Almost Heaven: How Bobby Bowden's Ten Years at West Virginia University Helped Him Become One of the Winningest Coaches in College Football History - Hardcover

by John Antonik (Author)

Bobby Bowden is considered one of the greatest football coaches in NCAA history with 377 wins, the second among Division I coaches. In his 44 seasons as a head coach, Bowden engineered 40 winning seasons, with an astonishing 33 consecutive winning seasons as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles (1976-2009). However, before his time in Tallahassee, Bowden served as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers for six seasons (preceded by four years as offensive coordinator). Although he logged five winning seasons in Morgantown and had an overall record of 42-26, Bowden's tenure was still controversial, and he was subject to very hostile treatment from some sports fans that was prompted by embarrassing losses to archrivals like Pitt. Bowden's time coaching the Mountaineers was one of growth and development for him rather than the unchallenged dominance he would go on to display with Florida State.

Sports journalist John Antonik covers Bowden's entire WVU tenure from 1966-75 and the circumstances, issues, difficulties, and obstacles that he had to overcome that were unique to this period in Mountaineer sports history. Additionally, Almost Heaven examines what transpired on WVU's campus and in its athletic programs as well as nationally during the Vietnam War, campus protests, desegregation, and the complexities of the shifting NCAA landscape. Antonik paints a vivid picture of how Bowden's time at WVU enriched him personally and professionally while putting athletics on a path toward the much greater successes that it enjoyed in the 1980s when Don Nehlen arrived. By the time he left Morgantown in the winter of 1976, following the Mountaineers' 13-10 Peach Bowl victory over North Carolina State, which culminated in an outstanding 9-3 season, he was a far wiser and much better-prepared football coach. Those difficult lessons that Bowden learned at West Virginia led him down a path to greatness at Florida State.

Almost Heaven draws from an impressive array of primary sources, including newspaper articles; football team rosters; internal documents on recruiting; and interviews with former players, assistants, staffers, sports reporters, Bowden's sons Tommy and Terry, and Bowden himself, prior to his passing in 2021. The year 2025 represents the 50th anniversary of his final season coaching the Mountaineers, and many of his players are now entering their golden years, making this the optimal time to tell this story.

Back Jacket

Before assembling 40 winning campaigns as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles, Bobby Bowden served as head coach of the West Virginia University Mountaineers for six seasons. Although he logged five winning seasons in Morgantown and had an overall record of 42-26, Bowden's tenure was contentious, and embarrassing losses to archrivals like Pitt earned him the hostility of many fans.

Set against the backdrop of a changing NCAA and the social politics of the era, sports journalist John Antonik covers Bowden's entire WVU tenure from 1966-75. He employs an impressive array of primary sources, from newspaper articles and WVU recruiting documents to an extensive collection of interviews with former players, assistants, staffers, sports reporters, and Bowden himself. Almost Heaven shows how Bowden's time coaching the Mountaineers was very much one of growth and development, paving the way to the unchallenged dominance he would go on to display with Florida State.

Author Biography

John Antonik is senior director of athletics content at West Virginia University. He has authored four books on Mountaineer athletics: Saturday Snapshots: West Virginia University Football; The Backyard Brawl: Stories from One of the Weirdest, Wildest, Longest Running, and Most Intense Rivalries in College Football History; Roll Out the Carpet: 101 Seasons of West Virginia University Basketball;and West Virginia University Football Vault: The History of the Mountaineers.