Tommy Bowden
 Bowden in 2010 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 10, 1954 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1973–1976 | West Virginia |
| Position(s) | Wide receiver |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1977 | West Virginia (GA) |
| 1978–1979 | Florida State (DB) |
| 1980 | Auburn (RB) |
| 1981–1982 | Florida State (TE) |
| 1983–1984 | Duke (QB) |
| 1985–1986 | Duke (OC) |
| 1987–1989 | Alabama (WR) |
| 1990 | Kentucky (OC) |
| 1991–1996 | Auburn (OC) |
| 1997–1998 | Tulane |
| 1999–2008 | Clemson |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 90–49 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Coach of the Year (1999, 2003) | |
Tommy Pearce Bowden (/ˈbaʊdən/; born July 10, 1954) is a former American football coach. He served as the head coach at Clemson University from 1999 until October 13, 2008. He is a son of Bobby Bowden, former head football coach of Florida State University, against whom he coached in games nicknamed the "Bowden Bowl." He is also a brother of Terry Bowden, who served as the head coach of Auburn.
Coaching career
Before coming to Clemson, Bowden was the head coach at
Florida State. His 1998 Tulane squad went 12–0 and achieved a top-10 final ranking in both polls. Despite being one of only two undefeated teams in the regular season, Tulane was not even considered for a bid in a Bowl Championship Series
game because it was believed they had not played a difficult schedule.
a brawl with rival South Carolina, both teams withdrew from bowl consideration for that season. He resigned on October 13, 2008, after leading the team to a disappointing 3–3 record (1–2 ACC) at the midpoint of a season in which the Tigers had been an almost unanimous preseason pick to win their first ACC title under Bowden and were ranked #9 in the preseason polls. Assistant head coach/wide receivers coach Dabo Swinney
was named as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. In ten seasons, Bowden led the Tigers to zero conference championships, finishing only as high as second in the conference twice and second in the Atlantic division three times.
Personal
evangelical Christian, addresses airmen at Pope Field
in celebration of the National Prayer Luncheon in 2008.Bowden attended and played football for
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulane Green Wave (Conference USA) (1997–1998) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Tulane | 7–4 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1998 | Tulane | 12–0 | 6–0 | 1st | Liberty | 7 | 7 | ||
| Tulane: | 19–4 | 11–1 | |||||||
| Clemson Tigers (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1999–2008) | |||||||||
| 1999 | Clemson | 6–6 | 5–3 | 2nd | L Peach | ||||
| 2000 | Clemson | 9–3 | 6–2 | 2nd | L Gator | 14 | 16 | ||
| 2001 | Clemson | 7–5 | 4–4 | T–4th | W Humanitarian | ||||
| 2002 | Clemson | 7–6 | 4–4 | T–5th | L Tangerine | ||||
| 2003 | Clemson | 9–4 | 5–3 | 3rd | W Peach | 22 | 22 | ||
| 2004 | Clemson | 6–5 | 4–4 | T–6th | Declined* | ||||
| 2005 | Clemson | 8–4 | 4–4 | 3rd (Atlantic) | W Champs Sports | 21 | 21 | ||
| 2006 | Clemson | 8–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Atlantic) | L Music City | ||||
| 2007 | Clemson | 9–4 | 5–3 | 2nd (Atlantic) | L Chick-fil-A | 22 | 21 | ||
| 2008 | Clemson | 3–3‡ | 1–2 | T–2nd (Atlantic) | |||||
| Clemson: | 72–45 | 43–32 | |||||||
| Total: | 90–49 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
*Self-imposed punishment for team fight with South Carolina
‡ Bowden resigned on October 13, 2008.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tommy Bowden.
- ^ "Tommy Bowden".
- ^ "FCA: Ex-Clemson coach helps put faith in play at schools". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2014.