Motivational Speaker - Bobby Bowden - Total Access Speakers Bureau

The statistics are startling. Bobby Bowden became the all-time winningest coach in major college history in 2003 and currently has 351 career wins. He is the winningest bowl coach by percentage and is just one shy of tying for the most bowl wins ever by a college coach. He is the only coach to lead his team to 14 straight seasons that ended with a ranking among the Associated Press Top five. He's coached two national championship teams including the 1999 squad that was the first ever to go through a season from start to finish as the AP No. 1. So overwhelming has Bowden's influence been on college football and, in particular, at Florida State, that the field at Doak Campbell Stadium was named for him last season and a national award given by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes now bears his name.

Bobby Bowden means a great many things to the game of college football. His remarkable success, engaging personality and love of people have made him the game's top ambassador. His unprecedented 11 straight finishes among the Associated Press Top Four and record 11 consecutive years of winning 10 or more games make him college football's most successful coach. His ability to be one of the most competitive coaches ever in the game, and also one of the most well thought of, makes him truly unique. Certainly his legions of All-Americans, record success and coast-to-coast popularity attest to one fact. Bobby Bowden is a legend in the world of college football.

In trying to discover what makes a legend, Bowden himself suggests that it may come from the very drive that inspires a person. "I just love to coach," said Bowden matter-of-factly. "That may sound simple, but I think sometimes people like the things that go around coaching and not the actual job. I have always gotten my greatest pleasure out of breaking down film, learning about opponents and yourself, then implementing a game plan to take advantage of your strengths and their weaknesses. I love to take a group of young men in the late summer and mold them into a team.

Bowden's love of the X's and O's of coaching has been beautifully illustrated for 22 remarkable years in Tallahassee, but his interest in the "coaching" aspect probably came much earlier in life.

Rising above Bowden's coaching accomplishments, though, are his credentials as a man. Friendly and outgoing, he is a deeply religious man who believes strongly in the strength of the family. He loves people. His personality and charm are bigger than life and he has become somewhat of a folk hero. An engaging speaker, Bowden is constantly in demand and most free evenings will find him on the speaking circuit. His off-season travel schedule would exhaust anyone. Outside of football, Bowden has an intense interest in World War II history and he is a voracious reader on the subject. He traced his ancestry to parts of Germany and has visited the country several times.

Bobby Bowden

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