R.I.P.   BOBBY BOWDEN

For years during my academic career, when people learned that I had been educated at Florida State University, the first words that came out of their mouths were "Bobby Bowden." Everyone in the south knew his name. Bowden died two days ago. A legend has passed.

When I first went to FSU in 1963, it had 11,000 students and was a respectable but not great university, always overshadowed by the larger University of Florida. Today, FSU has over 40,000 students and a world-class academic reputation. Strange to say, it was football, and Bobby Bowden specifically, that made this come about. 

Bowden was at FSU from 1976 to 2009. All the while he led the football program in a stellar record. He became the second winningest coach in college football history. As the other great southern coaches, e.g. Bear Bryant, Bowden was not just a football coach, he was a life mentor and the young men who were privileged to serve under him became his "sons." He, as Bryant, taught his sons ethical and moral values as a way of life. Bowden was a devout Southern Baptist and long-time devoted member of the First Baptist Church of Tallahassee. He took his Christian faith very seriously.

Until 1947, FSU was the state's "girls' school," Florida State College for Women. After WWII, the GI Bill sent countless thousands of veterans to college and FSCW turned into co-ed FSU. The History Department quickly flourished with young professors from far and near. When I was there, 1963-1971, my professors came from the Sorbonne, Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the like. I was fortunate beyond measure to be guided by an A-list team.

My graduate work was rigorous. I had to show proficiency in two foreign languages and mastery of five fields, four of history and one outside of history. My Ph.D. exams, preliminary and final, written and oral, were exceedingly demanding and went on for weeks. I managed to get through and then faced the hurdle of a dissertation (doctoral thesis). Since my major field was French Revolution and Napoleon, I had to go to France for months of research, then to compose and defend a lengthy original composition on an aspect of the period. I finished and successfully defended my 333-page dissertation exactly fifty years ago. My brilliant major professor, Donald D. Horward, a world authority on Napoleon, is still alive and well, in Tallahassee. My gratitude to him knows no bounds.

Back to Bobby Bowden. Outstanding faculty did not put FSU "on the map." Bowden did. With him, money started pouring in and the university expanded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Of course, this kind of explosion was not limited to FSU. It has occurred repeatedly across the south.

So, a good life has come to an end, but in another sense goes on ever greater. We southerners are known for the "three F's," faith, family, and football, and not in any particular order. Bobby Bowden was the quintessential examplar of our three F's at their best. He made us southerners proud, made us FSU alumni proud, and made us Christians proud. RIP, Bobby Bowden.