What Makes a Legend? Not just the wins dadgummit!

Yesterday we all heard the news Bobby Bowden had passed away at the age of 91.  I saw all the tweets, and social media posts, I jumped on board as well added my comments, retweeted and so on.   Early this morning I was playing around with some Digital art and came up with the image featured in this blog.  Two generic silhouettes and the win #s depicting Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.  Take a moment and let that sink in, are the numbers in the win column really the true sign of their achievement and why I decided to label the Gates of Heaven Legend?  No, not at all not by a long shot.   Someday Nick Saben will no longer coach and some day he too will pass on.   Some surly will group him in with the great coaches, and maybe he deserves it.  Time will tell, but we should figure that out then not now.   If the pure measure of legend is the win column sadly I would say we missed the mark.

To be sure,  Bobby and Joe coached in a very different era.  Joe all his time at one school, and Bobby most of his time at one school.   Beloved by their fans, lauded by their players, some would say worshiped by the alumni and fans. Both were the face of their team, both really did not get to end on their terms for different reasons.   Both coached in many bowl games, both had championships to their list of accomplishments.   Still none of this really qualifies as Legend;  top performing coach, winner, for sure…by Legend no there is a lot more to that than some numbers in the win column.

Lets look at Joe Paterno for a moment, when he began coaching at Penn State the University had some modest success, but was not considered one of the elite programs.   Joe began to fill up the win column nicely.  So he for sure got off to a good start.   But Joe was more than a coach, Joe was more than football.   He taught his players about life, to taught his players it was a

Yesterday we all heard the news Bobby Bowden had passed away at the age of 91.  I saw all the tweets, and social media posts, I jumped on board as well added my comments, retweeted and so on.   Early this morning I was playing around with some Digital art and came up with the image featured in this blog.  Two generic sillouttes and the win #s depicting Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.  Take a momnet and let that sink in, are the numbers in the win column really the true sign of their acheivement and why I decided to label the Gates of Heaven Legend?  No, not at all not by a long shot.   Someday Nick Saben will no longer coach and some day he too will pass on.   Some surly will group him in with the great coaches, and maybe he deserves it.  Time will tell, but we should figure that out then not now.   If the pure measure of legend is the win column sadly I would say we missed the mark.

To be sure,  Bobby and Joe coached in a very different era.  Joe all his time at one school, and Bobby most of his time at one school.   Beloved by their fans, lauded by their players, some would say warshiped by the alumni and fans. Both were the face of their team, both really did not get to end on their terms for different reasons.   Both coached in many bowl games, both had chanmpionhips to their list of accomplishments.   Still none of this really qualifies as Legend;  top performing coach, winner, for sure…by Legend no there is a lot more to that than some numbers in the win column.

Lets look at Joe Paterno for a moment, when he began coaching at Penn State the University had some modest success, but was not considered one of the elite programs.   Joe began to fill up the win column nicely.  So he for sure got off to a good start.   But Joe was more than a coach, Joe was more than football.   He taught his players about life, to taught his players it was a

Yesterday we all heard the news Bobby Bowden had passed away at the age of 91.  I saw all the tweets, and social media posts, I jumped on board as well added my comments, retweeted and so on.   Early this morning I was playing around with some Digital art and came up with the image featured in this blog.  Two generic sillouttes and the win #s depicting Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden.  Take a momnet and let that sink in, are the numbers in the win column really the true sign of their acheivement and why I decided to label the Gates of Heaven Legend?  No, not at all not by a long shot.   Someday Nick Saben will no longer coach and some day he too will pass on.   Some surly will group him in with the great coaches, and maybe he deserves it.  Time will tell, but we should figure that out then not now.   If the pure measure of legend is the win column sadly I would say we missed the mark.

To be sure,  Bobby and Joe coached in a very different era.  Joe all his time at one school, and Bobby most of his time at one school.   Beloved by their fans, lauded by their players, some would say warshiped by the alumni and fans. Both were the face of their team, both really did not get to end on their terms for different reasons.   Both coached in many bowl games, both had chanmpionhips to their list of accomplishments.   Still none of this really qualifies as Legend;  top performing coach, winner, for sure…by Legend no there is a lot more to that than some numbers in the win column.

Lets look at Joe Paterno for a moment, when he began coaching at Penn State the University had some modest success, but was not considered one of the elite programs.   Joe began to fill up the win column nicely.  So he for sure got off to a good start.   But Joe was more than a coach, Joe was more than football.   He taught his players about life, to taught his players it was a privilege to get on the field and that if they did not earn that they would sit, perhaps even leave the team.   Joe was clear and as in evidence in some of what he himself has said and published its well known his mantra Success with Honor was not just a fancy slogan, it meant something.   Its why even in the worst of times, when he was forced to leave the program (in this authors opinion wrongly so, as I think he was probably the only person on campus capable of leading through a crisis).   But what happened to Joe on that day is not the story.  What happened in the absence of Joe was.  

The NCAA did everything in their power to dismantle the program, rush to judgement and all, they through every prize in the book out there enticing players to transfer, they allowed open recruiting, they allowed things that would never have been ok otherwise.   But what happened?   Did the players jump ship, did they run for the hills?  Did some new coach come in and save the day?  Not even close.  A bunch of young men mentored by this man Said Hell No your not destroying what has been built here.   They stood together they faced incredible odds and they saved a program.  A tribute to their own inner strengths.  I however firmly believe this young men don't accomplish this without what their coach instilled in them.   That my friends is what Legends are made of, something special, something lasting, something that is passed on.   The wins are nice, but the fact that Success with Honor still means something in Happy Valley and always will is the true measure of what Joe did.

Now to examine Bobby,  admittedly I run short pretty much right away being able to compare Bobby to Joe, and in this authors opinion Bobby is one of the greats and a Legend, but magnitudes less than Joe.  You see as I will explain Bobby did some great things, but I doubt you would have found his players save their program like Joes did under the same circumstances.  I wont dwell on this because I want to make the point why Bobby still deserves Legend in a sentence with him.

For one its clear the pre Bobby and post Bobby the level of achievement is nothing compared to what Bobby accomplished while there.   Bowden Put Florida State on the Map for Good.  That  is no small feat in College football.  Keep in mind I already said it, the achievement was not as significant as the level of success at Florida State Post Bobby is nowhere near the level of Success at Penn State post Joe.  That just shows the magnitude of the impact Joe had more than Bobby.

But Bobby stood by his team, he didn't leave, he didn't shop around until he found a happy hunting ground.  No he scratched and clawed and fought his way to building a winning program.   He changed FSU, he changed the ACC and he along with Joe through their influence helped bring about the Playoffs, the replay review and many more things.  They made College Football Better, they didn't just rack up wins.

So Yes While In my admittedly biased view Joe is a far bigger and better Legend, Bobby belongs in the same league as Joe and its for this reason I Celebrate what Bobby did for FSU and College football and its why I categorized him along side Joe as a Legend.

Rest in peace Bobby Bowden, the world is a better place for having had you in it.  Say hi to Joe for me.