Reviewed by: Michael Seale
Bobby Bowden’s Birmingham roots: Woodlawn High to FSU legend
Reading time: 3 minutes
Seeking some fun facts before the Florida State Seminoles play the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium? Check out these tidbits about the late legendary FSU and Birmingham-native head coach Bobby Bowden.
When the Noles travel to Tuscaloosa this week to take on the Tide, they will depart for the first time from the newly renamed Bobby Bowden-Tallahassee International Airport.
Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on the new name in April 2026 — a nod to the colorful coach from Birmingham who died in 2021.
Bobby Bowden’s Birmingham roots
One of the winningest college coaches of all-time, Bowden grew up in East Birmingham. He graduated from Woodlawn High School where he was a star quarterback, and caught the eye of Alabama coach Harold “Red” Drew. Bowden accepted a scholarship and enrolled at the University of Alabama in 1947 and was on the Tide’s freshman team, but after one semester at the Capstone, he transferred to Howard College, which is now Samford University.
His very first head coaching job was at Howard where he won 31 out of 37 games from 1959-62.
Bowden, who ended his career with a 377-129-4 record, has been honored twice in Birmingham in recent years.
How Birmingham has honored Bowden
In 2021, Samford dedicated the field at F. Siebert Stadium after the beloved coach, just as Florida State named the field at Doak Campbell Stadium after Bowden.
A few years later, the Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club honored Bowden posthumously with the 2024 Nick Saban Legacy Award, a national award that recognizes the lifetime achievement of a college coach and his contributions to the game of football.
Bobby’s son Terry Bowden was on hand to accept the award for his father, and said how much his father admired Alabama and Nick Saban.
“My father always had a tremendous amount of respect for Nick (Saban) and his family. My dad knew that coaching was not just about winning and losing, but how we affect the kids we coach off the field as well. This is an honor.”
Terry Bowden
The Tallahassee Airport renaming
Even though it is not football related, Bowden’s daughter described in a Florida Department of Transportation press release why adding her father’s name to the Tallahassee Airport makes sense.
“Daddy spent so many hours in the terminals of the Tallahassee airport over his 46 years in this great city, so it feels appropriate that it now bears his name.”
Ginger Bowden Madden
Bowden practically lived out of that airport — 46 years of recruiting trips will do that.
Bobby Bowden by the numbers’:
- 377-129-4 career record
- 31-6 at Howard from 1959-62
- One semester at Alabama
- College Football Hall of Famer and Nick Saban Legacy Award
