Clemson Tigers Boss: ‘Nobody Better’ Than Bowden After Claiming His Record

Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney is now the winningest coach in ACC history after passing Bobby Bowden on Saturday.

Oct 5, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney talks with quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) during the first half against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

It was a moment that aligned tightly to Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney’s career.

Saturday night in Tallahassee, Fla., Swinney and the No. 15 Tigers beat Florida State, 29-13. Along with helping the Tigers (4-1, 3-0) remain undefeated in the ACC, Swinney won his 174th career game.

In doing so, he became the winningest coach in ACC history. He passed Bobby Bowden, who built one of college football’s greatest programs during his time at … Florida State.

It was a moment Hollywood scriptwriters dream about. But Swinney is only taking the College Football Hall of Famer’s place at the top of the list.

"My name may be on the list, but nobody better than Bobby Bowden. That’s just a fact,” he said to reporters after the game.

This ball’s for you, Coach! pic.twitter.com/ohDJnfNTuw

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) October 6, 2024

Swinney now sits one game ahead of Bowden. After the former Seminoles boss is Virginia’s George Welsh (134), Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer (113) and North Carolina’s Mack Brown (110). Bill Dooley (98) coached at both North Carolina and Wake Forest. Two of Swinney’s predecessors at Clemson — Danny Ford and Frank Howard — are tied at 96 victories.

Bowden, who died in 2021, is one of college football's coaching legends. He finished with a record of 377-129-4, in a career that spanned his debut with West Virginia in 1970 to his long, successful tenure with Florida State from 1976-2009.

While leading the Seminoles he won two national championships and 12 ACC championships.

After last Saturday’s victory over Stanford, Swinney admitted that he still has voicemails from Bowden on his phone. There’s a photo of he and Bowden in his office that he cherishes to this day.

"I have a picture in my office of when I had one win — one. It's a picture of me and Bobby Bowden,” he said. “We lost the first game to Georgia Tech as an interim and then we won at Boston College and then we've got to go down to Tallahassee to play the ’Noles and Bobby Bowden. He was one of the first people to call me that night as an interim. He became a mentor of mine, a friend of mine. He impacted me greatly both through Tommy (Bobby’s son and Swinney’s direct predecessor at Clemson) and himself. I can't express enough how much love I have for him and the entire Bowden family... I've still got voicemails on my phone from him; he would call me and encourage me long after he was out of coaching."

He said after the win over FSU that he believed that “Coach Bobby Bowden is smiling somewhere…I’m thankful and blessed.”

Since Swinney took over, the Tigers won two national titles in 2016 and 2018, eight ACC titles — including a stretch of six in a row from 2015-20 — and 10 ACC Atlantic Division titles. He's been named coach of the year by several different organizations, including a three-time recipient of the Paul “Bear” Bryant award.