Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of the Year Award
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The Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of the Year Award is a college football award given annually to the nation's best head coach. Established in 2009, Nick Saban was the award's first recipient. The trophy commemorates former Florida State Seminoles football coach Bobby Bowden.
Introduction
The Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of the Year Award (the Bowden Award) is presented by the Over the Mountain Touchdown Club of Birmingham, Alabama[1] and the Alabama Sports Foundation.[2] The Bowden Award commemorates Bobby Bowden in recognition of his legendary coaching career and is bestowed upon a college football coach annually in honor of coaching excellence.
Bowden Award presenters
The Over the Mountain Touchdown Club of Birmingham, Alabama
The Over the Mountain Touchdown Club of Birmingham, Alabama is an Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) non-profit organization[3] that benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,[4] the American Cancer Society,[5] and local high school sports programs in the Birmingham, Alabama area. The Club's membership consists of notable former professional and college athletes, prominent business persons, and sports enthusiasts who meet weekly during the college football season to recognize outstanding athletic and academic achievements of Birmingham area high school students and football players and listen to well-known speakers discuss topics relevant to football and other sports. During its inaugural season, the Club hosted Ray Perkins and Doug Barfield and featured the following speakers: Stan White, Roger Schultz[6], Charles Barkley, Jeremiah Castille, Al Del Greco, Ivan Maisel, Bobby Wallace, Burton Burns, Trooper Taylor, Gene Hallman, Cornelius Bennett and Joe Cribbs.
The Alabama Sports Foundation
The Alabama Sports Foundation is an Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) non-profit organization[7], also based in Birmingham, Alabama, which serves as the official sports lobby for the Birmingham-Hoover, Alabama Metropolitan Area and the State of Alabama. The ASF's mission is to recruit, manage and promote major spectator sporting events throughout Alabama. The ASF coordinates all aspects of event planning, including sponsorship and hospitality sales, marketing and advertising campaigns development and implementation, and comprehensive event operations management logistics. The ASF was founded in 1996 through the efforts of hosting Olympic Soccer[8] at Legion Field[9] in Birmingham. Since then, the ASF has hosted several U.S. Soccer Federation[10] international matches, including the Men’s World Cup Qualifier (USA vs. Guatemala) in 2005[11], and an exhibition match (U.S. Women's National Team vs. Australia) in 2008[12]. The ASF has a close relationship with the Southeastern Conference and has hosted the SEC Baseball Tournament[13] since 1998, as well as four of the six neutral-site SEC Gymnastics Championships[14] (2001-2003, 2006). The ASF played an integral role in relocating the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)[15] Office from New Orleans to Birmingham in 1999, and hosted the SWAC Championship Football Game[16] from 1999-2006. ASF also manages the Magic City Classic[17], which was named the most attended black college football game in the country in 2008. In 2008, ASF signed a partnership agreement with the Alabama High School Athletic Associaton (AHSAA),[18] which includes managing and promoting the AHSAA Super Six Football Championships[19] and the Basketball State Finals Tournament[20] and helping coordinate other AHSAA championship events. Most recently, the ASF managed the 2009 Davis Cup[21] competition between the United States and Switzerland.[22]
Recipients
Nick Saban[23] was the inaugural winner of the Bowden Award. Saban led the University of Alabama football team[24] to the 2009 BCS National Championship[25] and AP National Championship,[26] making him the only coach to win a national championship with two different schools since 1950 and one of two coaches to win a Southeastern Conference[27] football championship at two different schools. Bowden presented the Bowden Award to Saban at a public ceremony on March 21, 2010 at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center[28] in Birmingham, Alabama.[29]
| Year | Name | School |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Nick Saban | University of Alabama |
| 2010 |
Trophy and symbolism
Symbolism
The Over the Mountain Touchdown Club of Birmingham, Alabama painstakingly designed the trophy to evoke characteristics of the Birmingham, Alabama origins that it and Bowden share and, most importantly, symbolically honor Bowden's legacy. The trophy stands at more than twenty-three inches tall and fourteen inches wide and is made of wood, granite, iron and gold. It features an image of Bowden and will bear the name and school of each recipient. The crowning point of the trophy is a fourteen-pound steel football featuring the logos of its presenters.
Like the Award's two presenters, Bobby Bowden was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He set the foundation for his football career in Birmingham. He began by playing quarterback at Woodlawn High School[30] in Birmingham, Alabama. He initially enrolled at the University of Alabama, where he fulfilled his dream of playing for the Crimson Tide. Bowden later returned to Birmingham, Alabama and enrolled at Howard College[31] (now Samford University[32]), where he also played quarterback and from which he graduated in 1953. In 1959, Bowden began his college football coaching career at Howard College.
Symbolism of iron and steel
Iron and steel form part of the trophy. The iron is from Birmingham, Alabama, which was once the primary industrial center of the Southern United States. Like Pittsburgh in the North, Birmingham's major industries used to be iron and steel production, which earned it the nickname "The Pittsburgh of the South."[33] The iron and steel in the trophy forge the connection between Bowden and his hometown of Birmingham.
Symbolism of mountains and Bowden image
The trophy incorporates images of two offset mountain ranges, which also appear on the logo of the Over the Mountain Touchdown Club. The mountain ranges symbolize Red Mountain, a long ridge dividing Birmingham which is part of the Ridge-and-Valley region of the Appalachian Mountains. Red Mountain drew its name from its rust-stained rock faces and prominent seams of red iron ore. The mountains on the trophy are made of rose-colored maple wood to replicate the red coloring of Red Mountain. Fourteen-karat gold overlay backs the mountain ranges to establish that the Bowden Award is the gold standard of all coaching awards. Bowden's image, etched into the black granite stone of the trophy, is perched atop the mountain ranges, signifying that the Bowden Award winner has reached the summit of his coaching career.
Symbolism of circular disk
The trophy features a circular disk upon which the crowning football sits. The circular shape of the disk is emblematic of the presenting club and Bowden. The circle imitates the letter "O," in recognition of the word "Over" in the presenting club's name, and the disk itself rests "Over" the trophy's mountain images. More importantly, the circle represents the everlasting and never-ending influence Bowden will have on his former players, who will doubtlessly impart to others the lessons they have learned from him.
Inscribed on the trophy are the words "perseverance," "attitude," "integrity," and "determination."
The main part of the trophy extends twenty inches from the top of its base to the top of its crowning football and is ten inches wide. These dimensions signify the Bowden Award's inaugural year: 2010.
Trophy Manufacturer
MTM Midwest Trophy Manufacturing of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has manufactured the trophy for the Bowden Award.
Future
Beginning in 2011, the Bowden Award will be presented annually after National Signing Day and before the commencement of spring college football practice.