By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

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To begin his press conference at ACC Media Days in North Carolina, Mike Norvell paid tribute to Bobby Bowden.

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell took a serious and reflective tone at the ACC Football Kickoff in North Carolina.

On Wednesday, the Bowden family announced former Seminoles head coach Bobby Bowden has been diagnosed with a terminal medical condition according to The Tallahassee Democrat.

So to begin his press conference at ACC Media Days in North Carolina, Norvell paid tribute to Bowden.

From ACC Media Days:

“I just wanted to reference his words. As hes at home and hes resting, he talked about being at peace. I think that even speaks to the legacy of who he is and what hes all about. Because thats what life is about. To be able to go through a journey and to be in a challenging place and a challenging moment and be able to be at peace. Because of the impact that hes made, because of the man that he is. A coach that forever changed a university and a place but just a tremendous example. Im so grateful for the opportunity and the relationship that I have and been able to form with coach Bowden. Just for who he is and the impact hes made. To Coach Bowden. We love you, we thank you.”

Its always smart for coaches, especially ones yet to prove themselves at their schools, to provide extra praise to the programs past. But Norvell obviously had good reason to be so complimentary of Bowden, who turns 92 in November.

Bowden set the standard at Florida State. The 28 straight bowl trips the program made to end his tenure speaks for itself. So does his 315-98-4 record in 34 seasons at Florida State. His 377 wins at the FBS level is the second most ever.

The Seminoles won 10 games in a season under Bowden 18 times, including every season from 1987-2000.

They won a bowl game every year from 1985-1995. That stretch included three Orange Bowl wins, two Sugar Bowl victories, two Fiesta Bowl wins and a victory in the Cotton Bowl.

Bowdens run of 10-win seasons included two national championships — 1993 and 1999. The programs second championship is one of two undefeated seasons in Florida State football history.

In 1992, Bowden led the Seminoles into a conference for the first time. Florida State won at least a share of the ACC championship during its first nine seasons in the conference. Then Bowden and the Seminoles won the first-ever ACC Championship Game in 2005.

Anyone 40 and younger views the hard times the Seminoles have experienced recently as abnormal. The season prior to Bowden arriving at Florida State (1975), the Seminoles were 3-8. They were 1-21 from 1973-74. Before Bowden, the Seminoles had zero 10-win seasons. They were also 1-5-1 in bowl games.

Jimbo Fisher continued Bowdens success, stringing together his own streak of 10-win seasons. Fisher led the Seminoles to five consecutive 10-win campaigns from 2012-16 and six 10-win seasons in a seven-year stretch. That run included a 14-0 record and national championship win in 2013.

But things soured in Tallahassee for Fisher. Florida State won 10 games again in 2016, but suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in program history at the hands of Lamar Jackson early that year.

Then the following season, the roof caved in when Deondre Francois suffered a knee injury during Week 1. Since that injury, Florida State is 21-26.

After 36 straight bowl appearances, the Seminoles have only been to a bowl game once in the last three seasons. During that stretch, Florida State not only owns a losing record, but the Seminoles havent posted a winning mark since 2017.

That year, it took four straight wins against Delaware State, Louisiana-Monroe and then Southern Miss in the Independence Bowl just to accomplish that.

Fishers championship made us believe that the Seminoles were bigger than Bowden. That Florida State football, as a brand, went beyond the Hall of Fame head coach.

But maybe a few years of success under Fisher was too small of a sample to make that claim. With Bowden, Florida State owns a .760 win percentage. Without him, the Seminoles are 213-155-12 (.576) (amazingly, that record dips below .500 in games not coached by Bowden or Fisher).

Norvell must know its Bowden he must strive to live up to. Until he does, Florida State fans wont be pinning for Fisher but the golden days of the Seminoles dynasty under Bowden.