TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Bobby Bowden, the legendary former coach who built Florida State University’s football program into a national powerhouse, has been diagnosed with a terminal medical condition, the university announced Wednesday.


What You Need To Know

  • Former FSU football coach Bobby Bowden diagnosed with terminal medical condition, Tallahassee newspaper says 

  •  Bowden spent 5 days in a hospital in late June and now receives supervised home care, Tallahassee Democrat reports

  • He turned the FSU program into a national powerhouse and won national titles in 1993 and 1999 before 2010 resignation

Bowden, 91, spent five days in a hospital in late June and has struggled to regain his strength, the Tallahassee Democrat’s Jim Henry reports. The former coach is receiving supervised care in his Tallahassee home, the report says.

Bowden was hospitalized last fall after testing positive for COVID-19, according to reports.

"I've always tried to serve God's purpose for my life, on and off the field, and I am prepared for what is to come," Bowden said in a statement through the university. "My wife Ann and our family have been life's greatest blessing. I am at peace."

On Twitter Wednesday, Mike Norvell, FSU's current coach, called Bowden an "incredible man who is loved by so many" and said "the Nole Family is with him."

FSU's outgoing president, John Thrasher, said in an FSU news release that Bowden "raised the national profile of Florida State University, and he did it with dignity, class and a sense of humor."

After six seasons as head coach at West Virginia, Bowden took over at Florida State in 1976, after which the Seminoles quickly gained a reputation for upsetting some of college football’s top programs.

As a head coach, he earned a record of 315-98-4 and won national championships in 1993 and 1999 before a forced resignation in 2010. That followed the program’s fall from the top of the national rankings.

"Bobby Bowden has meant everything to Florida State athletics and so much to college football in general," FSU athletics director David Coburn said in a statement through the university. "He has influenced so many people beyond just the players he coached, and the staff who had the privilege of working with him. He is a part of the heart and soul of FSU, but it goes beyond even that — he is a big part of the history of the game."