Terry Bowden updates family well-being after father’s death

Louisiana-Monroe head coach Terry Bowden joined the Paul Finebaum Show and shared an update on the Bowden family almost a year after the passing of his father. Legendary Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden died after a diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer at the age of 91 in Aug. 2021.

“You know, at 91, he lived a good life,” the Warhawks coach said. “If he had to pass, he did it in a comfortable way with his family with him and that pancreatic cancer went quickly … He had very strong faith.”

Terry Bowden, now a year into his tenure at ULM, is coming off of a 4-8 season after a winless year for the program in 2020. He praised his mother’s toughness after spending most of her life as a coach’s wife.

“My mom’s doing well, she’s strong,” Bowden said. “There were many Saturdays where Auburn had to beat Alabama, Florida had State had to beat Florida and Clemson to beat South Carolina for her to have a good day, so she’s pretty tough.”

Terry Bowden hopes father is remembered for impacts off the field

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.

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.

“Dad had a great life and the things that he did for players off the field probably meant more to us than what he did on the field. I think the thing that made him who he was that he didn’t come from pedigree,” Bowden said. “He went to schools that weren’t famous, weren’t successful and spent most of his life building one up. He never let his spiritual life separate from his professional life.”

After wrapping up his second spring with the Warhawks, Terry Bowden says he feels more prepared for what awaits on Sept. 3 – a date versus the Texas Longhorns.

“We feel like we’ve got a lot of guys with great leadership and great teamwork and athletic ability that we’ll have something to fight with next year going into the season,” Bowden said.