CALLED TO COACH: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
CALLED TO COACH

BY BOBBY BOWDEN

with Mark Schlabach

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Coach Bobby Bowden is an icon of college football who ran his legendary, top-ranking program with a trademark southern charm. With his recent retirement, Bowden is ready to give fans and readers the behind-the-scenes story of his 55-year career and the path that helped him become one of college football's most successful coaches and patriarch of the sport's most famous coaching family.

In this book, Bowden will reveal never-before-published details of the moments and events that have defined his life, including:

* The tragic death of his grandson and son-in-law in a 2004 automobile accident.

* The details of his retirement as FSU's coach at the end of the 2009 season.

PRAISE FOR CALLED TO COACH:

"We all know about Coach Bowden's accomplishments on the field and we probably won't see that again in college football in this day and age. What people might not know about Bobby Bowden is the man that he is, the person that he is, and the number of people he impacted, influenced, and inspired. He did it with such class and dignity in every way. As coaches, you wish maybe someday to be thought of as well as he is, not only in terms of what he accomplished, but the way he did it." 

-- Nick Saban, Head Coach, University of Alabama

"When I was a young coach, Bobby Bowden was a hero to me. As I got older, he became an example. For all of us, he has been a benchmark. He did things the right way and reached out to help so many of us through the years. He left anyone who was fortunate enough to be around him with a true understanding of what it means to be a coach." 

-- Mack Brown, Head Coach, University of Texas

"When Bobby speaks, I listen. When he writes, I read. You will be grateful you read this book. Then you will know why I, and millions of people, love and respect Bobby Bowden."

-- Lou Holtz, Former Coach, College Football Analyst, ESPN

"Bobby Bowden was coach and mentor to thousands of young men throughout his remarkable 55-year career, and he took that responsibility very seriously. He provided a living example of character and integrity; nurturing not only great football players, but also fine husbands, fathers and role models for future generations. Called to Coach is a story about one of our true national treasures."

-- President Jimmy Carter

"Coach Bowden has had an enduring impact on an untold number lives for such a long period of time. Aside from my father, Coach Bowden is the most influential man in my life. I'm certain there are countless others who could say the same thing. Any success I have in the coaching business I owe mostly to Coach Bowden."

-- Mark Richt, Head Coach, University of Georgia

"Coach Bowden transcends football. He is a man who leveraged his position as a winning football coach into a living example of the Christian values he believed in. Then he shared them with his players. He personifies the ultimate father in that he inspired us to be the best that we could be, helping us build our mind, body, and spirit through the game he loved. This book will deliver his message to others who will benefit--just like I have, from the life, the wisdom, and the grace, that is, Coach Bobby Bowden."

-- Warrick Dunn

"We all know Bobby has been incredibly successful on the football field, but I believe his real success lies in how many lives he has touched as a mentor, teacher, and friend!  I know he has touched my life and I am better for it."
--Kenny Chesney 

"I've had the privilege of knowing Bobby Bowden for more than thirty years. During my years of coaching at Nebraska, between 1980 and my last year of coaching in 1997, we played Florida State eight times. We won only twice and lost six times. Many of the games were very close and the winner would win the National Championship. Through all of those years of competition, I always respected and admired Bobby Bowden greatly. He stands for the right things, is a man of principle, was always honest in recruiting and exemplifies all that a Christian person should be. Called to Coach is a very interesting narrative of life in the coaching profession spanning nearly fifty years. I recommend the book highly."

-- Tom Osborne, Athletic Director, University of Nebraska

"Where would college football be without men like Bobby Bowden? I have long been a fan of his tireless dedication to athletic excellence, but it is his work off the field that makes me admire him even more. It is impossible to count the number of lives that have been influenced for the better by this great man. His leadership of young men made them champions both on and off the field." 

-- S. Truett Cathy, CEO, Founder, Chick-fil-A, Inc

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bobby Bowden is known as much for his affable charm as he is for his championship teams. Having coached young men in seven decades, he is the second-winningest coach in major college football history. Bowden guided Florida State University to more than three hundred victories, two national championships, twelve Atlantic Coast Conference titles, finishing in the top five in the country in fourteen straight seasons, and he also led the Seminoles to Bowl Games in twenty-eight consecutive seasons during his thirty-four-year tenure. The patriarch of college football's most famous coaching family, Bowden remains heavily involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, annually awarding The National Bobby Bowden Award to a student-athlete for achievement on and off the field, including his conduct as a faith model in the community. Bowden was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006. He and his wife of sixty-one years, Ann, live in Tallahassee, Florida. 

MY REVIEW:
For those of you who follow my blog, you know that as an alum of Florida State University and huge college football fan, I am also a huge fan of the man to me that will always be THE Greatest Coach a team could ever ask for. You can check back at my review of his earlier book, BOWDEN, as well as my Op-ed piece that I did when he “left” his job as Coach of the Florida State Seminoles. In his latest book, CALLED TO COACH by Bobby Bowden, however, you will meet Bobby Bowden, not only the coach, but the man. The book is an honest and inspirational story just as I would expect from Coach, about his beliefs and life…the good and the bad. In CALLED TO COACH you will meet the man who is one of the winningest coaches in football history and learn about all the contributions he made both on and off the field to so many young men and all the people whose lives he has touched.  With Forewords from both Tony Dungy and Joe Paterno, you will read about the man who was an idol, mentor, teacher, and friend to so many over the years. You will also read about Bobby Bowden the father and the husband to his “coach” and #1 fan, his wife, the much loved Ann Bowden.

CALLED TO COACH weaves Coach Bowden’s personal life in with his professional life and his love, that of coaching for fifty-five years. You will meet his famous family who has its own successful coaches in it as well. The honest story of a man and his very strong faith that he instilled and shared with so many of his players over the years. An amazing and much sought speaker, Coach Bowden tells his story of what his feelings are and his position on the way he left FSU. Do not expect this man of honor to rip apart or throw anyone “under the bus” because he has too much class. This is a man who will share his personal tragedies including the loss of his young grandson and tells how his faith once again kept him going on. The list of players over the years that Coach Bowden coached on and off the field is amazing. The strategies, both in football and in life, that he instilled in them has produced some very fine and grateful men. With his great sense of humor, love of family, and his devotion to God, this is a book that everyone will value and learn from. You do not have to be a football expert or fan to appreciate and enjoy CALLED TO COACH. Thank you, Bobby Bowden, Coach Bowden, for the many years of joy and pride that you have personally given to me and my family. You are a role model that I would hope more people would emanate.
 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO LIBBY AT SIMON AND

SCHUSTER, I HAVE 4 COPIES OF THIS

AMAZING BOOK ABOUT ONE OF MY

PERSONAL HEROES TO GIVE AWAY

   
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOVE ABOUT CALLED TO COACH ABOVE THAT WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON YOUR FEELINGS ON FOOTBALL. ARE YOU A FAN, A "FOOTBALL WIDOW", OR JUST DON'T CARE ONE WAY OR ANOTHER? DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TEAM, EITHER COLLEGE OR PRO?
 

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU MAY COMMENT ABOUT EACH SEPARATELY AND GET ENTRIES FOR EACH WAY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, DECEMBER 11!

  GOOD LUCK!!

P.S. I thought it only appropriate that I present and review this book today as Florida State meets their arch rival, the University of Florida. So if you are reading this when it first posts, enjoy...I'll be screaming and cheering, and hopefully winning THE game. 

  GO 'NOLES!