Bobby Bowden began loving football at a young age. As a young child, he often climbed onto the roof of his house and sat for hours watching the local high school team perform practice drills. Bobby played football while a student at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama, and then again in college, first at the University of Alabama, then at Howard College (now the University of Samford). Bobby's coaching career began in 1954 as an assistant coach at Howard College. After working as an assistant coach at Howard for two years, he was offered a head coaching position at South Georgia Junior College. Bobby remained at Georgia South for two years, serving dual roles as the football team's head coach and athletic director. Bobby coached at Georgia South for four years (1955-1958), winning three junior college state titles during that time. Bobby won the first of many awards he received during his career while coaching at Georgia South, in 1955 and again in 1957 he was named the Junior Coach of the Year. State. After his two-year stint at Georgia Southern, Bobby returned to his alma mater, Howard College, in 1959 to accept a head coaching position. Bobby's career at Howard was successful, going 31-6 in four seasons, his first season alone brought nine wins and six of those wins his team shut out the opponent. From the beginning of Bowden's coaching career, he yearned for something bigger, more of a challenge, he wanted to coach a bigger program. Bobby Bowden had many successful years as an assistant coach, he later became the receivers coach at Florida State and then an offensive coordinator position at West Virginia before becoming their head coach in 1970. Bobby would go on to train the ...... middle of paper ...... May 2011.Document URL.Drape, Joe. "Florida State coach plans to retire." New York Times December 2, 2009: NA(L). Gale Opposing viewpoints in context. Internet. May 5. 2011. Document URL http://ic.galegroup.com.proxy.itt- tech.edu/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=News&disableHigh Lighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CA2 13278560&mode =view&userGroupName =itted&jsid=f29f917d7be2bfefd986dfc2975879adFreeman, Mike. BOWDEN How Bobby Bowden forged a football dynasty. First of all. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009. 9,17, 21-28,37-48, 53-56, 58, 60-62, 65-98, 101,104, 105, 115, 122-125, 137, 141- 147. Print.