TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Bobby Bowden lost one of his closest friends when former Penn State coach Joe Paterno passed away Sunday morning at 85.
Many fans will remember the two as coaching icons: Paterno the coach at Penn State from 1966-2011 and Bowden at Florida State from 1976-2009. And they will remember the competition to see who would be major college football's winningest coach.
But Bowden and Paterno were also lifelong friends, a relationship that began 50 years ago.
"It's going to be very hard to imagine college football without Joe in this world," Bowden said Sunday. "I met Joe in 1962, when I was the head coach at Howard College (now Samford) and he was an assistant at Penn State. I took a train up to State College to watch them during spring practice."
Bowden and Paterno shared strategy but also became friends, often enjoying conversations with each other during offseason coaching conventions through the decades. Their wives, Sue Paterno and Ann Bowden, are also close.
They first became coaching rivals in 1966, when Bowden became offensive coordinator at West Virginia. Bowden was promoted to the Mountaineers' head coach in 1970, and Paterno won all six of their matchups.
The coaches didn't face off again until the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl in Miami, when No. 6 Florida State defeated No. 7 Penn State 24-17. Amp Lee ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns and Casey Weldon had 248 passing yards and a rushing touchdown. The Seminoles' defense also had three interceptions.
There was another long gap before the next Bowden-Paterno meeting. And in a classic Orange Bowl, which was jokingly called "one for the ages," to end the 2005 season, Penn State defeated Florida State 26-23 in triple overtime on a Kevin Kelly field goal.
When the game was over just after 1 a.m., the 79-year-old Paterno told the 76-year-old Bowden: "We're too old for this. It's almost past my bedtime."
Paterno and Bowden could trade quips but they also often traded the title of major college football's winningest coach. Paterno was first to surpass former Alabama legend Bear Bryant, in 2001, but Bowden caught up to Paterno in 2003.
It is Paterno who has the most wins (409) among Division I coaches. Bowden, who had 12 wins from 2006-07 vacated, finished with 377 victories.
Bowden heard of Paterno's passing from his wife, Ann, when he returned home at about noon on Sunday after coaching in the Battle of Florida all-star football game Saturday night in Boca Raton.
"We were both very saddened by the news," Bowden said. "I had heard last night how serious his condition was, and prayed all night for him to recover. But he is in a better place now; that is one thing I know for sure. . . . We had many great battles over the 40 plus years, and many great times together with our wives on various coaching trips."
Bowden has often cited his respect for his coaching rivals, from Miami's Howard Schnellenberger to Florida's Steve Spurrier to Nebraska's Tom Osborne to Paterno. What Paterno accomplished at Penn State, which includes two national titles and five unbeaten seasons, stands out to Bowden.
"Joe was about as good a coach as anybody -- with all of the great wins, championships and the things he gave to college football," Bowden said. "He graduated his players, made a wonderful impact on so many of those young men, and was the heart of Penn State University for so many decades."
