BOWDEN’S WAY: Former FSU head coach speaks at the Atlanta Touchdown Club

Some people retire to relax and get away from it all. But not Bobby Bowden.

The legendary college football coach spoke at the Atlanta Touchdown Club today at Fox Sports Grill in Atlantic Station about a variety of issues, including his new book “Called to Coach”.

Coach Bowden also addressed several issues surrounding the game including pressure on coaches and modern parenting.

Bowden used himself and Georgia head coach Mark Richt as examples of how the pressure to win and win now has changed over the years.

“Oh, (the pressure to win) has increased,” Bowden exclaimed. “I can feel exactly what Mark is going through. It’s much worse than when I started coaching. It ain’t even close. When I went to Florida State in ’76 after I’d been coaching 25 years, it’s so much more now than it was even then. So I know what Mark’s going through.”

Bowden still seemed shocked that Florida State forced him out after 34 years as head coach at the school.

“Look at the success we had at Florida State and they got rid of me,” said Bowden. “Now here’s Mark, he’s only been coaching 10 years- I coached 57 years. We have become a nation of what have you done lately. It’s very tough now and I think Mark’s smart enough to know that’s what we’re faced with nowadays.”

In addition to speaking about the changes in society, Bowden also challenged the way parents were raising their children today.

“Here’s a kid who’s raised by his parents for 17-18 years,” Bowden said about players getting in trouble during college. “The parents ask ‘Why can’t you keep my kid out of trouble?’ You had him 17 years, I’ve had him one. Give it time, I’ll get it straightened out. But that’s kind of the way our society’s gone.”

The former Howard College, West Virginia and Florida State head coach doesn’t blame today’s youth, he blames the parents.

“Those boys came into my office (his last few years at FSU) like they did 50 years ago,” he said. “Same innocent boys. Same smiles on their faces. Same glint in their eye. Same determination. They haven’t changed. The parents have changed. Parents quit raising their kids.”

But Bowden didn’t just focus on preaching today, he also had time a few jokes for the local crowd. He told a story of signing autographs in Georgia.

“This one kid came up to me three different times and asked for an autograph,’” Bowden laughed. “I said ‘What are you gonna do with three of them?’ The boy said, ‘If I get three of yours I can trade them for one of Mark Richt.”

The Birmingham native’s book, co-authored by Mark Schlabach, tells how Bowden got into coaching. Bowden told a quick story highlighting the Touchdown Club’s role in his early career.

“The Atlanta Touchdown Club played a very big role in my career,” he said. “It’s personal and I’ve never told it before.”

In 1962, as head coach of Howard College in Birmingham, he was invited to speak at the club along with about a dozen other Southern football coaches. Bowden was seated next to Florida State head coach Bill Peterson. The two got to know each other and Bowden was hired as an assistant by Peterson shortly thereafter.

And the rest is history.