Florida State University
(FSU) unveiled a painting of legendary former state football coach Bobby Bowden
on Sunday. Bowden, who spent 34 years with the FSU, passed away at the age of
91 in early August. The painting of Bowden, which features highlights of his
career, was made by Steve R Skipper, who spent over 1,500 hours on the painting
and was able to share the results with Bobby Bowden before he died of
pancreatic cancer.

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Bobby Bowden, who
coached the FSU football team from 1976 to 2009, won two national championships
and 377 games throughout his career, 314 for Florida State. Bowden had trained
more than 300 players and coaches. Thought of by many as a folksy showman,
Bobby Biden transformed FSU into a football power house and became the coach
with the second-highest number of wins in the history of major college
football.

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When Bobby Bowden
became the Florida State coach in 1976, he inherited a football programme that
had won only four games in the previous three seasons. But soon, Bowden’s
Seminoles started beating almost everybody. Bowden coached the FSU team to
national championships in 1993 and 1999. Bowden’s team finished in the top 5 of
Associated Press rankings every season from 1987 to 2000. The Florida State
team was unbeaten in bowl games from 1982 to 1995.

Bobby Bowden was
elected to the College Football Hall of Fame together with Joe Paterno, the Penn
State coach in 2006 after the National Football Foundation waived the rule
requiring Hall of Fame inductees to be retired. Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno
both received the National Football Foundation’s Gold Medal, its highest award.

Like all greats,
Bobby Bowden’s luster eventually dimmed. Bowden was forced into retirement by
the Florida State administration. Bowden’s last game was a Gator Bowl victory
over West Virginia on January 1, 2010. When Bowden left, Florida State’s football
programme was floundering and engulfed in scandal. But even after retirement,
Bobby Bowden remained a celebrity on campus.