Coach Bowden(s) To Host Annual Game Day Breakfast

Nov. 1, 2001

GREENVILLE, SC – Bobby Bowden, head football coach at Florida State University, and his son, Tommy Bowden, head football coach at Clemson University, will be the featured speakers at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ GameDay Breakfast at the Greenville’s Palmetto Expo Center (Hall B) on Saturday, November 3, at 7:30 a.m. The breakfast, buffet style, will last until 9:15.

The Bowdens, the first father/son combination to coach head-to-head in NCAA Division I history, will be squaring off for the third time at 3:30 p.m. at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium. Bobby owns a 2-0 record against Tommy. Individual tickets are $50, with limited availability. Several sponsorship levels are available: Heisman– $5,000 (two tables of 10, plus incentives), All-American–$2,500 (one table of 10, plus incentives), All-Conference–$1,000 (table of 10, plus incentives), Team Player–$500 (table of 10).

Bobby Bowden is closing quickly on the all-time record for wins by a Division I head coach. His 319 coaching victories trails only Bear Bryant and Joe Paterno (323 each). His all-time record is 319-89-4. (THESE NUMBERS ARE BEFORE THE GAMES OF 10/27.)

On January 3, Bowden’s Seminoles fell 13-2 to the University of Oklahoma in the national championship in the FedEx Orange Bowl. The Seminoles competed in the national championship game for the third straight year. Florida State lost to Tennessee in the Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl in January 1999 and defeated Virginia Tech in the Nokia Sugar Bowl in January 2000.

Tommy Bowden is in his third year at the helm of Clemson. In the two seasons he has served as Clemson’s head coach the Tigers have improved by three wins each season, something only one other coach in the nation (John Robinson at UNLV) also can claim. He is just the third coach in Clemson history to show a three-game victory improvement in consecutive seasons.

The Tigers set 41 school records in 2000, a season that produced a Heisman Trophy contender in quarterback Woodrow Dantzler, who personally set 16 of the 31 individual bests recorded by Clemson athletes. The 10 team records included total offense per game in a season (437), touchdowns in a season (55) and most points in a season (416). Clemson was one of the most balanced teams in the nation. Clemson ranked in the top 15 in the nation in scoring offense, total offense and rushing offense. Clemson had a top 25 ranking in passing efficiency offense.

Reaching students on junior high, high school, and college campuses, FCA believes that by making a better person, you make a better athlete. FCA provides an alternative to the negative pressures prevalent in today’s schools through student-led “Huddles,” camps, and the One Way 2 Play-Drug Free! program.

For more information about the breakfast, contact Lance Shealy, director of the Northwest South Carolina Office, at (864) 234-9911.