It was a celebration of a life well lived. That is pretty much the way Dabo Swinney described Saturday’s public funeral service for longtime Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden. Swinney flew down to Tallahassee, Florida to give his condolences to …
It was a celebration of a life well lived.
That is pretty much the way Dabo Swinney described Saturday’s public funeral service for longtime Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden. Swinney flew down to Tallahassee, Florida to give his condolences to Bowden’s Family at the Tucker Civic Center on the campus of Florida State University.
“It was a great day,” Clemson’s head coach said. “What a life well lived. It was great to be able to see all the Bowdens and be able to see so many of those great players that played for Coach Bowden and so many of the great coaches who worked for him.”
Swinney knew Bobby Bowden well. Bowden’s son, Tommy, was Swinney’s position coach in his first year at Alabama and later coached under him at Clemson from 2003-’08 as his wide receivers coach.
The last two years, Terry worked as a voluntary analyst on Swinney’s staff before taking the head coaching job at Louisiana-Monroe University this past January.
Of course, Swinney also had a relationship with Bobby, too. Though he did not play or coach under the Hall of Fame coach, Swinney has said many times Bobby Bowden was an indirect influence on his coaching career and was a Godly man that he admired so greatly.
“It truly was a celebration. They talked about the gospel and that is just the way Coach Bowden would have wanted it,” Swinney said. “It was a special day. A moving day, inspirational and a blessing to have an opportunity to be a part of it.
“Again, to hear so many wonderful messages from his family and his former players and his coaches, as well. It was just a beautiful day.”
After the funeral service, Swinney flew back to Clemson Saturday afternoon, coaching his team in a two-hour scrimmage inside the Poe Indoor Practice Facility.
The Tigers will have picture day on Sunday and will resume camp on Monday.
–Above photo: Tommy Bowden, Bobby Bowden’s son, speaks during a public funeral service held for former Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center on Saturday (Photo courtesy of USA Today)
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