Nick Saban gives heartfelt message on coaching against Terry Bowden, what his family means to him

In 1977, Nick Saban was the defensive backs coach at West Virginia. That year was Terry Bowden’s first as a running back for the Mountaineers before embarking on a long coaching career.

Everything will come full circle this weekend when Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide take on Bowden’s Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Saturday.

Bowden, son of legendary coach Bobby and brother of Tommy, said he hasn’t crossed paths much with Saban during their careers. Saban is very familiar with the family, coaching against Bobby and Tommy in the past, and said that adds some meaning to the game.

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“I think the unique situation for me is I have such respect for the Bowden family,” Saban said during his Wednesday press conference. “Terry was a [running back] at West Virginia when I was a coach there in whatever year that was. … Coach Bowden was always really great to my family, was a really good friend of my dad’s.

“So, I have a tremendous respect for their family, and I don’t think anybody has represented our profession and coached with more class than Coach Bowden did and I have the same kind of respect for both of his sons who have been in and out of our profession. I have a tremendous amount for Terry and what he’s trying to do at ULM.”

Terry Bowden, 66, is in his second season as the head coach at Louisiana-Monroe after previously working as a graduate assistant at Clemson from 2019-20 while getting his graduate degree. During his coaching career, which started at Florida State in 1982, he also worked as a head coach at Auburn and Akron, among other stops.

Now, he’ll get ready to square off against Saban during a Week 3 showdown Saturday at 4 p.m. ET at Bryant Denny Stadium.