Bowden to coach football for UNA

North Alabama's search for a head football coach ended Wednesday with the hiring of a former Division I national coach of the year.

Former Auburn coach Terry Bowden was hired at UNA on Wednesday night after meeting with university officials earlier in the day. He will be introduced to the news media and Lions supporters at a news conference at 11 a.m. today at the Performance Center on the UNA campus.

Bowden, 52, replaces Mark Hudspeth, who resigned to take a position as an assistant coach at Mississippi State after seven seasons with the Lions.

The UNA job will be Bowden's first coaching job since his impromptu departure as Auburn's coach during the 1998 season. He has worked as a television and radio analyst since leaving Auburn, but his name has been mentioned in several coaching searches the past two years.

Most recently, Bowden has worked for ABC Sports, Westwood One Radio network and ESPN.

Bowden, the son of legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, said the desire to return to coaching hit him hard the past two years.

"I just could not live without coaching," Bowden said. "I was a head coach at 26 and spent 15 years as a head coach. I enjoyed broadcasting, but there came a point two years ago where I started to feel unfulfilled. I knew I was not going to be happy until I was able to go back and coach football."

Ironically, Bowden became interested in the UNA job when he was in Florence broadcasting the Division II National Championship Game on Dec. 13. That same day, Hudspeth resigned at UNA.

"About the time I was thinking about where I would want to coach I happened to come here for the Division II game," he said. "I've always loved this area, and thought it would be a great place to raise a family. When I heard coach Hudspeth had resigned, I began to talk with (athletics director) Mark Linder. It soon became clear that this is where I wanted to coach.

"I wanted to go somewhere where winning is important and a place that has great tradition. I also wanted to be at a place where I can make a contribution, not just to the school and the football program but the whole community. I'm from Alabama and I've recruited this state for many years. UNA just fit everything I wanted."

Bowden becomes the eighth head coach in UNA's modern football history. He inherits a program that has enjoyed four straight seasons with 10-plus wins, and has made four consecutive NCAA Division II playoff appearances.

Bowden has a 111-53-2 record in 15 seasons as a head coach. He posted a 47-17-1 record in six seasons at Auburn. The Tigers were a perfect 11-0 in 1993, his first season at Auburn. At the end of the season, he was chosen the Division I national coach of the year by several organizations.

He led the Tigers to 20 consecutive wins despite Auburn being on NCAA probation. The streak ended in the 1994 season with a tie to Georgia and a loss to Alabama, leaving his team with a 9-1-1 record.

Bowden later led Auburn to three consecutive bowl games from 1995-97. The Tigers won the SEC West title in 1997, but lost 30-29 to Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game.

The Tigers then lost five of their first six games in 1998, leading to Bowden leaving under controversial circumstances. He resigned six games into the season after reportedly being told he would be fired at the end of the year. Defensive coordinator Bill Oliver took over as head coach for the final five games.

Before coaching at Auburn, Bowden spent three years as head coach at NAIA Salem College in West Virginia (1983-85) and six seasons at Samford University in Birmingham (1987-92).

While he has experienced success at the highest level in the SEC, Bowden said he has no problem coaching at the Division II level.

"I coached nine years at the lower levels before going to Auburn and had great satisfaction at both places," he said. "I have had success at the highest level, but I've learned that happiness doesn't come from money and those things. My greatest satisfaction comes from making a difference in a program and a community, and North Alabama provides that."

He was born into the most famous and successful college football coaching family. His father turned Florida State into a national champion and his 382 collegiate wins ranks second in Division 1-A history.

His brother Tommy had an 18-4 record in two seasons as head coach at Tulane and a 72-45 record in 10 seasons as head coach at Clemson University, taking the Tigers to eight bowl games. His brother Jeff was also a collegiate coach from 1983-2006, working at Salem, Samford, Southern Mississippi and Florida State.

Bowden said he had several phone conversations with Linder during the past two weeks concerning the job. He flew into the Shoals on Wednesday after broadcasting the Texas Bowl in Houston on Tuesday night.

"I felt good about everything coming here, but I knew the people here needed to see it in my eyes that I wanted the job," Bowden said. "I pretty much came to the decision a couple of days ago that I would take the job if it was offered. President (Bill) Cale and Mark are definitely the kind of people I want to work with. It's been a whirlwind day, but everything has worked out well and I'm very excited."

After the news conference today, Bowden will fly to Dallas to broadcast the Cotton Bowl on Friday. After a quick trip home to Orlando, Fla., he plans to be on the job Monday at UNA.

Jeff McIntyre can be reached at 740-5737 or jeff.mcintyre@TimesDaily.com.