The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bobby Bowden

Followed Darrell Mudra. Bobby Bowden took Florida State from National Program III to Blue Blood.

The ascent
357–124
1970–2009 · 2 stints
West VirginiaFlorida State
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerWEST VIRGINIAFLORIDA STATEDynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelWest Virginia, 1970: 8-3, National Program II1970West Virginia, 1971: 7-4, National Program IIWest Virginia, 1972: 8-4, National Program IIWest Virginia, 1973: 6-5, National Program IIIWest Virginia, 1974: 4-7, National Program IIIWest Virginia, 1975: 9-3, National Program II1975+1.6Florida State, 1976: 5-6, National Program III1976Florida State, 1977: 10-2, National Program IIIFlorida State, 1978: 8-3, National Program IIFlorida State, 1979: 11-1, National Program IFlorida State, 1980: 10-2, Power Program IIIFlorida State, 1981: 6-5, Power Program IIIFlorida State, 1982: 9-3, Power Program IIIFlorida State, 1983: 7-5, Power Program IIIFlorida State, 1984: 7-3, Power Program IIIFlorida State, 1985: 9-3, Power Program IIFlorida State, 1986: 7-4, Power Program IIIFlorida State, 1987: 11-1, Power Program IIFlorida State, 1988: 11-1, Power Program IFlorida State, 1989: 10-2, Power Program IFlorida State, 1990: 10-2, Power Program IFlorida State, 1991: 11-2, Power Program IFlorida State, 1992: 11-1, Power Program IFlorida State, 1993: 12-1, Blue BloodFlorida State, 1994: 10-1, Blue BloodFlorida State, 1995: 10-2, Blue BloodFlorida State, 1996: 11-1, Blue BloodFlorida State, 1997: 11-1, Blue BloodFlorida State, 1998: 11-2, Blue BloodFlorida State, 1999: 12-0, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2000: 11-2, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2001: 8-4, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2002: 9-5, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2003: 10-3, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2004: 9-3, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2005: 8-5, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2006: 7-6, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2007: 7-6, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2008: 9-4, Blue BloodFlorida State, 2009: 7-6, Blue Blood2009+61.0One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Blue Blood in his 24th career season — faster than 1% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #99 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

West Virginia, 6 seasons
+1.6
National Program II → National Program II.
Florida State, 34 seasons
+61.0
National Program III → Blue Blood.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

33–41 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Urban Meyer.

Rivalry record
33–41–1
44.0% · 3 rivals
One-score games
75–60–4
54.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
2–4
33.3%
Rivalry ledger
Miami14–2140%
Florida16–17–147%
Pittsburgh3–350%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Urban Meyer0–5
5 meetings, 2005–2009
’05 L’06 L’07 L’08 L’09 L
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
2–4 33.3%
Blue Blood
20–29 40.8%
Power Program
78–44 63.9%
National Program
123–34 78.3%
Regional Program
108–10 91.5%

Coaching career

1976–2009
Florida Statetransformer
National Program III → Blue Blood
Bobby Bowden took Florida State from National Program III to Blue Blood.

1st-best Florida State tenure of 10 by the numbers.

Followed Darrell Mudra (1974–1975) · succeeded by Jimbo Fisher (2010–2017).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Safety from high school
100%
#201 of 218 stints

134 NFL Draft picks: Greg Johnson (1976), Gary Woolford (1977), Bobby Jackson (1978), Willie Jones (1979), Bobby Butler (1981), Ken Lanier (1981), Ron Simmons (1981), Rohn Stark (1982) + 126 more

315–98
1970–1975
West Virginiacaretaker
National Program III → National Program II
Bobby Bowden moved West Virginia from National Program III to National Program II in 6 seasons.

7th-best West Virginia tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Followed Jim Carlen (1966–1969) · succeeded by Frank Cignetti (1976–1979).

6 NFL Draft picks: Jim Braxton (1971), Dale Farley (1971), Danny Buggs (1975), Charles Miller (1975), Ron Lee (1976), Artie Owens (1976)

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