Seeking some fun facts before the Florida State Seminoles play the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium? Check out these tidbits about the late legendary FSU and Birmingham-native head coach Bobby Bowden.
When the Noles travel to Tuscaloosa this week to take on the Tide, they will depart for the first time from the newly renamed Bobby Bowden-Tallahassee International Airport.
Florida lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed off on the new name in April 2026 — a nod to the colorful coach from Birmingham who died in 2021.
Bobby Bowden’s Birmingham roots
One of the winningest college coaches of all-time, Bowden grew up in East Birmingham. He graduated from Woodlawn High School where he was a star quarterback, and caught the eye of Alabama coach Harold “Red” Drew. Bowden accepted a scholarship and enrolled at the University of Alabama in 1947 and was on the Tide’s freshman team, but after one semester at the Capstone, he transferred to Howard College, which is now Samford University…