Terry Bowden reflects on first football, holiday season without his father Bobby Bowden

Growing up with Bobby Bowden as a father and later following his footsteps as a college football coach, Terry Bowden understood the importance of spending quality time with loved ones. 

Bowden knows that a chance to spend time with family members during the football season isn't promised, so when the opportunity opens up, he takes advantage of it. 

"Football coaches, we spend a lot of time in the office," Bowden told the News-Star in Monroe, Louisiana. "We like to think that our family is much more of a priority than football but if you look at the hours, you'd have a hard time justifying that."

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Bowden began his first season as Louisiana-Monroe coach 27 days after his father died at 91. Bobby Bowden is known throughout college football for the success he brought to the Florida State program, winning two national championships. 

"I have a strong belief in the hereafter, as did he," Bowden said. "He's just passing into another world and he was ready to go. I would have loved to have seen him here when we played Jackson State, but it didn't happen." 

Bowden's mother, Ann, was in attendance at the Jackson State game. Bowden led the Warhawks to a 12-7 victory, snapping a 12-game losing streak that started in 2019. Louisiana-Monroe finished the season 4-8 and 2-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. 

Spending precious moments with family

Bowden said that his father didn't have a lot of spare time outside of coaching. With that in mind, he stressed the importance of quality over quantity. Bowden adopted this same idea once he began his coaching career. 

Bowden was in Florida for the holiday season in December, enjoying moments with family with time away from the program. His first stop was in Tallahassee to spend time with his mother. Next was Orlando to see his children and grandchildren. 

"You kind of crunch all of your visitations into that Christmas-New Year's holiday, because we go right into recruiting, right into spring ball then recruiting again," Bowden said. "It's a hectic profession."

Bowden, 65, said his grandchildren  nudge him that it may be time to retire, but he reminds them there's still more coaching left in him.

Nothing has drastically changed for Bowden with the loss of his father. The one thing that serves as a reminder is the absence of his voice. With both of them being early risers, a daily morning phone call with his dad is how he started his day for almost 30 years.

"As the season goes on and I'm up every morning, I miss talking to my dad," Bowden said. 

Follow Emely Hernandez on Twitter: @emhernandeznews.