Georgia coach Mark Richt said Tuesday that Bobby Bowden might be the best college coach in history and called him the most influential man in his life other than his own father.
Richt's remarks came within hours of Bowden's announcement that he was retiring as coach at Florida State. Richt was hired by Bowden as a graduate assistant in 1985 and worked with him until 2001 when he left to become the Bulldogs' head coach.
"It was a great privilege to coach for and be mentored by Coach Bowden, who many would consider the greatest college coach in the history of the game," Richt said in a statement released by UGA. "I'm thankful for my relationship with him and the lesson I learned that not only is winning games important, but also keeping the game in the proper perspective. I can only imagine how many lives have been impacted by him in a positive way, including my own. Other than my father, he's been the most influential man in my life."
Richt also credits Bowden for his Christian faith. He often tells the story of Bowden praying with him as Richt converted to Christianity in Bowden's Tallahassee office in 1986 after an FSU player was shot and killed.
Bowden, 80, submitted his resignation Tuesday afternoon after 34 years at the helm of one of the country's most successful football programs. The Seminoles have slipped in recent years -- they finished 6-6 following this past Saturday's 37-3 loss to Florida -- but at one point in the 1990s had finished among the top five in the final Associated Press Top 25 polls an incredible 14 times. He won two national championships.
Richt rose through the ranks under Bowden. Richt, who had served Bowden as a volunteer and graduate assistant from 1985-88, was summoned back to Tallahassee in 1990 after spending one season as offensive coordinator at East Carolina. After a four-year stint as the Seminoles quarterbacks coach, Richt became offensive coordinator in 1994 in the midst of FSU's greatest run.
Some have theorized that Richt's departure hastened the downfall of Bowden's program. The Seminoles never won fewer than 10 games while Richt was Bowden's assistant.
Bowden retires as the second-winningest coach of all time with 388 victories. Only Penn State's Joe Paterno, 82, has won more games (393).
"Bobby has been a tough competitor," Paterno said in a statement released through Penn State. "He has meant an awful lot to the universities he coached and to the game of football overall. He and his wife, Ann, have dedicated their lives with untold hours to better the teams and universities they cared so much about. They will be missed by the coaching profession and college football."
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said of Bowden: "He's had an unbelievable career, and he's such a good person. You almost hate to see it come to a close. What they accomplished in the '90s, nobody will ever come close to that again. He's meant so much to college football. I've considered it an honor to coach against him. I wish it would have worked out the way he wanted to."
Staff writer Doug Roberson contributed to this article.
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