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By SouthernPigskin.com
Contributor Ken Short
SouthernPigksin.com contributor Ken Short talks about Terry Bowden and North Alabama.
Undefeated at 8-0, leading the Gulf South Conference, currently number two in the country, and coming off his biggest win of the season, Terry Bowden is really hitting his stride at the University of North Alabama. After ten years of broadcasting and writing about the game of college football, many wondered if he could still coach. The answer has been a resounding, “yes” and was punctuated by UNA’s impressive win over conference rival and perennial Division II powerhouse, Delta State University Thursday night in Florence, Alabama. His coaching career began at just 26 years old, when he became the youngest head coach in the country taking over a struggling Salem College program, which was 0-9-1 the previous season. In just his second year he won the conference, the first of two straight conference championships, and won 19 of his last 25 games there.
Terry Bowden then inherited a Samford University program that had won just six games in their previous three years, and in his first season took them to 9-1 tying the record for the best season in the school’s history. He then directed Samford’s move from Division III non-scholarship football straight to Division I-AA. With only one freshman class on scholarship, the Bulldogs went to a full Division I-AA schedule in 1989, and in 1991 Bowden once again set a school record with a 12-2 season and made the Division I-AA national semi-finals. In December of 1992, he was hired as the head coach at Auburn University; at just 36 years old, becoming the youngest Division I-A head coach in the country. The Auburn program was coming off two previous non-winning seasons, and had just been put on NCAA probation; no television coverage, and no bowl games. In that first 1993 season, Terry Bowden became the first Division I-A head coach to start his career with a perfect season (only Larry Coker has duplicated the feat), going 11-0 and winning virtually every coaching award including the coveted Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year award. He also became the first head coach in over fifty years to win 100 games by his 40th birthday.
Then on January 1, 2009 Terry Bowden made the move from the broadcast booth back to the sidelines. Taking over a North Alabama team that was 12-2 last season; having made it to the national semi-finals, but losing 21 seniors including 10 starters on offense and several on defense, was “the toughest job I have ever taken”, according to Terry Bowden. Filling the holes in the team became his first, and only priority. He kept the entire previous coaching staff, and asked his brother Jeff Bowden (former FSU Offensive Coordinator) to join him as his Wide Receivers/Assistant Head Coach. A month later, former FSU and NFL Tight End player and coach, Pat Carter, joined the staff as an unpaid volunteer assistant as well.
With Division II rules allowing Division I players to transfer in and be eligible to play right away, Terry Bowden used his vast connections in the coaching community to find experienced players to fill the voids left by the many experienced starters UNA lost to graduation; including three-year starter and Harlon Hill Trophy finalist, quarterback A.J. Milwee. QB Harrison Beck transferred in with his degree, and one year of eligibility left from NC State University. Then came players from West Virginia (Quinton Andrews and Thor Merrow), North Carolina (Kenton Thornton), Illinois, Pitt, Texas, Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss, Southern Mississippi, and Florida State (Preston Parker, Marcus Sims, Will Furlong and four others). But could Terry Bowden take these individual players from so many different teams, put them together with the returning players and turn them into team? His first real test of the season, after comfortably beating their first seven opponents, came Thursday night. After a quick score on their first drive, UNA found themselves down by 10 points mid-way through the 2nd quarter, but cut that deficit to three by halftime. Scoring 13 points and shutting out Delta State in the second half, Terry Bowden’s UNA Lions went on to win 34-24.
Next on the slate is Valdosta State University on the road in a nationally televised game on Thursday night. VSU is another conference rival who has won the National Championship twice in the last five years, but has three losses already this season. With Terry Bowden’s career record now at 119-53-2 and the head coach at the University of North Alabama, Terry Bowden is proving that “yes”, he could make the move from the booth to the sidelines; and at 8-0 not miss a beat.
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