Nick Saban Reflects on Bobby Bowden's Call to Bring Him to WVU

When things got hard on the Saban family, then WVU head coach Bobby Bowden was there to help lift their spirits.

Over the weekend, former West Virginia and Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden passed away at the age of 91 after a bout with pancreatic cancer. Bowden was not only one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football but was also considered one of the best, down-to-earth people that you would ever come across. 

Bowden had a special place in his heart for taking care of others. Whether that be acting as a father figure to those who played for him or to be there for you when situations get tough. 

For instance, Alabama head coach and Fairmont, WV native, Nick Saban, recently talked about his own personal experience where Bowden was there to lift him and his family up. To this day, Saban remains forever thankful. He told the following story to reporters earlier this week.

Nick Saban shares his favorite memory he had with Bobby Bowden pic.twitter.com/hBWgr15zuo

— Ryan Hennessy (@RyanWVTM13) August 8, 2021

"My first year of being a graduate assistant was when my father passed away and I was at Kent State being a graduate assistant for Don James and one day the phone rings and it's Coach Bowden. He said 'I know your father passed away, I know your mom might be struggling, if you feel like you need to come closer to home' because Morgantown was like 25 miles from where I grew up, 'I have a job for you here if you need to do that.' So, I was like wow, this guy is the head coach at West Virginia University and he has that much compassion for my family and our situation and our circumstance and my mother -- not many people would do something like that."

Saban was on the Mountaineer coaching staff from 1978-79 as the defensive backs coach before moving on to Ohio State to assume the same role. Although Saban's stint in Morgantown was rather brief, it will be one he will never forget thanks to the late Bobby Bowden. Saban also released a statement outside of his most recent press conference on Twitter to continue to extend condolences and best wishes to the Bowden family.

"Bobby Bowden was a wonderful friend whose accomplishments as a coach are only surpassed by the character and class he displayed as a husband, father, mentor, and friend. His passing is a loss for everyone but should be seen as a chance to celebrate a life remarkably well lived. Sometimes it's not what you do, but who you are that is truly important, and no one embodies that more than Bobby Bowden.

"His influence on the countless young men he led in over 60 years of coaching can never be measured. His achievements as a coach are well documented and among the greatest the game has ever known, but when I think about coach, it's about the man he was and the impact he had on everyone he encountered I probably understood that impact even earlier than the rest of college football."

"For me, that story is the personification of the true character of Bobby Bowden. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Ann, and children Terry, Tommy, Jeff, Ginger, Steve, and Robyn."

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