Florida State Head Coach: Bowden Still Dean of Seminole Coaches

The Florida State Seminoles first took the football field in 1902. In that time, there have been 13 men who had the title of Florida State head coach. Some were good, some were not. But there has only been one Bobby Bowden at FSU.

The first Florida State head coach was W.W. Higgins, who led the team to a 5-3-1 record in 1902 and 1903. He was replaced by Jack Forsythe, who was a player-coach for the Seminoles in 1904. In 1905, the Buckman Act changed Florida State to a woman’s school. The football team disbanded and didn’t return until the 1947 season under Ed Williamson. The team went 0-5 and Williamson was replaced by Don Veller, who compiled a 31-12-1 record between 1948 and 1952. Veller then became the FSU golf coach.

Tom Nugent posted a 34-28-1 mark between 1953 and 1958. Perry Moss followed with a 4-6 record in 1959 in his only season. Bill Peterson enjoyed a lengthy stay with the Seminoles between 1960 and 1970, posting a 62-42-11 record.

After Peterson left to coach Rice in 1971 the Seminoles had a few lean years. Larry Jones was 15-19 between 1971 and 1973 and Darrell Mudra had a disappointing 4-18 stint in 1974 and 1975. Despite his two poor seasons at FSU, Mudra was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Bobby Bowden Enters the Picture

The Seminoles lured Bowden away from West Virginia and he took over the team for the 1976 season. The Seminoles went 5-6 and that would be the only losing season Bowden would have at FSU. Florida State was 10-2 in his second year with the team. The Seminoles were one of the premier teams in the country between 1987 and 2000. FSU won two national championships during that time span and won at least 10 games a season.

The greatest Florida State head coach, Bowden, called it quits after the 2009 season. He left with a career record of  304–97–4.

Replacing Bowden wasn’t an easy task and Jimbo Fisher was the man the job fell to. Fisher enjoyed a solid career with the Seminoles, going 83-23 between 2010 and 2017. He resigned with two games left in the 2017 season. Odell Haggins became interim coach, a spot he also held in 2019 after the firing of Willie Taggart who was 9-12 during his short stay with FSU.

In 2020, the Seminoles named Mike Norvell head coach and he has been on the right side of the NCAAF scores 18 times in 34 games. In 2022, the Seminoles were 8-4 against the NCAAF odds, giving Norvell an ATS record of 17-16 with the Seminoles. Florida State was 10-3 straight-up, the first time the team won 10 games since 2016.

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