December 1, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Football Staff Writer

MORE: Bowden leaves with legacy among greats secure

A look at the remarkable career of Bobby Bowden:

Nov. 8, 1929: Bobby Bowden is born in Birmingham, Ala.

1953: Bowden graduates from Howard College (now known as Samford) in Birmingham, Ala. Bowden originally enrolled at Alabama and spent one semester there before returning to Birmingham to be near Ann Estock, his future wife.

1954: Bowden begins his coaching career as an assistant football coach and head track coach at Howard.

1956: Bowden starts his head coaching career at South Georgia Junior College, in Douglas, Ga. He remains there for three years.

1959: Bowden takes over as the head coach at Samford, where he goes 31-6 in four seasons.

1963: Bowden begins his first stint at Florida State as a wide receivers coach, under head coach Bill Petersen. He stays for three years before taking over as West Virginia's offensive coordinator.

1970: West Virginia promotes Bowden to head coach. He goes 42-26 and earns two Peach Bowl bids (in 1972 and '75) during his six-year tenure, though he also has his likeness hung in effigy at one point.

1976: Bowden takes over as the head coach at Florida State. The Seminoles go 5-6 in his first year, which is the only losing season of Bowden's tenure.

1977: Florida State goes 10-2 and earns its first postseason bid in six years, beating Texas Tech 40-17 in the Tangerine Bowl. The landmark season also includes a 37-9 victory over Florida, ending a nine-game losing streak to the Gators and starting a four-game winning streak in that series.

1979: The Seminoles post an undefeated regular season for the first time since 1950 before losing 24-7 to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Florida State finishes sixth in the AP poll, its highest season-ending ranking in school history. Bowden is named the national coach of the year by ABC-Chevrolet.

1980: Florida State heads into New Year's Day ranked second in the nation before losing 18-17 to Oklahoma in an Orange Bowl heartbreaker. Florida State finishes 10-2 and fifth in the nation, and Bowden wins the Bobby Dodd Award as the national coach of the year.

1981: Bowden solidifies his "King of the Road" reputation by playing at Nebraska, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and LSU on five consecutive weekends. The Seminoles go 3-2 during that stretch, with wins over Ohio State, Notre Dame and LSU, but lose their last three games of the season to finish 6-5.

1982: Florida State goes 9-3 and beats West Virginia 31-12 in the Gator Bowl, which starts a string of 27 consecutive bowl bids. The Seminoles have the longest current streak of bowl appearances in the nation.

1985: Bowden begins a string of 11 consecutive bowl wins when Florida State knocks off Oklahoma State 34-23 in the Gator Bowl.

1986: Bowden interviews with Alabama officials about the Crimson Tide's coaching vacancy before removing his name from consideration. The Alabama rumors surface as Bowden is preparing to lead the Seminoles to a 27-13 New Year's Eve victory over Indiana in the All-American Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

1987: Florida State goes 11-1, beats Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl and finishes second in the AP poll to begin a string of 14 consecutive top-five finishes. The Seminoles' only loss is 26-25 to eventual national champion Miami when they fail to make a two-point conversion after scoring a touchdown in the final minute.

1988: For the first time, Florida State opens a season ranked first in the nation. The Seminoles respond by losing 31-0 to Miami in their season opener. Two weeks later, Bowden cements his status as one of college football's great gamblers by calling for a "punt-rooskie" with his team backed up deep in its end of the field late in the fourth quarter against Clemson. Florida State cornerback Leroy Butler runs 78 yards on the fake punt to set up the winning field goal in a 24-21 victory. The Seminoles go on to finish 11-1 and ranked third in the nation.

1989: Florida State opens its season with back-to-back losses, including a 30-26 stunner in the season opener against a Southern Miss team quarterbacked by a fellow named Brett Favre. The Seminoles respond by winning their last 10, including a 24-10 triumph over eventual national champion Miami.

1991: The Seminoles open the season ranked first in the nation and stay atop the polls until Nov. 16, when they lose 17-16 to No. 2 Miami after Gerry Thomas' 34-yard field-goal attempt in the final minute sails wide right. It would be the first of many times that a missed kick costs Bowden's team a victory over Miami. Florida State drops two of its last three games to finish 11-2, but Bowden still is named the Walter Camp national coach of the year.

1992: Florida State begins its first year of ACC competition and breezes to the league title. The Seminoles would win the ACC championship each of their first nine years in the league. "Wide Right II" takes place when Dan Mowrey's potential game-tying field goal sails wide right as time expires in a 19-16 setback at Miami that marks Florida State's only loss of the season.

1993: Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward helps Bowden finally earn his first national title. Scott Bentley kicks a 22-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in a title-clinching 18-16 Orange Bowl victory over 17?-point underdog Nebraska, though the victory isn't secure until Nebraska's Byron Bennett misses a 45-yard field goal wide left on the game's final play.

1994: The greatest comeback of Bowden's career takes place when Florida State rallies from a 31-3 fourth-quarter deficit to tie visiting Florida 31-31 in what becomes known - on both sides - as "The Choke at Doak." Florida State wins the rematch 23-17 in a Sugar Bowl billed as the "Fifth Quarter in the French Quarter."

1995: Bowden finally suffers his first ACC loss when Warrick Dunn is stopped just shy of the end zone on the final play of a 33-28 loss at Virginia. Florida State had won its first 29 ACC games.

1996: Florida State seems in position to give Bowden his second national title after upsetting top-ranked Florida 24-21 in its regular-season finale, but the Seminoles lose a rematch with the Gators 52-20 in the Sugar Bowl. The loss ends Bowden's 11-game bowl winning streak and gives Florida its first national title. Bowden is named the Home Depot national coach of the year.

1998: Projected starting quarterback Dan Kendra gets hurt before the season and Chris Weinke -- the guy who stepped in for Kendra -- gets injured late in the season. But the Seminoles still end up playing for the national championship after backup quarterback Marcus Outzen leads them to a 23-12 victory over No. 4 Florida in their regular-season finale. Outzen's magic wears off in the Fiesta Bowl, as Florida State falls 23-16 to Tennessee.

1999: In the same year Bobby and Ann Bowden celebrate their 50th anniversary, Florida State puts together the first perfect season in school history and is the first team to go wire-to-wire atop the AP poll (USC would match the feat in 2004). Bowden wins his second national title with a 46-29 Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech. Bowden also wins his second Home Depot national coach of the year award in a four-year span. The season is highlighted by Florida State's 17-14 win over a Clemson team coached by Tommy Bowden, marking the first time in college football history that a father and son have squared off against each other as head coaches.

2000: Heisman winner Weinke leads Florida State into the national championship game for the fourth time in the past five seasons, though the Seminoles lose 13-2 in the Orange Bowl to Oklahoma. Florida State finishes fifth in the AP poll to wrap up a string of 14 consecutive top-five finishes. Bowden also becomes the first FBS coach to deliver 14 consecutive 10-win seasons.

2001: Florida State slips to 8-4 and finishes second to Maryland in the ACC, ending a string of nine consecutive conference titles.

2002: The Seminoles win the ACC title, but they also lose five games and endure plenty of turmoil at quarterback. Adrian McPherson replaces the ineffective Chris Rix after a loss to Notre Dame, only to get dismissed from the team in late November for lying about his role in a check scam. After producing two Heisman-winning quarterbacks in the 1990s, Bowden would endure plenty of headaches at the position this decade.

2003: Bowden passes Penn State's Joe Paterno and becomes the winningest coach in major-college football history on Oct. 25 when Florida State beats Wake Forest 48-24 for his 339th career victory. Paterno would regain the lead from Bowden in 2008.

2004: Florida State officials name the Doak Campbell Stadium playing field after Bowden. The official name of the Seminoles' home field is Bobby Bowden Field at Doak S. Campbell Stadium.

2005: Bowden leads Florida State to a 27-22 upset of Virginia Tech in the inaugural ACC championship game, which gives Bowden his 12th ACC title. That sets up a Bowden-Paterno showdown in the Orange Bowl, with the Seminoles falling to Penn State 26-23 in three overtimes.

2006: Bowden is inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Dec. 5. The Hall of Fame decides to induct Bowden and Paterno together while they still are coaching, making special exceptions for major college football's two winningest coaches.

2007: Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher is announced as Bowden's eventual successor. The announcement occurs toward the end of a turbulent season that includes an academic scandal that causes almost two dozen players to be suspended from a 35-28 Music City Bowl loss to Kentucky.

2008: Bowden becomes the third person in college football history to coach 500 games when he leads the Seminoles to a 39-21 victory over Colorado on Sept. 21. One month later, Bowden celebrates his 79th birthday with a 41-27 victory over Clemson in which he becomes the sixth person ever to coach 400 games at one school.

2009: The turmoil starts before the season when the NCAA forces Bowden to vacate 14 of his wins in the wake of the academic scandal, though an appeal is pending. Picked to win the ACC Atlantic Division, Florida State instead goes 6-6. If the Seminoles don't win their bowl, they will finish with a losing record for the first time since 1976 - Bowden's inaugural season at Florida State.

MORE: Bowden leaves with legacy among greats secure

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.