Bobby Bowden’s Fingerprints All Over Georgia Football Program

Legendary college football coach Bobby Bowden passed away over the weekend. His legacy is felt all over the landscape of college football, including Athens, where Coach Bowden’s fingerprints are all over the Georgia football program.

Prior to taking over a Georgia program looking for a return to national prominence, Mark Richt started his coaching career in 1985 as a graduate assistant at Florida State under Coach Bowden. Richt spent all of the nineties under Coach Bowden’s tutelage, as Florida State’s quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, playing a vital role in FSU’s two national championship seasons.

Maybe most importantly, Coach Bowden’s example of steadfast faith led Coach Richt to find his way back to his own Christian faith.

After his time in Tallahassee, Coach Richt reinvigorated Georgia football and led a program renaissance. During his 15-season tenure, the Dawgs won two Southeastern Conference titles and Coach Richt left Athens as the second-winningest head coach (145 wins) in Georgia football history, trailing only the legendary Vince Dooley.

Coach Richt is the only Georgia head coach with ties to Coach Bowden. Kirby Smart was a young defensive coordinator at Vadosta State when the opportunity arose to head to Tallahassee and coach for one of the game’s all-time greats.

The only rub? He’d have to be a graduate assistant , the grunt of college coaching staffs. The opportunity to learn from Coach Bowden and FSU defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, however, was too good to pass up.

Kirby bet on himself, packed his bags and headed to Tallahassee. It was a wager that paid off.

Following two seasons on Coach Bowden’s staff, Kirby was hired on as a defensive backs coach at LSU under Coach Nick Saban, a coaching relationship that would eventually catapult Coach Smart into a whole different coaching stratosphere.

After nine seasons at Alabama with Coach Saban and four national championships, Coach Smart was hired by his alma mater in 2015 to succeed Mark Richt as the head coach of Georgia football.

Entering his sixth season as the head man in Athens, Coach Smart is building a juggernaut at Georgia. He’s already compiled 52 wins, an SEC Championship, and four-straight appearances in a New Year’s Six Bowl.

All-in-all, that means Coach Bowden not only guided the last two coaches at the University of Georgia prior to their arrival in Athens, but also helped build a coaching foundation within each of them that has resulted in 195 wins, three SEC Championships, and an immeasurable impact on the hearts and lives of twenty years of Georgia football players.

The legacy Bobby Bowden left with his on-field accomplishments is staggering, but his most lasting contribution will always be his influence on the countless players and coaches whose lives he positively impacted.