Nick Saban talks about the impact Bobby Bowden had on his life, career

Nick Saban has seen and done it at all in his nearly 50 years of coaching. He’s coached college and pro football, been an assistant and a head coach, and he’s won at the highest level. And he still hasn’t forgotten what then-West Virginia head coach Bobby Bowden did for him.

Saban was a first year graduate assistant coach and student at Kent State in 1973 when his father died. With Saban’s mother now living alone in West Virginia, Bowden made an offer to Saban.

“And what people don’t understand is,” Saban said on his weekly radio show. “I think I was 21 years old, I was in my first year of graduate school at Kent State, being a graduate assistant for Don James, who actually coached with Bobby Bowden at Florida State with Bill Peterson being the coach way back when. I don’t know how many years ago that was. So Coach James and Coach Bowden were friends. And I was being a GA, my dad passed away in September. I went home. It was really difficult. Went back to school and all of a sudden Coach Bowden calls me one day and says “I know your mom’s here, I knew your dad. If you need to come back home and be closer to your mom, I’ll make sure you have a place to work here at West Virginia and do something so you can continue to develop your career. He didn’t have to do that.”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Saban also complimented Bowden for winning as much as he did, and how he did it.

“Well I think Coach Bowden was probably, represented as much as anybody could accomplish as a coach in terms of what he did and number of games that he won,” Saban said. “But he did it in such a class fashion. Was a great person. Never criticized anybody else. He had a great personality. And there was never a harsh word that ever came.”

Bobby Bowden died in August 2021, but he is survived by his two sons, Tommy and Terry, both of who are football coaches. Terry Bowden is head coach of Louisiana Monroe, which plays at Alabama this Saturday.

Saban has kept up with both of their careers.

“But Terry and Tommy Bowden, both were GAs at West Virginia when was coaching at West Virginia University in 1978 and 1979. So I’ve followed Terry and Tommy for their entire coaching careers, as well,” Saban said.

“But Coach Bowden was one of my favorite all-times. He was from Alabama and he loved Alabama. He loved coming back to Alabama, to all the functions that we had when he would come back. Just such a classy gentleman, man. Great person. I can’t say enough good things about him and I appreciate him more than anybody could know.”