A genuine coach

MOUNT DORA — Talk to any college football fan about Bobby Bowden and it’s going to be a conversation about success.

It may be about how he took over a little-regarded Florida State football program and turned it into a national power. Or it could be about all those wins, 377 of them if you’re counting. Or maybe it would be about the national titles in 1993 and 1999 or the 12 ACC titles.

After inheriting a program in 1976 that wasn’t even a blip on the national landscape, he turned the Seminoles into a program that even today continues to be one of the best in all of college football.

But talk to Bowden and it’s clear that all the winning he did is not what stands out for the former coach as he looks back.

It’s about the people.

“The older you get, the more you realize it’s about the friends you made along the way that means so much more than all that other stuff,” Bowden said Saturday afternoon at Mount Dora Christian Academy.

Bowden was in Mount Dora as the guest speaker at the second annual Benefit Gala at MDCA. After a lifetime of coaching, the 87-year-old Bowden still has the charisma and Southern charm that made him one of the most beloved coaches in the sport.

That was particularly true among his own players, several of whom were on hand Saturday to see their former coach.

When Bowden walked into the athletic office at MDCA, a group of former players stood ready to greet him. As soon as he saw what was waiting for him, Bowden’s face lit up.

Walking up to former defensive back John Wyche, he asked where Wyche was living now. Told Wyche lives in Miami, Bowden asked what he was doing in Mount Dora.

“I came to see you, coach,” Wyche said.

“You came all this way to see me?” asked a clearly touched Bowden.

“With coach Bowden, what he says is what he does,” Wyche said before Bowden arrived. “That’s what made playing for him so good. When we played, he made sure we were all family. What our parents had instilled in us, he just continued. I think his secret was that he treated us like family. When I found out he was going to be this close, I knew I couldn’t miss seeing him again.”

The thing about Bowden is that he treats everyone the same. Just sit with him for a few minutes and you walk away feeling special, like you’ve just spent time with a lifelong friend.

Roger Phillips, who was on hand to see Bowden on Saturday, recalls reaching out to the coach shortly after Bowden retired following the 2009 season. A friend of his son had just lost his dad to cancer and Phillips asked if Bowden would mind sending the boy an autograph. Bowden sent a football, a hat and a signed picture.

“He is just one of the greatest guys,” said Phillips, who has played in an annual golf tournament with Bowden for two decades now. “He is always gracious and you never heard him blame any of his players the way some coaches do. He’s a real Christian and a fantastic guy.”

Even his opponents couldn’t muster any real dislike for the man, despite the fact that he was likely to beat their team. When Florida began to flex its muscles on the national stage with Steve Spurrier as head coach, Spurrier would take great glee in riling his opponents. Does Free Shoes University ring any bells?

Bowden was the exact opposite. He couldn’t say enough nice things about whatever team he was facing and you always had the feeling that those compliments were genuine. He wasn't known as Saint Bobby for nothing.

“I never hated the Gators,” Bowden said. “I wanted to beat them more than any other team we played. But when I was a kid I really liked the Gators and followed Florida. When I came to Tallahassee there were only three Division I schools with Florida, Florida State and Miami. I think there was one year when we were 1-2-3 in the polls, or something close to it. Those were some great rivalries.”

Bowden still keeps his finger on the pulse of college football. He’s happy that Jimbo Fisher, who he has known since Fisher was a child, has continued his legacy with the Seminoles, keeping them among the very best programs in the country.

“I think right now Florida State has the upper hand,” Bowden said. “But I think both Miami and Florida will make a comeback. And I hope they do. I pull for Miami and Florida, except for when they play Florida State.”

Bowden retired after having done pretty much everything that a coach could do in the sport. He no longer has to go out on the recruiting trail, spend hours breaking down film, devise those cunning game plans or make those game-changing calls in the heat of battle.

He’s fine with that.

“I don’t miss it one bit,” Bowden said. “I coached until I was 80 and that was probably too long. I loved every minute of it, but since I retired I haven’t missed one bit of it. Sometimes I wonder how in the world I did it for that long.”