I know there is no limit to the levels to which I can achieve. Such optimism was fostered growing up in Detroit, Michigan, where I was fortunate to have many role models. Among my role models were many successful black men, some of whom were millionaires. Though they didn’t have to, they took the time to let me know I was important. I was told early in life that I had the potential to achieve at high levels. My optimism grew when I moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University. I may never have gone to Tallahassee if not for Bobby Bowden.
Tallahassee has its own history of black millionaires, most of whom were produced during Bobby Bowden’s tenure as Florida State University’s head football coach. This includes high achievers in the fields of business and law, not just those who played football or other sports, as the media might portray. Bobby Bowden not only built FSU’s football team, he was the catalyst behind the transformation of a middle-of-the-road southern school, into a highly respected academic institution. Coach Bowden even helped transformed the city of Tallahassee. Florida A & M University is a short distance from FSU, and the two schools run a joint engineering program. The success of FAMU students is well documented. Students did not apply to FAMU because of Bobby Bowden, but the money Coach Bowden brought to Tallahassee by creating a winning football tradition, certainly helped support the city’s infrastructure and therefore benefited both FAMU and FSU.
It was the money generated from football that fueled FSU’s academic programs, helped other sports succeed, and attracted top students to FSU. As the football wins increased, so did financial contributions to the university. Many academic programs at FSU during Bowden’s era went from un-ranked to highly acclaimed, including the schools of arts, business, criminology, psychology, and law. FSU even beat out Harvard, MIT and Stanford to get the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the only facility of its kind in the world. The facility is so phenomenal, that Bill Gates has visited, as have many of the top scientists in the world.
Today marks the end of the Bobby Bowden era at Florida State University. Under Coach Bowden, FSU has produced among the most NFL players from any team. It’s safe to say that Bobby Bowden has produced more black millionaires than any other college football coach. More than Joe Paterno, more than anyone. Bobby Bowden is also one of the few NCAA coaches to ever coach a Rhodes Scholar. The media may not highlight Coach Bowden’s impact on the lives of black athletes and scholars, or how he helped transform a city and a university, but they should.
Hall of Fame Coach Bobby Bowden with FSU Alumni Greg Collier
