Former FSU coach Bobby Bowden continues to stay busy

ALBANY — Former Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden was in town Thursday night to speak at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet at First Baptist Church of Albany.

“The reason I do a lot of speaking is to help raise support for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and to let people know what it is,” Bowden said.

Bowden’s speaking event is part of a whirlwind of stops for one of the greatest coaches of all time.

“I’m speaking four days in a row this week,” he said. “That’s what I do.”

Bowden is excited about the growth of FCA, an organization made up of Christian athletes in high schools and colleges across the country dedicated to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, and an organization where Christian athletes can come together and fellowship with one another.

“I’m excited to see it do good,” Bowden said. “America has such a need. America is at the brim of going in the wrong direction in my opinion. We’re about half way there.”

Bowden believes that one of the biggest problems in America today is that men have abdicated their family responsibilities. He believes that FCA can help in training men how to be men.

When asked what got him into coaching, Bowden put it this way.

“I would like to think it was God,” he said. “That’s what I’d like to think. I don’t know what else did.”

Bowden is concerned with the way society is going and in his opinion, a big part of the problem in America is that men are leaving their families and the children are growing up without a father.

“One of the big breakdowns in our country right now is the family breakup … I learned it while I was coaching,” Bowden said. “I had so many players that didn’t have a daddy, over 50 percent of them, 65 to 70 percent at Florida State. That’s why I’m so involved with the FCA because FCA is trying to be fathers for these guys.”

As far as his coaching career is concerned, Bowden believes the most-difficult decision he ever made was to come to Tallahassee to be the head coach at FSU.

“We started not to come,” he said. “We were winning games up in West Virginia and they were losing them at Florida State. At the last moment, we decided to. We decided we liked coming home.”

Bowden is the second winningest-coach in college football, trailing former Penn State coach Joe Paterno.

Bowden wouldn’t say what his most-memorable moment was as a coach.

“I guess it would probably go back to a game, you know, a certain game,” he said. “We won so doggone many it’s hard to pick one of them. All wins are good. I had wins when I was at a small college that meant as much to me as the Orange Bowl.”