Words of Wisdom

"I plan to coach until I have a lean year and then give myself one year to get it back under control," he told reporters last year. "If I lose that second year, I'm done."

Such a statement is typical for Bowden. He wouldn't have posted 315 career wins without being a master of planning and being able to articulate his game plan succinctly. Here's Bowden on why he keeps on coaching and his views on other aspects of the game that has consumed his life.

"I just love to coach. That may sound simple, but I think sometimes people like the things that go around coaching and not the actual job. I have always gotten my greatest pleasure out of breaking down film, learning about opponents and yourself, then implementing a game plan to take advantage of your strengths and their weaknesses. I love to take a group of young men in the late summer and mold them into a team."

"He doesn't know the meaning of the word 'fear.' In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."

"To me, it's like watching car racing. If you want hot rods, go to the Alabama-Auburn game. If you want to see the jets run, you've got to check out Florida-Florida State."

"I've never lost my fascination for World War II and I read as much about it as I can. The similarities between leading troops in battle and coaching a team are well documented. You face similar tasks of motivation, preparation, teamwork, discipline."

"I still believe that winning is the greatest feeling there is in coaching, but I probably get the most satisfaction out of putting in the strategies and watching them play out."

"Y'all know a big game is never one you win. It's always one you lose."

"A player breaks a rule once, you punish him accordingly. He breaks it twice, that's a different matter. These are good kids. These are the same kids we were recruiting 20 years ago when we won the Sunday School Award. The only difference is now people take notice because we're No. 1. When you're losing nobody cares if a kid misses a curfew. But when you win everybody takes notice of everything."

"The (1994 national championship) wasn't my favorite win, it really wasn't. We were heavily favored. We were supposed to win, and, quite honestly, I was disappointed in the way we played."

"You want to know what a real test of faith is? When you go to church and reach into your pocket and all you've got is a twenty-dollar bill."