Summary

Bobby Bowden is considered one of the greatest football coaches in NCAA history with 377 wins, the second among Division I coaches. In his 44 seasons as a head coach, Bowden engineered 40 winning seasons, with an astonishing 33 consecutive winning seasons as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles (1976–2009). However, before his time in Tallahassee, Bowden served as head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers for six seasons (preceded by four years as offensive coordinator). Although he logged five winning seasons in Morgantown and had an overall record of 42–26, Bowden’s tenure was still controversial, and he was subject to very hostile treatment from some sports fans that was prompted by embarrassing losses to archrivals like Pitt. Bowden’s time coaching the Mountaineers was one of growth and development for him rather than the unchallenged dominance he would go on to display with Florida State.

Sports journalist John Antonik covers Bowden’s entire WVU tenure from 1966–75 and the circumstances, issues, difficulties, and obstacles that he had to overcome that were unique to this period in Mountaineer sports history. Additionally, Almost Heaven examines what transpired on WVU’s campus and in its athletic programs as well as nationally during the Vietnam War, campus protests, desegregation, and the complexities of the shifting NCAA landscape. Antonik paints a vivid picture of how Bowden’s time at WVU enriched him personally and professionally while putting athletics on a path toward the much greater successes that it enjoyed in the 1980s when Don Nehlen arrived. By the time he left Morgantown in the winter of 1976, following the Mountaineers’ 13–10 Peach Bowl victory over North Carolina State, which culminated in an outstanding 9–3 season, he was a far wiser and much better-prepared football coach. Those difficult lessons that Bowden learned at West Virginia led him down a path to greatness at Florida State.

Almost Heaven draws from an impressive array of primary sources, including newspaper articles; football team rosters; internal documents on recruiting; and interviews with former players, assistants, staffers, sports reporters, Bowden’s sons Tommy and Terry, and Bowden himself, prior to his passing in 2021. The year 2025 represents the 50th anniversary of his final season coaching the Mountaineers, and many of his players are now entering their golden years, making this the optimal time to tell this story.

Contents

Introduction

Prologue

1 Changing Times

2 Bowden Takes Over

3 The Riverboat Gambler

4 A Day of Infamy

5 Tragedy in Huntington

6 Kidnapping Prospects

7 Dangerous Dan

8 A Scorching in Atlanta

9 Breaking Barriers

10 ’74 Outlook Bright

11 Close Defeats

12 Hanging in Effigy

13 The Bombers

14 Back in the National Rankings

15 McKenzie’s Kick Is Good!

16 Bobby versus Lou, Part III

17 Tallahassee Bound

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Appendix 1 West Virginia Staff 1970–75

Appendix 2 West Virginia Varsity Players 1966–75

Appendix 3 West Virginia Games 1970–75

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Author

John Antonik is senior director of athletics content at West Virginia University. He is a past member of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the West Virginia Sports Writers, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers associations. Antonik received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from WVU in 1990 and a master’s degree in sport management from WVU in 1992; in 2010, he was the recipient of the Paul B. “Buck” Martin Award, presented by the WVU Alumni Association to an individual who has helped to preserve and maintain West Virginia University’s traditions.

Antonik has authored four books on Mountaineer athletics: Saturday Snapshots: West Virginia University Football (WVU Press, 2015); The Backyard Brawl: Stories from One of the Weirdest, Wildest, Longest Running, and Most Intense Rivalries in College Football History (WVU Press, 2012), which was a 2012 Foreword Book of the Year finalist in the category of sports; Roll Out the Carpet: 101 Seasons of West Virginia University Basketball (WVU Press, 2010); and West Virginia University Football Vault: The History of the Mountaineers (Whitman Publishing, 2009).

Reviews

"In Almost Heaven, John Antonik masterfully documents the integral role West Virginia University played in Bobby Bowden’s journey to becoming one of the most revered and successful coaches in college football history. Bowden never shied away from a challenge—whether it was facing a gauntlet of top-ranked teams on the road or rebuilding woebegone programs into national contenders. The foundation for his fearless approach was laid in Morgantown, West Virginia."
—Mark Schlabach, ESPN reporter and collaborator of Bobby Bowden's memoir, Called to Coach: Reflections on Life, Faith, and Football

“Before he became one of just four active coaches in history to be inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame, Bobby Bowden cultivated his Division I career in Morgantown, WV. John Antonik’s Almost Heaven offers a candid look at the pivotal challenges of a young coach who ultimately became one of the game’s greatest legends. In today’s college football landscape, the story of Bowden’s WVU journey is a consequential reminder that success doesn’t always come easy and a Hall of Fame career is built through trial and error.”
—Hillary Jeffries, Director of Special Projects, National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, Inc.

“John Antonik’s fifth book on West Virginia University sports might just be his finest yet. As a native West Virginian, he brings a deep and invaluable understanding of WVU’s rich athletic history. Readers are given a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and triumphs that shaped Bowden’s legendary career. A must-read for any true Mountaineer fan.”
—Tony Caridi, sportscaster for West Virginia University’s Mountaineer Sports Network and West Virginia Radio Corporation’s MetroNews Radio Network

“Whether you lived through it or have heard the stories of Bobby Bowden’s time at West Virginia, this is a must-read for Mountaineer and college football fans alike. It’s a masterfully woven account of the time Bowden spent in Morgantown stuffed full of details, captivating insight and anecdotes from the key voices of the period. John Antonik effectively captures how both the triumphs and challenges of Bowden’s tenure helped to shape his future coaching success all while transporting readers to a bygone era of college athletics.”
—Keenan Cummings, Managing Editor, WVSports.com

“Authenticity is the hallmark of John Antonik’s masterfully crafted Almost Heaven. Antonik presents Coach Bowden in his own voice, enhanced by quotes from hundreds of others who contributed to his WVU story. Antonik also conveys an institutional narrative, revealing how decisions made during the 1966-75 era positioned the Mountaineers in the upper echelon of major college football. This is a fantastic read, authored by the premier interpreter of WVU sports history.”
—Frank Fear, author, Band of Brothers, Then and Now: The Inspiring Story of the 1966-1970 WVU Football Mountaineers, and co-host, Mountaineer Locker Room podcast

"John Antonik is considered the historian for the West Virginia University athletic department. He also might be an artist who paints a picture with words in Almost Heaven. With first-hand interviews and stories about the Bobby Bowden years at WVU, John pays attention to details making you feel you were also on the football field sidelines. A first-class effort."
—Doug Huff, West Virginia Sports Writers Association and retired sports editor, The Intelligencer

“Most books about Bobby Bowden focus on the Florida State days, but Antonik tackles the question of how it all began. He comprehensively addresses the point that were it not for Coach Bowden’s days at WVU, his experiences, and what he learned in Morgantown, he would not have been as successful at Florida State. Antonik explains how he had successes but also notable failures at WVU that shaped his coaching career. You cannot fully understand Coach Bowden by just focusing on Florida State; his coaching story really begins at WVU. Almost Heaven is a ‘must read’ for long-time WVU sports fans.”
—Hoppy Kercheval, the radio “dean” of West Virginia broadcasters and a founding father of MetroNews

“Bobby Bowden spent a decade as a coach for the West Virginia University Mountaineers. During these formative years, he faced many challenges: poor facilities, geographic isolation in recruiting, dreaded one-year contracts, biting fan criticism, and a ramped-up strength of schedule. Almost Heaven details these difficulties and shares the lessons Coach Bowden learned while in charge of the WVU football program. It offers insight into one man’s arduous path to becoming one of history’s greatest and winningest college football coaches.”
—Dr. H. Wayne Lambert, professor and vice chair of anatomy in the department of pathology, anatomy, and laboratory medicine at West Virginia University School of Medicine; chair of the West Virginia State Anatomical Board; and avid WVU sports fan