Mike Norvell releases statement on passing of Bobby Bowden

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

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell released a statement expressing his admiration for the man who set the bar in Tallahassee.

Coach Bowden was a special human being who earned an enduring legacy because of his wonderful heart, faith and values he lived — @Coach_Norvell pic.twitter.com/juYHGvj79I

— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) August 8, 2021

“Coach Bowden was one of the greatest coaches ever, but more than that he was an incredible man. He was a special human being who earned an enduring legacy because of his wonderful heart, faith and values he lived. It was the honor of my lifetime to know him and beyond anything I could dream to have a relationship with him,” states Norvell.

“My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been impacted by Coach Bowden and particularly with his wife Ann, their children, grandchildren, former players and coaches. The entire Florida State family is hurting right now at the loss of our program’s patriarch.”

Norvell expresses the gratitude, sadness and empathy that all of the college football world feels at this moment. As Norvell is in the early stages of making his mark on the Florida State program, he aspires to reach the bar set by Bowden.

Earlier, Norvell spoke on what the opportunity to form a relationship with Bowden meant to him.

“I am so grateful for the opportunity and the relationship that I have and been able to form with Coach Bowden,” Norvell said. “As he’s resting there at home, just to know we are thinking about you and just so grateful for the impact you’ve made and that you continue to make by who you are.”

Bobby Bowden’s Legacy

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. 

Bowden transformed the Seminoles into a standard bearer of the college football world,  twice reaching the pinnacle of college football. His team won national titles in 1993 and 1999. 

Bowden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, before retiring in 2009.

A pioneer in the world of college football, Bowden’s legacy will always be intertwined with Florida State. In addition, Norvall states that the name Bobby Bowden will always conjure up memories of his success in Tallahassee.

“I think any player, any fan, any coach, when you step foot here on Florida State that’s the name you’re going to associate with our program,” Norvell said.

Credit: On3’s Ashton Pollard on Norvell and Bowden’s relationship

Image courtesy of Doug Benc / Stringer via Getty Images