Legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden passes away

College football legend Bobby Bowden has died. The former Florida State head coach was 91 years old.

Bowden announced on July 21 that he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. On Sunday morning, Florida State confirmed that Bobby Bowden passed at 5:08 a.m. on Sunday morning with his wife Ann and all six of his children by his side. 

“I’ve always tried to serve God’s purpose for my life, on and off the field, and I am prepared for what is to come,” Bowden said when he announced his diagnosis. “My wife, Ann, and our family have been life’s greatest blessing. I am at peace.”

Today we lost a legend but you never lose a legacy. Rest In Peace Coach Bowden pic.twitter.com/f7pQpUPqbJ

— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) August 8, 2021

Bowden is survived by his wife of 51 years, Ann; sons Terry, Tommy, Jeff and Steve; and daughters Robyn Hines and Ginger Madden.

Bobby Bowden on his legacy

In 2009, Mike Freeman wrote BOWDEN – How Bobby Bowden Forged a College Football Dynasty. In it, Bobby Bowden detailed how we wanted to be remembered.

“A lot of people in the past have asked me what about my legacy,” Bowden shared with Freeman.  “I’ve said this and that and I don’t like talking about it all that much, but I answer the question the best I can.  I want people to say, ‘He was one of the best.’ Not the best.  Just one of the best.  I want people to say I didn’t cheat.  We made some mistakes here, but I never had a win-at-all-costs mentality.  We had that dadgum Free Shoes University thing, but we didn’t know what the players were doing and anyone who says we did isn’t telling the truth.  I would’ve rather lost than be seen as a guy who won and cheated.  I guess I want my legacy to be we won and we mostly won the right way, and along the way, people had fun, and I treated people with respect and decency.  I was something Florida State could be proud of.  They’d say, ‘That dadgum Bowden was a good guy.’  That’s how I hope I’ll be remembered.”

Bobby Bowden resume is unrivaled in Tallahassee

Bobby Bowden amassed a 315-98-4 record during his 34-year tenure in Tallahassee. When he took over at Florida State, the team had gone 4-29 in its previous three seasons. By his second year, they won 10 games. Over the next 14 years leading up to FSU’s ACC debut, they won at least nine games nine times. When they joined their new conference, then-ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan commented how valuable they had become in the college football world.

“Their football team had more national television exposure last year than all our teams had together,” Corrigan said. 

Not only did he turn the Seminoles into a competitive program, he twice reached the pinnacle of college football, winning national titles in 1993 and 1999. Bobby Bowden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006 before retiring in 2009.

On3.com’s Ashton Pollard contributed to this report