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Bobby Bowden had all eyes on him again Friday, likely for the final time.

Quick stop turns into 34 years Florida State was supposed to be just a stop on the way home, on the way back to Birmingham, Ala. Bobby Bowden had coached at West Virginia for 10 seasons. The Mountaineers had just won the Peach Bowl. It was 1976. Some people at Florida State, with one of the worst football programs in the nation, called Bowden.

West Virginia football team relishes role as potential party-crasher in Gator Bowl coronation for FSU coach Bobby Bowden.

JACKSONVILLE — The end is here. At about 5 p.m. this afternoon, in Jacksonville, the Bobby Bowden era will come to a close. He will walk off a college football field for the final time.

By DOUG FERNANDES Today, on football fields in Jacksonville and New Orleans, the inaugural day of the new year will be observed as something more. The first, as well as the last. The final collegiate games for Florida’s Tim Tebow and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden.