An old-school message to modern times

(This column was originally published in The Anderson News on June 24, 2015)

Tommy Bowden is a football coach. At least that’s how he’s known to the masses.

And even though he’s been away from the sidelines for more than six years, that success he had at Tulane and Clemson give Bowden an avenue to share his first love.

Bowden, who also spent a year as Bill Curry’s first offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky, was in town over the weekend, speaking at Hope Community Church Sunday morning.

 Tommy Bowden speaks at Hope Community Church.

He was using a platform given by his enormous gridiron success to talk about his deep Christian faith.

“I have a big platform because of what I did,” he told those gathered to worship Sunday morning.

What Bowden did was forge a 90-49 record and take teams to nine bowl games in 11 full years of coaching. However Clemson and he parted ways midway through the 2008 season. Since then, Bowden has been working television – he’s now analyzing the ACC for Fox Sports South – and talking about what is his real life.

It’s a message that is as old-school as the single-wing delivered to a modern crowd.

“I believe in the inerrant and infallible Word of God,” Bowden said during Sunday’s worship hour.

It was a simple statement. But it forms the core of his message and one he learned from his famous father, Bobby Bowden, who was the second-winningest college football coach of all-time when he was let go at Florida State after the 2009 season.

“My father was my Sunday School teacher,” Bowden said later as we talked between Hope’s two main services. “I would see him at home reading the Bible. He was a great example. I had a great mentor.”

Part of Bowden’s message focused on life’s ups and downs. They hit his family hardest on the football field.

Tommy Bowden spoke of the Bible being one's guide.

Tommy Bowden, who never had a losing season as a head coach, shared a bit about his ouster at Clemson during the 2008 season. The Tigers were 3-3 when things came to an end. “They said I resigned to soften it, but my contract said if I resigned, I didn’t get the buyout,” Bowden remembered.

An ESPN report from the time said Bowden offered to resign after the team lost to Wake Forest but that he would be paid through the end of the season and receive a $3.5 million buyout.

Less than a year earlier, he

“You put two-and-two together,” Bowden smiled as we talked Sunday morning.

Bowden now lives in the Florida panhandle. In addition to his work with Fox, he also does some commentary for Raycom. He’s also busy as a speaker at Christian conferences and motivational gatherings.

“All of my stuff is faith-based,” he said. “I enjoy the church service more than any of (the speaking venues.)”

He also talked about his father, who lost his job after allegations surfaced that the Seminoles had used an ineligible player in 2006 and 2007. “He had a field named for him and a statue in front of the stadium and still got fired,” Tommy Bowden said as we talked.

But those dark times gave Bowden even more experience in the faith he shares. “We have got the most comprehensive safety net for people out there,” he said as we talked.

It was a fraction of the message Bowden had delivered just a few minutes before.

“Football was a huge, huge part of my life, but not the most important part,” Bowden said early in his message, a few moments after telling some jokes, including one about Hope member Freddie Maggard, Bowden’s quarterback in his one year in Lexington.

Bowden did not talk a great deal about himself other than some self-deprecating humor – “When I get home, I am the football coach and my wife is the athletic director. When you are coaching, you have one boss and that’s the AD,” he laughed. Instead, he focused on the timeliness of the message he shared, owing many of the nation’s troubles to pushing the Bible out of everyday life.

“As Christians, we have to have a little backbone and defend the Word of God,” he said during the service. “I want to hear pastor teach the Word of God, not water it down.”

He elaborated a few minutes later.

“I believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible,” he said. “I am not perfect, but that is what I believe. One of the problems is we have compromised the Word and watered it down.

“God wants us to have all of it, or none of it.”

Maggard, in introducing Bowden, said his former coach lived that way. He recalled a time when Bowden led several of the Wildcats in prayer. Not a mundane prayer where the right cliches had been uttered but a real talk with the one Bowden worships.

“I saw a man of God,” Maggard said.

Even though they had not seen each other for 25 years, Bowden’s influence was unmistakeable.

“You can have a lot of influence,” Bowden said. “It is all in your comfort zone.”

It was obvious Sunday that talking about his faith is in Bowden’s comfort zone. It flowed as naturally as talking about Bobby Petrino’s offense or Jimbo Fisher’s defense.

“I am not a Bible scholar,” Bowden told his audience.

Maybe not. There might not be a Master of Divinity by his name, but his message was an enthusiastic and passioned defense of the Bible and a challenge to make it work in ones life.

I had the privilege to meet and interview Tommy Bowden.

It was fitting that toward the end of Bowden’s message, he sounded like, well, a coach. Talking about Christianity’s influence, Bowden noted that each person in attendance had a part in making a difference. He referred back to the earliest followers of Christ.

“The 12 disciples were as ordinary as you can get, but they turned the world upside down,” Bowden said.

He left little doubt he believes the same principle applies to ordinary people today.