to the N&O on Sunday. “I have never heard a bad word about Coach Bowden … Ever! We are all better for having him here for 91 years.”

In his 34 years as the top coach at Florida State, he had only one losing season — his first, in 1976. From 1987 to 2000, the Seminoles finished with at least 10 wins in each season, and the AP Poll ranked the Seminoles in the top 5 each of those years. The team was particularly dominant after joining the ACC in 1992, winning or sharing nine consecutive conference titles between 1992 and 2000, and only losing two conference games in that stretch. The Seminoles won national titles in 1993 and 1999.

“We lost a great man today,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said in an early morning tweet Sunday. “Coach Bowden was one-of-a-kind and touched so many lives. I’m so fortunate to call him a mentor and friend. We send our condolences to all of his family and friends. A legend who will be dearly missed.”

“I was fortunate to know Coach Bowden for many years as he was a college teammate of my uncle, Thomas Cutcliffe,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. “Coach Bowden was special in so many ways. Two things I recall with great fondness — I never heard him say a bad word about anyone else, and I never heard him curse. Coach Bowden was so unique, and his success speaks for itself. We will certainly miss him, but in the same notion celebrate his accomplishments and all he provided for others.”

Family, friends and fans had been bracing for Bowden’s passing for several weeks.

He announced on July 21 he had a terminal illness, and his son, Terry, later said it was pancreatic cancer. In recent days, family had gathered in Tallahassee, Florida, to be around him.

News of Bowden’s passing resonated across the country Sunday morning as many people awoke to the news.

“Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the passing of Bobby Bowden,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement Sunday. “The ACC, Florida State and the entire college athletics family have lost a true giant. Coach Bowden was one of the most successful, humble and endearing individuals who was also one of the most decorated college football coaches in history. Throughout my several interactions with Coach Bowden, it was clear that he was warm, friendly, caring and always made people smile. It was no secret that Coach Bowden genuinely loved his players, the Florida State community and college football.”

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called Bobby Bowden a “model” that other college coaches should follow.

“He was such a great example of not losing sight of the main thing: a man of faith, a great husband, a great father,” Swinney said in a statement posted on Clemson’s football Twitter account.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

This story was originally published August 8, 2021 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden mourned across the ACC, college football world."